[tom406]

After some discussion on a Corvette Forum and some more investigation, I’m now of the thought that this is more likely an old restoration restamp that is a very good approximation of a late ‘60 build, but is not accurate for what was happening earlier in the model year for a couple of reasons. It was pointed out that Flint engine assembly wasn’t using zeros in their month stampings during calendar year 1959 (a commenter said it changed during January 1960). I found a July ‘59 283 on Ebay that shows a “7” instead of an “07” on the assembly stamping which supports that. The first hand stamped serial numbers on 1960 Corvettes appear to use a larger, more stylized font stamping as you can see on #2949. A gang stamp was later used, and I’ve been using #9668 as an example of a good stamping, since it is from a car that was said to be in the man’s family since 1962 and everyone who looked at the picture seemed to agree it was correct. As far as why a 30 year old build of a ‘57 Chevy would have a restamped block, the car also had a ‘59 Rochester FI unit on it, so whoever put it together was likely familiar with and traded in the arena of early Corvette engines and parts.