I *think* the belly discussion was regarding the MP stamping, and as can clearly be seen in the photo's with the head off there is no belly.
Several people were telling me the MP stamp was a fake. So, the only way to really tell I was told is to remove the head (427 King). Which I did, and after that any doubt was allayed by the three experts. In fact, one got tired of looking at the pics and stated that he had told me several times it was real.
The three experts are:
1. Kurt Sonin (sp)
2. Jerry MacNeish
3. Jeff (Pacecarjeff)
As far as the VIN being a restamp, I can find no evidence of a belly there either. The "rough" areas are consistent throughout, by that I mean that the rough texture is not smoothed out more by the vin stamp then the rest of the pad area. It is a "little" more smooth than the surrounding cast by the oil filter area, due to sanding.
Although I really don't care (for my purposes), as this is going into my 69 camaro from High School that I recently found. It is a real MP stmping, then it is a L72 and either came out of a chevelle or a camaro.
Several of the accepted "experts" have looked at HiRes close ups and have given it the thumbs up
, and Jerry MacNeish will be down again soon and I will have him look it over in person.
I'll try and snap some better photo's of the VIN with a straight edge soon and post.
Rich