1. 283 Chevy Engine Serial Number Location Engine
2. 283 Chevy Engine Serial Number Location 2001 Honda Foreman Rubicon
3. 283 Chevy Engine Serial Number Location Finder
4. 283 Chevy Engine Serial Number Location 1

The casting number is located on the driver's side, top rear of the engine block. The number on the front passenger side of the engine block will NOT tell you the displacement of the engine block. I used a lumber crayon to highlight my casting number. I still got it wrong the first time. I also have a 3 inch body lift which makes seeing the number easier. Your view of the number will vary, but this is where it is located. In 68-69 model cars, the serial (VIN) number of the car the engine was installed in is stamped next to, or under the engine code ID. Starting in 1970, the serial number is stamped either above the oil filter, somewhere on the block pad (in front of the cylinder head), or on the transmission flange somewhere.

Date codes consists of a letter, 1 or 2 digits for the day, and 1 digit for the year such as J 25 7 would be October 25, 1967.

The block casting number on small block and big block Chevy V8 motors is located on a ledge found at the rear of the block, most often on the driver's side. This ledge is below the deck of the block and the ledge forms the mating surface between the block and the transmission bellhousing.

Engine Assembly Date/Suffix Code:
The engine assembly code looks similar to this: T0601ED. In this case the first letter 'T' stands for an engine factory Tonawanda Engine Plant, either 'F' or 'V' would indicate Flint, MI., 'K' is used for McKinnon Industries while 'S' is used for Saginaw Service. The next two digits stand for the month of the year. In this example '06' or the sixth month, June. The '01' stands for the 1st day of the month. Sometimes (but not always) the letter 'I' is substituted for the number '1'.

So what do we have so far in this example? The motor was assembled at the Tonawanda factory on June 1st. The year is not specifically stamped. What we have left is the 'suffix code' which in this example is ED, a 1966 396cid/325hp for a manual transmission. Chevy used one to three letters of the alphabet to code the type of engine, transmission and vehicle into the suffix code. In that case you might see 'T0601ED 6A174373' stamped into the pad on the front passenger side of the block. In this example, 6A174373 decodes to 1966 Atlanta final assembly, and the last six digits of the VIN. Depending on the year and plant, the partial VIN could be stamped into a different area of the block; the flange edge of the rear of the block near the bellhousing mating surface, the rough cast area next to the oil filter and sometimes the stamping is found above the timing cover mating surface on the front of the block.

Beginning January 1, 1968 the federal government requested voluntary compliance of identifying major parts of a motor vehicle by inscribing or affixing an identifying number or symbol on major parts. As far as research has shown, Chevrolet did comply. by stamping a partial VIN on all engine blocks⁽¹⁾. Again, the location on the block may vary between the plants and years but one change was made in 1968. The GM division number ('1' for Chevrolet) was added to the partial VIN. A 1968 version of an Atlanta partial VIN stamping would 18A174373.

vs.

Beginning in late 1969 model year, 3-letter engine suffix codes were used on the engine pad. This example happens to be a September 22-built 1970 396 engine with a TH400 transmission as noted by the CTW suffix code.

The plant, date, and engine ID codes were stamped at the respective engine assembly plants while the partial VINs (when applicable) were stamped at the final assembly plant. Therefore the two stampings will have different fonts, character sizes, and in some cases will be stamped at different locations on the engine block.

There is another type of stamping found on some blocks. This is the 'CE' code. You might see something like this 'CE056789' on the front pad of the block deck on the passenger side. The 'CE' stands for 'Chevrolet Engine' but is often erroneously referred to as 'Counter Engine', 'Counter Exchange' and 'Crate Engine' was used on blocks that were warranty replacement engines. If a customer had problems with his original engine, while it was under warranty, it was replaced with an engine that was stamped 'CE' with a 6-digit number following it which serialized that particular engine. It's important to note that the 'CE' designation for replacement Chevrolet engines did not start until 1968 so any year designation in the engine number would be for 1968 and later. The CE block stamp year is the year the block was stamped and not for what year of car the block was destined for since a generic block for fitted engine could be used as a warranty replacement for any number of years' engines, applications, and for cars produced from any assembly plant.

Here you can clearly see the CE067997 stamping on the engine pad. This one produced in 1970 at Tonawanda with engine serial number 67997.

Here you can clearly see the CE173170 stamping on the engine pad. This one produced in 1971 at Tonawanda with engine serial number 73170.

Another CE stamping, this one is 066953 from 1970.

A calendar year 1973 replacement engine #356957

A calendar year 1973 replacement engine #367742

283 Chevy Engine Serial Number Location Engine

Warranty engines will be date stamped on the starter mount pad. Here T099 represents Tonawanda (T), September (09), 1969 (9)

Warranty engines will be date stamped on the starter mount pad. Here T099 represents Tonawanda (T), June (06), 1973 (3)

It's been reported that beginning in 1970, if more engines were needed at a given plant in a year than the range of sequence numbers allotted, the plant would re-use the numbers using the letter 'A' after the 'CE' and year designation. For example, Tonawanda was assigned the sequence range of 50,000 to 79,999 so if more engines were required the numbering would start over again at 50,000 but the 'CE' prefix would become 'CExA' where 'x' is the year such as CE0A50000.

It is believed this method of identifying replacement engines stopped after the 1975 model year. This is supported by a notation in a 1976 dated Chevrolet parts book, 'The engine plants are to stamp the serial pad of all current model service engines with the source, production date, and same type designation as stamped on a comparable production engine.'

Partial VIN stamping on engine blocks.

Often referred to as a gang stamp because the partial VIN characters (or in this case a Flint engine plant stamp) was used to 'gang' the characters into one even line for stamping as opposed to each character being individually stamped.

Before a federal mandate that all engine blocks be stamped with a partial VIN, generally, only the 396 engines from 1965, 1966 & 1967 Chevelles along with the L79 engine blocks from 1965 & 1967 Chevelles were stamped with a partial VIN. These were done by hand and by individual character often resulting in some very strange looking engine pads. The partial VIN consisted of a single number representing the model year, a letter for the final assembly plant, and followed by the six-digit sequence number of the vehicle.

Beginning January 1, 1968, by federal mandate, all engine blocks would be stamped with a partial VIN consisting of a single number for the General Motors division (Chevrolet's number is '1'), followed by the same information as before; the model year, plant, and sequence number. General Motors standardized this procedure by using what's called a 'gang stamp' as shown in the photo above. Each individual stamped character was placed in a holder and secured before the engine block was struck by the employee responsible for doing this task. This holder allowed for consistency in the particular characters used and assured the partial VIN stamp was uniformly done from car to car. Even though some plants elected to stamp partial VINs on other locations beside the engine pad (such as the rough cast area by the oil filter boss or on the bellhousing flange), most plants for most years did stamp the partial VIN on the engine pad next to the Flint or Tonawanda engine assembly date and ID letters.

1970 Van Nuys example of the partial VIN stamped on the rough cast area by the oil filter.

1970 Atlanta example of the partial VIN stamped on the engine pad.

Not to say mistakes weren't made as the person responsible had to insure the numbers were changed for each vehicle as necessary. The plants employed a 'blank' stamp to obliterate a mistaken stamp so the corrected stamp could be applied.

⁽¹⁾ There is a question as to whether this date is accurate for federal mandate that engine blocks be stamped with a partial VIN. The information has been found on numerous Ford sites such as http://428cobrajet.org/id-block.html stating, 'Starting in 1967 for the 1968 model year, Ford began stamping partial VIN information on production engine blocks to meet the requirements of Title 49, United States Code, Subtitle VI, Part C, Chapter 331 (effective January 1, 1968).' Reading section 33107 'Voluntary vehicle identification number' sounds more like this was not mandated but was voluntary to comply as long as they did comply with sections 33102 and 33103. See http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/49C331.txt or search the Internet for 'Title 49, United States Code, Subtitle VI, Part C, Chapter 331' for more websites with information.

MoPar forums searched seem to indicate that MoPar didn't follow the compliance until sometime midyear, 1968.

Transmission

Transmissions were also subject to replacement, be it just the case or the entire transmission. These will have a stamp something like 'CC' for Chevrolet Case or 'CT' for Chevrolet Transmission. The same information about partial VINs on engine blocks also applies to transmissions.

General Decoding Information
This topic can be somewhat confusing, especially with the amount of information available and the interpretation of it.The primary pieces of information you'll decode are the Engine Code and Partial VIN. You can decode the casting number. And you can check dates.The engine code and partial vin # will accurately nail down whatever the thing is rather quickly, and the other information will fall into line with that.If you already know what you're doing, Chevy Engine Codes are listed down below.

Let's decode something real quick like, you can read the details further down below:

Here's an engine. I can see the partial VIN (13N132794) and the engine code (V0112CLJ).
Quickly from the partial vin I know this is a Chevy (1) 1973 model year (3) built in Norwood Ohio (N).
132794 is the unique vehicle serial number (to match against vehicle VIN).
I know Norwood built Camaros - among other things. So I'm dealing with something from a 1973 Camaro.
Now to the engine code.
V0112 (flint, january 12th)
CLJ in 1973 is a 245 horsepower 350 used in a Z28 Camaro mated to a manual transmission.
Knowing this, I can conclude the original vehicles VIN is or was 1Q87T3N132794.
If that happens to be the vehicle this engine is currently sitting in they 'match'.
I'm Done.I can GUESS the casting # is 3970010 and check casting dates, etc... but using these 2 things, I already know EXACTLY what this was.

Here's another:
10S437638 & V0312CTG.
1970... S... St. Louis (built Vettes & Impalas). 4xxx is the Corvette Range. Yikes.
CTG - in 1970.... RPO ZQ3, 300hp 350 in a Corvette.
... and the Casting # is.... 3970010.

My point here I guess is... trying to decode '3970010' is almost pointless. It's a 350.If you're trying to buy a 350 and you see this thing laying on the ground, then there it is. But if you want to know EXACTLY what the thing is - you need more than the casting #. Once you identify something - like the above vette block, then you can conclude whatother pieces and parts should have been on it, and check those casting #'s. And/or - you can check dates to make sure everything came together when original.

ONE NOTE: Casting #'s will trump the code on a descrepancy. Take the above CLJ example. In 1987 CLJ is a 305 L69 in a monte carlo, or in 1971 it's a 400 from amonte carlo. So when the arguement over 305, 350 or 400 comes up... now you look at the casting #. 3970010.... bang, it's a 350. That eliminates the 400 and 305 possibilities.

As you can see - codes are reused and/or they span years. This is why I looked at the VIN code 1st. 1973 - eliminates every other possiblity. Everything else lines upand there's no confusion.

Engine Code Stamping Numbers
All engines are stamped with an engine ID code, consisting of assembly plant code, productiondate and suffix code. The location of this code depends on the type of engine, typically as follows:
Small Block Chevy: Machined pad in front of the passenger side cylinder head. Often hidden by the alterator.
Big Block Chevy: Machined pad in front of the passenger side cylinder head or above timing chain cover.
Six Cylinder: Passenger side of the block behind the distributor.
The prefix portion of the ID code tells you the engine assembly plant code, and the engine's assemblydate (for example, 0701 = July 1st....no year is indicated). The suffix portion tells you the original application, vehicle model, engine RPO/ transmission / horsepower, etc... (for example, CTY = 1970 396 Camaro, 375 hp, 11.0:1, TH400).

The engine assembly date must precede the car build date (often by a few days), otherwise something is amiss. Some engine machining operations (decking) will obliterate the engine ID.

Engine ID Code Example: V0101CLJ - (V = Plant, 01 = Month, 01 = Day, CLJ = Engine Suffix Code)
Another example: T0830CTY - (T = Tonawanda, 08 = August, 30 = 30th day, CTY = 1970 396 Camaro, 375 hp, 11.0:1, TH400)

VIN Code Format
The vin code format is stamped onto most engines. The format consists of divisional identificationnumber, model year, assembly plant designation and vehicle serial or sequence number.
In 68-69 model cars, the serial (VIN) number of the car the engine was installed in is stampednext to, or under the engine code ID.
Starting in 1970, the serial number is stamped either above the oil filter, somewhere on the blockpad (in front of the cylinder head), or on the transmission flange somewhere. Chevrolet issuedtechnical service bulletins to indicate which engines were to recieve a vin stamp, so who knows whatcould have happend (or not happened).

283 Chevy Engine Serial Number Location 2001 Honda Foreman Rubicon

VIN code format Example: 13N100001
(1 = Chevrolet, 3 = 1973, N = Norwood, 100001 = Production sequence of vehicle VIN)

For a list of assembly plants, clickhere.

Suffix Portion of Chevy Engine Code

Suffix codes are either alphabetical or alphanumeric. Select the portion of the alphabet for your code. For example, select 'DTR-HQ' if you'd like to find code DZ. In some cases suffix codes are reused twice or more over time, in this event check the partial VIN code or block casting date code and then see what year the block was made to pin down what application your block was originally used in. This list of codes is a summarization, it is not complete nor all inclusive.

Note: CODE CExxxx (counter or crate engine) was used from 1968 to current year. It represents any CID and is used to indicate this particular engine was replaced under Warranty. It is a direct replacement for the original equipment. It doesn't indicate what the original equipment was.

VF292800 - is an example of a over the counter crate engine. '2800' is the last 4 digitsof the GM part # for the crate engine assembly. The final digit could be a year code.
Another example: A Targetmaster engine (p/n 14009800) built in 1985 could have a code stampedas follows:
A0198005 (A = january, 01, 9800 = pn, 5 = 1985).

Here's something secret I've been working on since 2005.

'Numbers Matching'
This is my opinion, and the generally accepted norm:
When people say 'It's numbers matching' - what they mean is the engine (or other component, i.e the transmission) can be MATCHED to the vehicle it was originally used in. This match is done via the PARTIAL VIN stamp on the component. The partial VIN will match the vehicles VIN. If it does - it's 'numbers matching',otherwise - it's not. done. end of story.
Some folks use these terms loosely, or will say 'numbers correct' or something to that effect. But numbers correct is not numbers matching. Again, it either matchesor it doesn't. If it doesn't match - is it correct?
Numbers matching is important when you're trying to decode a Z28 or Super Sport where the VIN won't identify the vehicle as such. You need to decode the engineand see if it matches the vehicle, and if the code signifies Z28 or SS equipment.
Lastly, in extreme cases, you'll want to verify the numbers stamped onto the component were the ones stamped into it originally and aren't restamped.
The point of this article is to help you figure out how to decode stuff.

What good is knowing the transmission? MT (or Manual transmission) IMPLIES - the boss (or the pivot itself) for the clutch Z-bar is present and threaded and the crankshaft can accomodate a pilot bearing. Good news is 99.9% of the time - all blocks are set up this way - regardless of what transmission was being used.

Hey man - is this a 4 bolt main?
I have no idea.... drilling the holes is a machining operation. It can be done on any 3970010 (or other) block. 99% of the time, the casting # won't indicate anything.HOWEVER - the engine code MAY HINT at this fact. Take a truck 350. If it codes out as a 1/2 ton application - we can bet money it's only a 2 bolt. but if it's a 3/4 or 1ton application, or some high powered application, you can ASSUME it might just be a 4 bolt main. Both of the above 350 examples are 4 bolt mains due to the application.The only guarantee is to take off the pan and look.

283 Chevy Engine Serial Number Location Finder

What's this A/F/X stuff?
This is the GM body designation. All these are identified here.Quickly, A = Chevelle, F = Camaro, X = Nova. If you're looking at the engine code - this is already known. If you're looking at the casting # information and it mentions3970010 'A/F/X/Y/B'.... basically this means 'it's used in everything', whereas if it simply states 'Y'... this means corvette.

283 Chevy Engine Serial Number Location 1