What year is my engine

[Pflugerman]

I know this is a very common question but I am trying to ID the year of my inline 250. I would appreciate some help:


Block casting: 473483
I assume this is a date stamp but don't know. It is to the right of the block casting: E130
Also on the head behind the distributer is: 2084F68


Any help is appreciated!

[Pflugerman]

Perhaps I can get some if you more knowledgeable folks to help by asking if the E130 means May 13 1970 as a date on the engine? I suspect that the engine is not the same year as the truck and I am having a hard time knowing what parts to ask for.
Please help!

[bruceman1968]

I have 473483 listed as a 1979 or 1980, 250 block. That would make your date code May 13 1980.

[Pflugerman]

Thanks Bruceman. Not real good news. Think I have a mix and match engine.

[Pflugerman]

What is head is the significance of the number behind the distributer? 2084F68

[bruceman1968]

That space is usually for the engine stamp code and on some engines, also the partial VIN number. Your suffix code (last 2or3 digits of the engine stamp code) is numbers (68) and they should be letters. So I think the 2084F68 is a partial VIN from the original 1980 vehicle that the motor came out of.
Check that pad again and see if there is another set of numbers/letters. In this format: V0511TCA (1 letter, 4 numbers, then 3 letters)

[Pflugerman]

I did look again just to make sure but here is the picture that helped my old tired eyes see the numbers. So what does one do with a partial vin?

[bruceman1968]

Partial Vin ties the engine to the car or truck, But that's not a partial Vin. That's a casting number. Partial Vins are stamped.

So I just looked for that Head Casting Number and came up with nothing. Sorry about that. I'll keep looking and see what I can come up with.

[Pflugerman]

Thanks.

[bruceman1968]

Have you checked the pad behind the distributor for stamped numbers? That's where the engine stamp code should be.

['68OrangeSunshine]

VIN numbers stamped into the block is a Car thing. Trucks were expected to have new engines installed if they broke down during their operational life as a work truck. 'Sport Truck' was an oxymoron back in the day, so there should be no VIN number on a truck block.
The 'engine dress code' was a system that showed successive members of the assembly teams what that engine was, when built, and what accessories or equipment to hang on it, as it swung on a line overhead, was bolted into a chassis and became part of a truck.
I have a known 1967 292 block stamped: F0626UH. That breaks down as--
F= Flint Mich.
06 = June
26 - 26th
UH = 292 w/ Manual Transmission '67/'68

[bruceman1968]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

VIN numbers stamped into the block is a Car thing. Trucks were expected to have new engines installed if they broke down during their operational life as a work truck. 'Sport Truck' was an oxymoron back in the day, so there should be no VIN number on a truck block.
The 'engine dress code' was a system that showed successive members of the assembly teams what that engine was, when built, and what accessories or equipment to hang on it, as it swung on a line overhead, was bolted into a chassis and became part of a truck.
I have a known 1967 292 block stamped: F0626UH. That breaks down as--
F= Flint Mich.
06 = June
26 - 26th
UH = 292 w/ Manual Transmission '67/'68

This is a 1980 block and we still don't know if it came out of a car or truck.

[Pflugerman]

Originally Posted by bruceman1968

Have you checked the pad behind the distributor for stamped numbers? That's where the engine stamp code should be.

Attachment 1165299

I will look for the stamp tonite.

[Pflugerman]

No engine stamp code so that makes it a truck engine, right?

['68OrangeSunshine]

Trucks were stamped too, just no VINs.
Rebuilders sometimes machine this info off either because it's no longer relevant to them or they want to stamp their own mark or serial/inventory number.
2084F68 might be one of those.
Dress engine stamp 3-letter suffix codes for a 1980 [4.1 L] 250 L6 are: TAB, TAF, TAH, TCA, TCD, TCJ.

[Pflugerman]

You know what's wild here, is the little 1 brl doesn't have a carburetor idle control solenoid like what you would find on a latter model setup eg 1980. The little Rochester is like the one found on a 69. Got the carburetor and idle set as good as it will without a kit and runs pretty will for a mix and match. Think I need to rebuild the hei. It all looks very old in there. So any suggestions to how to ID the hei.. by year or what?

[bruceman1968]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

Trucks were stamped too, just no VINs.

Truck blocks got stamped with partial VINs starting sometime in the mid 70's. So his 1980 block, car or truck, would have had a engine ID stamp and a partial VIN stamped on the pad.