Motion Replacement Engines

vettebuilder · #1 08-18-2012, 01:06 AM

HI. I am a brand new member and I have enjoyed this site for a while. So I joined to become part of this great community. I do have a starting off question. Could someone PLEASE explain to me...if your 1972 Corvette was converted at Motion from a small block to a 454 big block, what stampings if any are on the front pad and what casting number is on the block? I have read so much about CE blocks used and L-88 blocks I wondered what block and stamping was original for those cars converted in the early 70's. I read that cars ordered from Baldwin came with 427 engines that Motion upgraded. But what happened if you had a small block and went to Motion for one of his 454 conversions? Would the stamping pad be blank, and were they ALL 512 block castings?

68vet427 · #2 08-18-2012, 01:11 PM

Paul, Welcome to the site!.
The guys on here are pretty up on Motion vehicles.
I do not have an answer for you, just wanted to say hi.
Hope you find out.
Joe

Martyn L. Schorr · #3 08-18-2012, 01:45 PM

Hi:
The simple answers to your complex question: Except for rare situations, all Baldwin-Motion cars started out being ordered with big block engines. If you brought a car to Motion Performance for a big-block conversion or for a new big-block engine, choice would be made based on customer needs, budget and Joel Rosen's recommendations. That means anything from a stock/tuned big-block to an L88. Motion Performance was a very busy speed shop, lots of cars getting new street and race engines.
Hope this helps,
Marty

vettebuilder · #4 08-18-2012, 02:23 PM

Thanks for that info! So, did Motion stamp the pads on the engines or were they blank? I know bare replacement GM blocks were blank but short blocks had the CE and assembly date. Also, would Motion use a 512 block to build a 427 if the customer asked, or were they only used as 454? I see O much data on the internet about blocks and engines and stampings that I was curious as to who is correct and who isn't. I have no intentions of trying to duplicate any Motion car, I was just curious as to how the stamping and casting numbers went. I even read that Motion put their own stamps on some of the engines, so there is WAY more info out there than can possible be correct.

**owners2** · #5 08-18-2012, 06:22 PM

My thought is that when building a motor for a customers car they were sent out to a machine shop & that motion might stamp an MP on the motor & the machine shop might stamp there invoice # on it to keep track of what heads & blocks were together. I could be wrong..

74NovaSS · #6 08-19-2012, 02:04 AM

Marty,

Anybody ever walk around Motion Performance with a video camera back then? Now that would be some cool stuff to see.

Ed

**smallblockhero** · #7 08-19-2012, 04:20 AM

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: vettebuilder</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Thanks for that info! So, did Motion stamp the pads on the engines or were they blank? I know bare replacement GM blocks were blank but short blocks had the CE and assembly date. Also, would Motion use a 512 block to build a 427 if the customer asked, or were they only used as 454? I see O much data on the internet about blocks and engines and stampings that I was curious as to who is correct and who isn't. I have no intentions of trying to duplicate any Motion car, I was just curious as to how the stamping and casting numbers went. I even read that Motion put their own stamps on some of the engines, so there is WAY more info out there than can possible be correct. </div></div>

(correct me if im wrong here fellas)
Almost everything ive seen in writing shows that L-88's and other BB engines that were installed by MP were usually crate engines purchased from Chevrolet. ive never seen anything from joel or any other motion employee to imply that they stamped anything on any of the installed engines to designate it as their own. from the standard replacement BB up to nastiest of LS7 transplants that were installed, the literature available states they almost all started life as a replacement crate engine from GM. so whatever was on the stamp pad from tonawanda or flint should be all thats on them.

dreemz · #8 08-19-2012, 04:32 AM

A full Phase III 427 could be stamped with Motion Performance designation and a particular work order number.

vettebuilder · #9 08-19-2012, 04:31 PM

SO, back LONG ago when I was much younger I was thinking of purchasing a motor from Motion for my 1974 Corvette. I still have the old original Motion catalog and some original decals they sent. I managed to hold onto some of the the original Motion items I bought back then, like the Lemans gas cap, the fly eye air cleaner, Mallory super coil, and some valve covers. That was as far as my budget got me back then. When you ordered a Motion big block engine from the catalog, did Motion stamp it in any way to verify it was from them? I don't understand why people are saying that CE engines came from Motion while others say blank pad engines came from them, and even one person said they were stamped with MP. There seems to be a lot of questionable material about the engines, and I am still having difficulty sorting thru it.

**Born30YrsLate** · #10 08-19-2012, 06:08 PM

I would say that using a CE block was the standard if it was a transplant...although there may have been exceptions. There is one instance where a 396 Nova Engine(that had work done at Motion) had MOTION PERF or something similar stamped on the back side of the block where the bellhousing mounts (if I recall correctly). I don't think there was a standard formal protocal, just use what was ever available.