Engine pad decode

[jfkheat]

Could someone please decode these engine numbers for me?
Thanks, James

TO912IU T-170958

[Mr70]

T=Tonawanda
09=Month,September
12=Day,12th
IU=427/435HP w/Al. heads & Tri power 4 speed,used in 1967-68.
That specific VIN#170958 is a 1967 Corvette.
Not sure about the "T" in front of it.
Could stand for TarryTown,New York plant but they didn't build the Corvette.
They built the Big Passenger cars.

[jfkheat]

Thank you Rick. Any idea how many of these IU engines were produced? What casting number heads came on this engine?
James

[Mr70]

That engine got #3904392 heads.
I'm showing 16 IU engined Corvettes were built on the line in 1967.
How many extra engines were over the counter I can only guess.

[Mr70]

James
Something is bugging me.Have you seen this block in person and are those numbers authentic?

That VIN# on this block is not a 1967 Corvette as I said earlier it was.
The 1967 Corvette VIN started at #100001 in Sept. 1966 and ended at #122940 in July 1967.
1968 Corvette VIN#'s started at #400001.
Yours of #170958 does not fit into this,as well as the letter "T" in front of it.(That's TerryTown,New York Plant and only the BIG Passenger cars were built there)
Have you seen this block in person to rule out any foul play of the stamping?,because if not,I would believe it was orginally scheduled for a 1967-68 Impala,although then the IU doesn't make sense,But IJ was the suffix for the 427 Impala,or IV for the 396 application...http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hmmm.gif

[Rick H]

[ QUOTE ]
James
Something is bugging me.Have you seen this block in person and are those numbers authentic?

That VIN# on this block is not a 1967 Corvette as I said earlier it was.
The 1967 Corvette VIN started at #100001 in Sept. 1966 and ended at #122940 in July 1967.
1968 Corvette VIN#'s started at #400001.
Yours of #170958 does not fit into this,as well as the letter "T" in front of it.(That's TerryTown,New York Plant and only the BIG Passenger cars were built there)
Have you seen this block in person to rule out any foul play of the stamping?,because if not,I would believe it was orginally scheduled for a 1967-68 Impala,although then the IU doesn't make sense,But IJ was the suffix for the 427 Impala,or IV for the 396 application...http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hmmm.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

The reason the VIN is not matching is because it is not a VIN number. On Corvettes up to and including 1967 that number is the body sequence number. It should be the same as the trim tag on the car it came out of. Unique to Corvette only.

The engine in question 1s a 1968 because the 1967 Corvette did not have the engine assembly code stamp, it would only have the body sequence number if it was 1967. 1968 Corvette had the engine stamp and the body sequence stamp.

Rick H.

[jfkheat]

The engine is on Ebay. The info is from the auction. It is an August 1966 casting number.
James

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/427-435hp...1QQcmdZViewItem (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/427-435hp-1967-CORVETTE-ENGINE-RARE_W0QQitemZ4583178210QQcategoryZ34202QQrdZ1QQcm dZViewItem)

[Rick H]

Something doesn't look right. I am not sure about that "T" Even if the number was a VIN, which I believe as above it is not, they never stamped an assembly code on the block in 67 because the vette was only built in one place, St. Louis. If anything it would be an "S" not a "T"

Again, something just doesn't look right to me. Can't quite put my finger on it. Hmmmm http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

Rick H.

[Rick H]

BTW, I was looking around for some info and look what I found.

"2005-09-09 Wanted 1966 big block hood – have 68 VIN and trim tags (White convertible) to trade or sell. (name left blank)

Anybody want to build a vette?

Rick H.

[Mr70]

Rick H
How long did they continue to stamp the Body Sequence No. on the Corvette engine pads?
Do you think that "T" could actually be "STL" for St. Louis,(as would be on the actual trim tag),but it is stamped to light for the owner to recognize?
If that was,is an August 1966 casting to early for a 1968 application like this in the Corvette world?
His pad picture is just to small on Ebay,so I emailed him asking him to look closer.
Good Info. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif

[Rick H]

I got thinking about this engine stamping and went back to review some docs and talk to a few Corvette people. Some docs I reviewed had body sequence listed and others had VIN sequence listed.
No matter which way you look at the stamp it is incorrect whether it be body number or VIN number. VIN,s for 67 Corvettes didn't go that high. Plus Corvettes did not include the assembly plant code in 1967 in the pad stamp. That started in 1968.
I got to believe that the stamp is not legit.

It could be a big car motor that had the engine code changed. It's easy to change a "J" in to a "U".

Just doesn't add up.

Rick H.

[Mr70]

With a final winning bid of $7499.00,I would say someone knows exactly what this is.

[jfkheat]

More that it was worth to me.
James

[COPO]

If it was really one of the 16, it would have been many times more than the final bid. My guess is someone took a chance on it.

[PeteLeathersac]

Does anyone recall in the Vette crowd close to 20 years ago an IU motor (an actual one) showed up loose....the guy tracked the car down, bought it rough and sold the match for a ton? . If this eBay one was genuine, considering the value of these cars it would have sold for much more to someone in the know?

[TimG]

Jerry Luck found the original engine for this car and searched to reunite it with the car. It used to be owned by Kevin. http://www.proteam-corvette.com/cars/NSN-DM67.htm
Typical '67 big block stamping should read like this, TO613JC 7121526 (from my car)
In '67, they did not have an "S" in the VIN portion. They used smaller VIN numbers starting in '68 and included "S" in the VIN portion. Lots of questions on this stamping from the little I can see.