1970 Chevelle Flint & Tonawanda Date/Suffix Stamps

The '396' L34 & L78 engines were actually 402 cubic inches in 1970. The L34/L78 & L89 aluminum head option on the L78 figures are for Chevelle ("A" body), Camaro ("F" body), and Nova ("X" body) platforms and are broken down as such.

The LS3 is a 402 cid Mark IV engine listed as a Turbo-Jet 400 and was available on all factory V8 wagons, the standard Chevelle series sport coupe and pickup, and all Malibu series body styles including the Custom El Camino that were NOT SS optioned. The LS3 was not available when the Z25 SS 396 equipment option was ordered. The LS3 was identified with '400' emblems on the front fenders in the same manner as the '350' and '307' emblems.

There are also several suffix code designations that are not shown in the available report from the Tonawanda engine plant and therefore it is assumed the quantity of these engines is included with another such as the L34 engine with Heavy Duty Clutch has a suffix of CTZ which is not shown in the report and any quantities of this engine is incorporated into the CTX suffix coded L34 w/manual transmission. These engine codes with no specifically known numbers will be shown with an asterisk (*) for identification.

L34 figures: The L34 is the base engine for RPO Z25. A total of 53,599 Z25 optioned Chevelles were sold. By subtracting the L78 optional engine and L89 option Chevelle production of 2,162 it leaves a total of 51,437 L34 Chevelles. Tonawanda engine totals are for all Chevelle, Camaro, and Nova series.

LS5 figures: The LS5 is the base engine for RPO Z15. A total of 8,773 Z15 optioned Chevelles were sold. By subtracting the LS6 optional engine production of 4,475 it leaves a total of 4,298 LS5 Z15 optioned Chevelles. Actually fewer base LS5 Z15 Chevelles were sold than the optional LS6 engine.

RPO	hp	Transmission	Suffix	Production	Notes
LS3	330	Manual	CKR	1,275
LS3	330	Manual	CKS *		Heavy Duty Clutch
LS3/M40	330	TH-400	CKN	8,368
				9,643	Total LS3 Engines
				9,338	Total LS3 Chevelles
96.8% of total LS3 engine production went into vehicles in 1970.				0,305	Service Engines

L34	350	Manual	CTX	28,414	A-F-X body
L34	350	Manual	CTZ *		A body - Heavy Duty Clutch
L34/M40	350	TH-400	CTW	31,004	A-F-X body
				59,418	Total L34 Engines
L34 Production "A" body			51,437
L34 Production "F" body			1,802
L34 Production "X" body			1,864	59,418	Total L34 Engines
				55,103	Total L34 Vehicles (all)
92.7% of total L34 engine production went into vehicles in 1970.				04,315	Service Engines

L78	375	Manual	CKO	5,572	A-F-X body
L78	375	Manual	CKQ *		A body - Heavy Duty Clutch
L78/M40	375	TH-400	CTY	1,338	A-F-X body
				6,910	Total L78 Engines
L78 Production "A" body			2,144
L78 Production "F" body			600
L78 Production "X" body			3,765	6,910	Total L78 Engines
				6,509	Total L78 Cars (all)
94.2% of total L78 engine production went into vehicles in 1970.				0,401	Service Engines

L89	375	Manual	CKT	18	"A" only - Aluminum Head
L89	375	Manual	CKU *		Heavy Duty Clutch
L89/M40	375	TH-400	CKP	10	"A" only
				28	Total L89 Engines
				18	Total L89 "A" Vehicles
64.3% of total L89 option engine production went into vehicles in 1970.				10	Service Engines

LS5	360	Manual	CRT	2,763
LS5	360	Manual	CRU *
LS5/M40	360	TH-400	CRQ	2,197
				4,960	Total LS5 Engines
				4,298	Total LS5 Chevelles **
				0,662	Service Engines
87% of total LS5 engine production went into Z15 Chevelles in 1970.
** This number of LS5 engines does not include the 3,833 that were sold with the Z20 Monte Carlo SS454 option with suffix code of CRN.

LS6	450	Manual	CRV	3,525
LS6	450	Manual	CRX *
LS6/M40	450	TH-400	CRR	1,923
				5,448	Total LS6 Engines
				4,475	Total LS6 Chevelles
				0,973	Service Engines
82.1% of total LS6 engine production went into Chevelles in 1970.

The date and suffix code is always stamped on the engine pad as the above example show. The partial VIN stamping location seems to vary from plant to plant and will even change during a model year. Listed are locations reported for the various plants.

Plant	Engine Pad	Oil Filter	Bellhousing Flange
Arlington	Yes
Atlanta	Yes
Baltimore	Yes	Yes
Flint	Yes	Yes
Kansas City	Yes
Van Nuys	Yes	Yes	Yes
Oshawa	Yes

Engine Stamps

Arlington, Texas

Arlington Partial VIN
Engine pad, Arlington, TX.

© ChevelleWorld
T0318CTX - L34 with manual transmission - note the engine block was stamped with the date and suffix code at Tonawanda before the heads were installed.

© ChevelleWorld
T0318CTX - L34 with manual transmission - note the engine block was stamped with the date and suffix code at Tonawanda before the heads were installed. Also note that even though this engine and the example just above it are both dated March 19, the sequence numbers for the Chevelles they were installed in are almost 57,000 units apart.

© ChevelleWorld
T0616CRV - LS6 with manual transmission- a bit suspect due to the font on the first number 6 in the date.

Atlanta, Georgia

© ChevelleWorld
T1216CRQ - LS5 with TH400 transmission. Interesting to note the time difference between the engine's build of December 16, 1969 and car's sequence putting it in very late July.

Baltimore, Maryland

1970 Baltimore partial VIN
Oil filter pad, Baltimore, MD.

© ChevelleWorld
Both the Tonawanda stamp and partial VIN stamp are so bad I won't embarrass any potential owner but it was advertised as a 'numbers matching' LS6 by a heretofore reputable auction company.

Flint, Michigan

Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City Partial VIN
Engine pad, Kansas City, MO.

© ChevelleWorld
T0112CRE - L48 with TH350 transmission. Just to show the difference between a big-block and small-block stamping, all big-block engine ID stamps were on the left of the engine pad with the assembly plant's partial VIN stamped on the right where small-blocks were just the opposite, engine ID stamp on the right with the partial VIN on the left. Also note the Kansas City partial VIN stamping is upside down which is typical of Kansas City in 1970.

Los Angeles (Van Nuys), California

© ChevelleWorld
T0311CRR - LS6 with TH400 transmission. Questionable due to the second "R" being out of alignment and font does not look correct.

Van Nuys partial VIN
Oil filter pad, Van Nuys, CA.

Oshawa, Ontario, Canada

Oshawa, Ontario

Miscellaneous Engine ID Stamp

Sample Engine Compartments

These are just examples of the various engines offered in 1970 and are NOT meant to show 100% correctness in the engine compartment layout.

L48

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LS6 - 454/450p with CO coded dual snorkel air cleaner assembly used on mid to late LS6 454 engines without Cowl Induction Hood to replace the open element air cleaner assembly.

1970 Chevelle Flint & Tonawanda Date/Suffix Stamps

1964

1965

1966

1967

1968

1969

1970

1971