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Engine Dates/Partial VINs

The date consists of a letter, 1 or 2 digits for the day, and 1 digit for the year such as J 25 8 would be October 8, 1968.

Partial VIN stamping on engine block

Partial VIN stamp

Engine date/suffix code stamp

Often referred to as a "gang stamp" because the partial VIN characters (and engine assembly plant date/suffix codes) was used to 'gang' the characters into one even line for stamping as opposed to each character being individually stamped.

Before a federal mandate that all engine blocks be stamped with a partial VIN, generally, only the 396 engines from 1967 were stamped with a partial VIN. These were done by hand and by individual character often resulting in some very strange looking engine pads. The partial VIN consisted of a single number representing the model year, a letter for the final assembly plant, and followed by the six-digit sequence number of the vehicle. The partial VIN characters are a different size (and font) from the engine plant's date and suffix code and were stamped at two different places and times.

Beginning January 1, 1968, by federal mandate, all engine blocks would be stamped with a partial VIN consisting of a single number for the General Motors division (Chevrolet's number is "1"), followed by the same information as before; the model year, plant, and sequence number. General Motors standardized this procedure by using what's called a "gang stamp" as shown in the photo above. Each individual stamped character was placed in a holder and secured before the engine block was struck by the employee responsible for doing this task. This holder allowed for consistency in the particular characters used and assured the partial VIN stamp was uniformly done from car to car.

Not to say mistakes weren't made as the person responsible had to insure the numbers were changed for each vehicle as necessary. The plants employed a 'blank' stamp to obliterate a mistaken stamp so the corrected stamp could be applied.

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