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Looking for a little assistance on the engine Vin # locaton on a 1967 396BBC...Correct me if I am wrong but should the engine code and partial vin number be located on the front pad on the passenger side head? If the vin number is not there does this mean that the block may have been decked?

I removed the paint and there are no numbers or letters visible.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Mike

The vin number should be on the stamp pad beside the assembly stamp for a 67 motor. Pictures would help to determine if it has been decked or not.

Does anyone know (ball park) how many thousands of an inch would it take to deck a block so that the letters and numbers would not be visisble on the stamp pad? .010 or .020 ?

Mike

Not all 1967 engines had the VIN stamped on them. It would seem that "SS" and Z28 cars had the VIN stamps and others may not have been stamped, the same also applies to transmissions for 1967!

Agreed Ken, but...

a 396 is an SS.

And, even without a partial vin stamp, the engine code and build date would still be on the pad, right?

I agree with you Jim, but is that the original engine from that car? It could be a truck motor. Just my thoughts on the question that's all, not everything is as it seems!

Ken/Jim,
Thanks for the reply...What I have is a 396 out of a 67 SS Chevelle...I traded a friend of mine a 454 (truck engine 230hp) for the 396...I'm a small BBC type of guy and I rather have the 396 attached to my engine stand than the 454...

I can see that the block has been decked but I don't know how much...I plan on doing a total rebuild and the CC ratio would be affected by the block decking...It's been decked just enough where the numbers and letters are no longer visiable.

I was just wondering if there is somebody here with machine work experience that may be able to tell me about how much it would take (ball park #)to mill off the numbers and letters.

Thanks

Mike

.010 would leave a slight hint of numbers if they were strong to start with. .020 would wipe it completely clean 90% of the time. It really depends how strong they were stamped.

Thanks for the reply Daniel.

Thanks for clearing that up for us Mike, looks like the numbers are gone....ouch!!