Help ID my early small block!

I have a 51 ford that someone put in a chevy small block in back in the 60's. Supposidly it's a vette 283 (circa '57). It's got the staggered bolt aluminum corvette valve covers. Original chevy orange paint, never been apart as far as I can tell, definatly never machined. I am getting to the point where I'm going to either rebuild or replace the motor, and I want to know if it's anything worth saving, or selling. Can someone tell me where I can decode the casting numbers and stampings? I searced but I can't find any sites that have my motor's numbers. The staming on the front of the block starts with "TI..." Can someone tell me where I can find info for this? I don't think I can get to the casting numbers on the block to read them. Thanks! **) :whacked:

rightttttttt here ~~> http://www.nastyz28.com/sbchevy/sblock.html ...joe

Here's another site just to double check.......
http://www.73-87.com/chevy_ids/scmenu2.htm

Niether of those sites have my engine listed. There is no way to see the casting number on the back of the block with it in the car. I can only see the stamping on front of the left head, which starts with "TI" and I don't see that prefix listed on any sites. Also what do the digets that follow mean?

Staggered vc bolts means '55-58. Look at the sides of the block. If there aren't any bosses for the side engine mounts then the block would be '55-57. It may or may not be a 283 at that point. It could be a 265. It's going to take some number searching to find the rest. Let you know if something turns up. Here is a listing of cylinder head casting numbers, you can get that by taking off the valve cover. http://www.angelfire.com/tx5/randysr...Headguide.html

You should make the effort to get the casting number on the block, that will be your best bet. An early block and heads can have some value to the die hard collectors, but you need to verify application. If this is important to you you need to figure a way to get that block casting number.

The T usually stands for the Tonawanda production plant. The numbers and letters that follow tell when it was manufactured. Make sure to look carefully so that you distinguish between the letter I and the number 1.

Thanks, I'm about 99% sure it's an "I" not a "1", You can still read them clear as day. The back of the motor is very close to the firewall, so I can't tell those numbers right now. It dosn't matter what motor it is until I pull it anyway, because that is when I'll decide what to do with it. I know it may have some value, especially if it's the vette motor it's supposed to be. It's got adapters for the motor mounts to the stock frame mounts, they go straight into the sides of the block close to the front. Looks like a fuel pump block off on the passanger side, got an electric pump on the frame. I doubt the engine's ever been apart, will the numbers on the intake tell me anything?

check this site out http://www.novaresource.org/codes.htm
This will show you what each letter and number means , for instance the first letter is for the engine assaembly plant t = tonawanda,n y

I was pretty sure there are staggered bolt 283's. I'll see if I can find the numbers under the #2 plug tonight.

I know it has the firing order on front of the intake, but there is also a casting number at the rear of it, that is what I was reffering to.

Most of these linked sites don't go back to the 50's.

I got the complete number off the front of the block, it's TI 223 D

Just came out of the garage. I was going to get those head numbers but it's way too cold out there right now. I got the intake numbers if they help. On front it has the firing order, on back it has "GM N01" and what looks like "3746829"

I know these are just the intake numbers, but probably original, maybe it will help.

Maybe I'll get those head numbers later today.

3746829 283 57-61 Cast Iron, 4-bbl
3746829 283 58-61 230HP, Corvette, Cast Iron

Not to take away from anyone's fun, but to help you learn.........
I got this info by typing your casting number only into the Google search bar. This was the first hit.

If your manifold is original to the heads then it's a '57 or 8. And to fine tune that, go back to my motor mount boss comment.

Thanks for the tip. Good to hear we havn't proven it isn't a vette motor yet.

Anyplace else I can look for numbers? Couldn't find any on the heads, but I was looking around with a mirror below the spark plugs.

I tried looking across the back of the block, near the bellhousing, I can barely see back there, but I didn't see any numbers cast there either, I guess I'm not looking in the right spots.

the head numbers are under the valve covers. i'm assuming that's where you checked. i hope that's where you were looking..........:confused:

I havn't pulled the valve covers yet. I was just looking to see if there were any more stampings on the outside.

I figured at least there'd be a casting at the top of the bellhousing, but I didn't see any.

Now I'm getting somewhere! Um, I think, anyway.

I got the number off the back of the block. Does 3756519 mean anything to you? I did a quick yahoo search and came up with 58-61 283. Another site said 59-61, and another yet said 59-62.

Any other things I can look at to determine this motor's original aplications? Thanks!

Nick,
Looks like a consistent pattern here. The most frequent repeatability you're having, considering the valve cover bolt layout you described earlier, is that it's a '58. Some of your comments indicate you're trying to verify if it's a Vette engine. Only problem with that is that the base engines for the Vette were also optioned in the regular passenger cars, so.......

Exactly! So I guess it will remain a mystery if it started it's life in a corvette. The heads don't have any of the typical high performance markings on front, but early 230 hp corvettes may not have had those anyway. The heads may have been changed, but probably not. Would they tell me anything?

Oh, and can I tell anything from the exaust manifolds? They don't look like their anything special, but they could have been changed to fit into the Ford.

Thanks Streets, hope it wasn't too much trouble for you to find all that.

It appears that it is a 283 block that could have been in vettes from 58-61. And having staggered bolt valve covers it must be a 58 (or 59?) I assume these blocks also could have been in regular chevies too, so I can't rule anything out yet. I know it's got a carter on it, supposidly a 230 horse motor, so that makes sense. It's hooked to a manual now.

Now I need to know where to find the suffix code you listed? I guess that would help now. Would there be different suffix codes if they were in different car lines?


Sorry if I'm asking stupid questions, I'm pretty new to chevy motors.

Well, I don't know what to think now. It is definatly a D and only a D. You can tell the block is perfectly level and the numbers weren't milled off. You can read the TI223D clear as day (deep stampings), and there is nothing after it and nothing to make me think there was ever anything there. Most paint appears original.

Yes, there is a road draft tube on the back. Is that good? I mean, what does that tell me?

The motor was put in in the early 60s, and I know it's never been out of the car sense then, so any machine work, or if the motor was ever taken apart, it would have had to have been done then. With the motor being relatively new at the time, it was probably just dropped in.

What else can I look for? I guess the next step is to pull a valve cover and see what I can see. :HMMM:

Any more ideas? :(

Just another note on this. The single "D" is a valid code for a '58 two barrel equipped 283. Could be someone put a 4 bbl manifold on an engine originally produced as a 2bbl.
Got the info at this link:
http://www.yearone.com/updatedsingle...s/impala58.jpg

For more information there is a web site for Mortec, Inc. Any casting number can be found on their site. Check the head
casting numbers to find out 2 or 4 barrel, corvette or not.
The date casting number can tell you what year. This information
can also be found on thier site.

Do yourself a favor and look for the side motor mount bosses. If there are none, it is a 55-57. If they exist it is 58 or newer. This is the first and easiest to look at. Any of the pre 70 sbc can have a vette front mount bolted up. The offset valve cover bolts can be confusing because the early had them 55-57, yet my heads have straight across bolts and the heads on my 57 283's casting numbers indicate 57 FI heads (also known as 283 Power Pack)
also, if memery serves me, the first year of the 283 was 57.