replacement blocks

[yountto]

"In other words you WILL NOT find a CTB coded 70 LT1 over the counter engine that was assembled after August of 1970, as there were none made after that with that code"................. Mark, How then do you explain the "CRR" stamped Ls6 coded 1972 1973 and later vintage Ls6 OTC motors???..They were built years after the 1970 Factory Ls6s..... I have 3 of them here and they were even built using #289 casting blocks as well as #512..build dates and CRR are stamped on the front pad....NO vins obviously.....I believe this was done because there werent any ls6/ls7 motors in 1971 production to change to another build code,hence CRR stayed for years after 1970 production on over the counter Ls6 motors......

[GMH454]

Crate motors is exactly what I was talking about. Thought I was clear but obviously not.
In my case know the guy who bought the short block, seen the block and storey documented by 30 year old paper.
Just because it is not common does not mean it never happened.

[Mark_C]

Can't explain that event. One would think that any engines left over at the end of production for a specific year, assuming they were not continued into the next years production, would be made available to the service group as crate engines. That allows the engine plant to charge the service group the cost of these engines as well as any other that were purposely built for service during the production year and closes out the books, making GM management happy. Anything that can't be transfered to another GM group has to be written off as scrap and results in a loss to the engine group.

Can't even imagine the process of walking into a GM dealer in 73 or so and ordering a complete CRR coded LS6, and assuming all the originally available crate engines were used up, having GM build one and still getting the correct casting numbers and everything else, but with current (at the time) casting dates. Maybe the answer is because it was an LS6, and not a more common engine like an LT1, or L48.

[Chevy454]

Here's some info, via some crazy Iowan...

[GMH454]

Embarrassing correction time.
Just got off the phone from the guy who bought the engine, and it was not from Nickey, sorry about that, a lot of other parts in the car were, and I got the storey crossed.
The engine was a complete LS7 marine engine, not a short block,
Terry

[Mark_C]

You won't find a VIN on the engine pad of 70 percent of the Camaros built in Norwood, and about 20 percent of the LA built Camaro during the 69 production year and every one of them was factory installed. Of course there is (or is suppossed to be) a VIN derivative on the side of the block above the oil filter.

A vast majority of the 67 Camaros didn't have VIN's on the pad either. Typically only the Z28's and SS's got VIN derivatives on the pad. Take the magazine article with a grain of salt, as it was mostly up to the assembly plant as to where the stamp got placed during assembly of the car. The rules from the Federal Govenment did get tighter and tighter with regards to component stamping as the years went by.

[JChlupsa]

I like this block

T0522CRR

[yountto]

Jeff, Wasnt that motor [Ls6] a GM over the counter performance upgrade option for the 1969 L72

[Schonyenko2]

Thank you Rob. from a "crazy Iowan"

[Kurt S]

One thing is for sure: an engine code was only stamped on the pad for a complete engine assembly (manifolds, dist, etc).

I think the LS6 OTC motors are the exception, not the rule.
Very few motors had a service part # for a totally complete assembly. The LS6 did, so they used the CRR engine code and ran it right down regular production line.

Other service motors were not complete assemblies and thus were not stamped with the application code, but as CE blocks.

Never seen a VIN stamped on a CE block. The dealers were also supposed to stamp the delivery date on the VIN tag up to 67. How many did??

I've never got a satisfactory answer on what happened to extra production motors. I'm digging again.
I do know they worked hard (and still do) to balance out the build so they used everything up to make room for the new model parts. Only so much room in the plant......