1956 Corvette, 225HP Engine/Powerglide

[John C.]

Hi all.....first post here, so to start it off, I was searching for a set of 1956 Corvette/Chevy Passenger car heads #3731762 and ended up with a complete long block assembly that was pulled out of a '56 Corvette that had been sitting unmolested for 20 or 30 years in Hawaii. The new owner brought the car to CA and turned it into a resto mod complete with C4 suspension, LS1 engine and six speed transmission.....oh well!

Somewhere in it's past history, the original owner replaced the stock powerglide with a manual transmission, so I ended up with a flywheel and clutch assembly......it would have been nice to have had the original PG, 2 x 4 manifold kickdown plate/bellcrank and linkage assembly, plus the PG block adaptor, but I guess we can't have it all!

The motor is in relatively good shape complete with a stock bore, stock sized bearings, stock #3711354 mech cam and it turns over quite nicely.....I have decided to retore it except for a modern piston/ring package and better rods.

I get conflicting information on how to decode the first seven digits of the engine block stamping.....I was told that the first five digits are gang stamped and the last two are individually stamped but unlike the later model block stampings that reveal the month and day, I get contrary explanations on the interpretation of the first seven digit sequence.

I get the F=Flint, 56=year and FG=225HP/Powerglide

0507153F56FG



John

[Terry D.]

Re: 1956 Corvette, 225HP Engine/Powerglide

John
Welcome aboard, according to "Chevrolet by the Numbers" the first 7 numbers are the engine unit number that was produced in that engine plant. Don't forget to check out the NCRS store for books that will help you with your restoration.
Terry

[John C.]

Re: 1956 Corvette, 225HP Engine/Powerglide

John
Welcome aboard, according to "Chevrolet by the Numbers" the first 7 numbers are the engine unit number that was produced in that engine plant. Don't forget to check out the NCRS store for books that will help you with your restoration.
Terry

Hi Terry...........thanks for the response! I do have Chevrolet by the Numbers and I guess my question is, can there be an exact determination of when the engine was produced by the value or sequence of the engine unit number?

John

[Mike M.]

Re: 1956 Corvette, 225HP Engine/Powerglide

check the casting date on the back of the block then add about 2-4 weeks to the casting date and you'll have an approximation of the asseembly date of the block. mike

[John C.]

Re: 1956 Corvette, 225HP Engine/Powerglide

check the casting date on the back of the block then add about 2-4 weeks to the casting date and you'll have an approximation of the asseembly date of the block. mike

Hi Mike,

So I guess what you all are telling me is that there is no correlation between the approximate engine build date and the first seven digits of the stamped engine unit number, correct?

Thanks man!

John

[Gary C.]

Re: 1956 Corvette, 225HP Engine/Powerglide

John,

'56 engines were numbered in sequence starting with 0001001.

There are members who have recorded '56 VIN #'s and their original engine stamped serial number. Some correlation of the VIN to engine number can be made.

If you had a March '56 VIN # it would not be acceptable to have a very late engine serial number in that Corvette.

Gary
....

[John C.]

Re: 1956 Corvette, 225HP Engine/Powerglide

John,

'56 engines were numbered in sequence starting with 0001001.

There are members who have recorded '56 VIN #'s and their original engine stamped serial number. Some correlation of the VIN to engine number can be made.

If you had a March '56 VIN # it would not be acceptable to have a very late engine serial number in that Corvette.

Gary
....

Hi Gary,

Ok, interesting....it would have been nice to have had the VIN# from the Corvette that my engine came out of so I could check out the serial-number to engine-number relationship more closely.

Although, according to a paragraph from Adams book that I just purchased:

"At this point, it is important to consider how engines are appointed serial numbers, and what affects the mixing of engine serial numbers on the assembly line. Engines are consecutively numbered as they are produced. When crated and shipped, they lose their consecutive serial number relationship. Arriving in the assembly plant, the crated engines are moved in whatever space they have had allocated, and the serial numbers becom mixed further. The first one in the storage rack is last to be installed."

Well....too bad it wasn't a '57 as their engine stamping closely relates to the actual engine assembly date.

The closest serial number/engine number I could find in his book as compared to my engine number was:

E56S003584 - 0575748F56GR

In any case, this is great fun and I don't even have a Corvette.......although in '69, I purchased a completely stock/perfect '61 Corvette, with base engine/Powerglide and Wonderbar for $1695 off of Joe Kerley's Lincoln Mercury used car lot.......I sold it 2 years later for $2500. drat.....what a moron!

Thanks!

John

[Alexander C.]

Re: 1956 Corvette, 225HP Engine/Powerglide

Mine is:

E56S004434
Monday September 17, 1956 (or Friday the 14th)
Engine Stamp: 059I8 50F56FK
Engine Casting: 3720991, F 7 6 (June 7, 1956)
Engine Assembly: June 26th

There is a fair gap in my June 26th engine assembly date and the Sept 14th vehicle assembly date in mine (78 days to be kinda accurate). In my case I attribute this to mine being a 1x4 engine which was very low production and my engine sitting in the back of the engine storage rack at the assembly plant for awhile while the other engines in front of it got used slowly.

Just another VIN vs engine stamp for you to compare.

[Mike M.]

Re: 1956 Corvette, 225HP Engine/Powerglide

My 56 225 hp vet vin # 1566 : its origianl block pad's serial # is stamped 0336693 F56GR.mike

[John C.]

Re: 1956 Corvette, 225HP Engine/Powerglide

Alexander and Mike......thank you so much!

John