Re: Factory engine mis-stamp
Tom,
I've documented an original '63 Impala SS Sport Coupe built at St. Louis with it's original 2x4 409 and Muncie trans. The VIN stamp on the block matches the car's VIN, but the stamp on the trans is 7 digits off. The odds against this trans being from another car, and somehow finding it's way onto this car years later are too high to believe that could have happened.
Unless the dealer had ordered two cars at the same time, lost the trans in one of them due to an overzealous test ride, then swaped transmissions to sell the car, I'd have to believe the switch (or mistake) happened at St. Louis.
It's my understanding that the trans was already bolted to the engine when the VIN was stamped on both the engine and the trans, but perhaps, the two different VINs were stamped on the trannys while they were still on the pallet, and the wrong one got bolted up. I'm sure no "end of the line" inspector bothered to crawl under the car to check for that.
Verne.
|