IS this legit - AN "SS" stamping on a engine block with a casting # 1238861? SS I beleive is 1970 only (Stage 1) and 1238861 is a '71-'72 455 engine. Thanks for the input.
Should have been TS for 71. I could have been a factory mistake. What is the date code on the deck of the block?
Hi Ross - I agree with Jim, it should either be TS or WS, not SS, for that casting. Is there a VIN on the block, either between plugs #1 and #3 or on the front of the block below the head? Also, are there any other numbers stamped next to the 'SS'? PS - I finally had a chance to add you. thanks for the support and your patience :beer
Hi guys - did some more looking. No VIN between plugs 1+ 3. The only other marking I see is 1238864 - directly below the distributor / front of the block. The "SS" is clear (after I cleared off a lot of grime) and nothing else is stamped there - jsut "SS". This stamping "looks" legit as an original stamping. Thanks, Ross Marco - cool thanks for listing it. Further - there are some ID #'s down by the motor mounts - doubt that they would help, but let me know if so, Numbers followed by "Black" "Orange"
Ross, Check the casting date on the block for month date located under coil on top of block. I agree with the other guys since I used to own a 70 X stage 1 which had an SF standard block instead of a correct SS block. Factory mistake and I still have the papers to prove it. Check out all the other #'s on the car and see if they match.
Bill You had I presume a SF stamp on a 1231738 cast block both of which were period correct. In this case Ross has a 1970 model year SS stamp on a 71-72 cast number block. That 71-72 cast number was not even in esse in the 70 model year when the car was made. Explain to me how can that discrepancy in time frames can be explained as a factory mistake? I suggest that a possible explanation for what is now seen is that the original 70 1231738 cast engine was blown and the short block was replaced under warranty but not until the 72 model year. At that time perhaps all the 1231738 cast blocks had been used. So Buick sent the dealer doing the work a 71 -2 cast number block with the big valves and thus stamped the deck SS. I believe the practice at the time was to send these replacements to dealers without a VIN stamped on the deck. It was up to the dealer to stamp the Vin but some did and some did not. Maybe some dealers did not even have the stamps? [Edit Since posting the above Duane and Brad pointed out that a set of numbers on the block mean that the block could only have come from a 72 Riv donor car. Mystery solved. ]
Jim, Yes you are correct I guess I didn't read this post close enought and missed the casting number. .
