Block casting number 3932386 question

[ChevLoRay]

I got the casting number from my block, you know...the number that's behind the drivers' side head? Then, I went to the nastyz28 site and located the numbers. Ready? 3932386. The list showed 3 different applications, none of which were for a truck, necessarily. The first listed app is a '69 Z28, 302/290 horsepower 4-bolt mains. The engine ID doesn't end in anything that says DZ. The next app is a 69 327 210horse 2-bolt mains. Then, it's a 69 350/300HP 4-bolt mains LT1.

The engine ID (last letters) indicate my engine to be a 255horse, 350CID, 4-bbl engine with a TH400 in a truck. That agrees with my SPID sheet.

I reckon the same block casting number can be used in different apps, but you'd think that my casting number would have also been shown to be in trucks.

Reckon I oughta let the website owner know what I have?

[too much stuff]

Looks like a pass car to me. 327 or 350 from 68-74. Are you sure the last number is a 6 and not an 8?

[ChevLoRay]

Yep. The engine ID, on the pad in front of the passenger head ties the engine to my SPID sheet.

But, just to be safe, I'll go re-read it and get the ID number, too. I've had this truck for 11 years, so I feel good about what I have.

Like I said, just because the casting number indicates what it does, doesn't mean that those castings are used exclusively for the apps that I listed in my first post. Don't all three of those engines use the same bore ID and spacing? Stroke is the only real difference, although I also know that compression, number of bolts on main bearings, etc., are going to be different based on what the engine is to be.

Now, let me go get those numbers......

Block casting number is re-confirmed....3935386.

Engine ID is V0924WK

[too much stuff]

What is the date code on the block?

[ChevLoRay]

Where do I find it? The engine is on a stand, but still buttoned up.

[bruceman1968]

On the back flange near the casting number. Might be on the back pass. flange, I can't remember for sure, But it is CAST into the block, not stamped.
It is a letter followed by 3 numbers. Your first digit is probably a I and your last digit is probably a 9.......... As in I??9

[ChevLoRay]

The date code is 119. I didn't see any letter to the left of that. There are two nibs that I assume were part of the tag as it was placed in the mold. If straight up is 1, then this "clock" pointer is at 10. I don't know how you know where to start, but there's another dot to the right of the clock indicator at what would be 3 o'clock on an analog watch. Does that dot indicate the start of the shift? If the clock "hand" movement is clockwise, then it would seem to me that the time is 7, or 8, depending on which mark is the beginning of the shift. To the right of that, is the number 1.

What else can I tell you?

[beautimus]

I just went through this with a 6 cyl. engine. Several board members helped me find the id of the engine. From what i now understand, casting numbers don't mean much, because castings are pretty generic. So i gotta go with the id code on the block. The exact oposite is more important to me for cylinder heads because the shape of the ports are what a particular casting offers. That and wheather or not you have hardened steel exhaust seats, for unleaded fuel in place or if you have to have them added to an earlier head. just my feelings on casting numbers verses engine id numbers.
Tony

[67_C-30]

There should be a letter at the front of the date code. Like H 5 9 pr something like that. Your first may be an "I" and that would make it being being built Sept, 1 1969 if its I 1 9.

I have 2 of those blocks. The block is not worth anything more than any other block unless the stamped codes had significance. With that being said, there are lot of blocks being restamped and that is a desireable casting number if someone were going to do that.

[bruceman1968]

On thoes dots, there should be ten of them for a 10hr shift. The pointer is the start of the shift and the two dots is the hour in the shift.

On your date code the last number (9) is the year. From your casting number we know that 59 and 79 are not valid so yours is a 1969. From your Wk suffix code we know that your engine is a Truck motor, 1969, 350 cid, 255 hp, 400 trans, ls-9 RPO code, 4bbl carb, that came in 10, 20, and 30, 2wd trucks.

Also the same casting number is used for a lot of different apps. So are the suffix codes. That's why it sometimes takes all the pieces of the puzzle, so to speak to figure the thing out.

[ChevLoRay]

I'm satisfied with what I have and what I know. My truck was built in St. Louis, and was number 12,000 and some-odd assembled at that plant, for the 69 model run. The date on the seat belts is in September of 69. To the best of my ability and based on the condition of the chassis as we tore it down before we sandblasted/painted it, I am becoming convinced that it has 113K miles on it. No proof, other than my (ample) gut feeling.

I just thought it a coincidence that the casting number for the block didn't have any truck connotations, per the nastyz28 site. But, I have no reason to do anything but keep it and re-use it as GM intended...a truck engine.

[bruceman1968]

The casting number doesn't have any ties to a Truck. But the stamped engine ID suffix code does. WK in 1969 is definitely a truck motor C10 - C30. If you look up suffix code WK on nastyz it does say c-10 -35. Glad you got it sorted and the seatbelt date is a bonus. Can't wait for the pics

[ChevLoRay]

Okay, here's a pic....as it currently sits, at least at one of the places that I have parts....

[bruceman1968]

Cool, great start. Thanks for the pic

[FirstOwner69]

My '69 C20 also has that casting number. Casting date is K 27 8 and characters stamped on the pad are V1I30XD. Trans. is a TH400. I know the engine is original as I am the only owner.

[ChevLoRay]

I will try to find the letter that precedes the "119" that I found.

Is the casting date, the Julian date...i.e., the 119th day of the year? That would make the engine date from April, of '69, if true.

[bruceman1968]

Chev, The casting date is usually 1 letter then 3 numbers, But not always. To decode the first (only) letter is the month, A= jan., B=feb., C=mar., I=sept. ect.... Next one or two numbers is the day of the month, and the last number is the last number of the year. You found 119. well it should either be I119 or I19 OR it's 119 and the I is missing. But that doesn't matter, The 9, the last number, is what we wanted cause that says 59, 69, or 79. Your casting number narrowed it down to 1969, and the WK suffix code gave us the rest. With block castings sometimes letters or numbers get unreadable or gone from the casting process. From your engine stamp code V0924WK,,, V= flint, 09 = september, 24 = the day, and WK is the suffix code. So We know that September 24 is the engine ASSEMBLY date, so the block casting date must be eariler. So your 11 is either the 11TH of sept or it's I19 for sept, 1 1969. With the block casting date it just tells when the block was cast. Then the block gets machined and then assembled. Your block was CAST on the 1st or the 11th and it was ASSEMBLED on the 24th of sept. 1969. You really don't need to look for the I, because we know it's sept from the engine block stamped code V0924WK. The I is just the month of casting. It's the 9 that we needed to complete the puzzle.

[bruceman1968]

Originally Posted by FirstOwner69

My '69 C20 also has that casting number. Casting date is K 27 8 and characters stamped on the pad are V1I30XD. Trans. is a TH400. I know the engine is original as I am the only owner.

Let's do this one just for fun. 3932386 is the block casting number, and it was used from 1968 to 1974.

The cast block date code is K278
K= november
27= nov. 27
8= 1968 cause these blocks were only cast from 68 to 74. so the 8 must be 1968

The stamped block code is V1130XD
V= Flint
11= november
30= the 30th or november 30th. which is the ASSEMBLY date.
This block was cast on nov 27 1968 and asslembled on nov 30, 1968
XD= 1969 350cid, 255HP, 400 trans, 4bbl, Truck motor, with emissions.

[bollybib]

My block has the same 3932386 casting number. I'm pretty certain that it is original to the truck. Refer to Posts #38-41 in my Project thread.

(i should check my seatbelt codes, too)
Later in the day I did just that. See Post #41 in my Project thread.

[ChevLoRay]

bruceman1968, thanx for your input. My statement that it reads "119" is probably "I19". Casting in iron, and making an "I" distinct in comparison to a "1" is difficult. So, I'm going with it being an "I",since there are only 3 characters.

With the September, '68 dates on the seat belts, and your statement that the engine was assembled on September 24, for the '69 model year, I am convinced that my truck was built in September of '68. It is the 12,417th truck built at St. Louis, but no way to know what was built before it, nor what other series those trucks may have been. I don't know what date that the new '69's were made available to the buying public, so this one may have been one of the earliest ones on the lot. In September of '68, I was on the island of Taiwan, making a deal on a '66 Honda S90, which I then customized into a cafe racer style. But, it was still a Honda 90.

The "Right to Privacy" laws prevent me from being able to research the title history of my truck, so I am left wondering a lot about its' starting owner. All I know is that my truck was black with a black cloth interior, with PS, PB, and AC. It had the upper/lower side moldings and it had door edge guards (still have 'em). It had 2000-lb rear springs (coil) so towing must have been in the mind of the original owner. It had the ugly iron step bumper, but it is history. The guy I bought it from in '99, had pulled a 26-ft bumper pull camping trailer.

So, thanks for all your help.

[67_C-30]

Originally Posted by ChevLoRay

bruceman1968, thanx for your input. My statement that it reads "119" is probably "I19". Casting in iron, and making an "I" distinct in comparison to a "1" is difficult. So, I'm going with it being an "I",since there are only 3 characters.

With the September, '68 dates on the seat belts, and your statement that the engine was assembled on September 24, for the '69 model year, I am convinced that my truck was built in September of '68. It is the 12,417th truck built at St. Louis, but no way to know what was built before it, nor what other series those trucks may have been. I don't know what date that the new '69's were made available to the buying public, so this one may have been one of the earliest ones on the lot. In September of '68, I was on the island of Taiwan, making a deal on a '66 Honda S90, which I then customized into a cafe racer style. But, it was still a Honda 90.

The "Right to Privacy" laws prevent me from being able to research the title history of my truck, so I am left wondering a lot about its' starting owner. All I know is that my truck was black with a black cloth interior, with PS, PB, and AC. It had the upper/lower side moldings and it had door edge guards (still have 'em). It had 2000-lb rear springs (coil) so towing must have been in the mind of the original owner. It had the ugly iron step bumper, but it is history. The guy I bought it from in '99, had pulled a 26-ft bumper pull camping trailer.

So, thanks for all your help.

Its a rarity just to have the original engine still in place, so the history you have on it is pretty cool. I always imagine how they must have looked to potential buyers when they were new. A black Custom SWB with the body trim was probably the toughest lookest one on the lot!

[bollybib]

Originally Posted by ChevLoRay

...With the September, '68 dates on the seat belts, and your statement that the engine was assembled on September 24, for the '69 model year, I am convinced that my truck was built in September of '68.

There is a difference of about 4000 vehicles between us based on using the last five digits of our serial numbers. 16458-12417=4041. Maybe the separation is about a month or so. Without production figures, it's hard to pin it down exactly.

Later in the day 6/29/11: I went back and read more closely and the I19 on your motor looks like a '69 casting to me (Sep 1, 1969) like 67 C-30 and bruceman said. Since I don't have all your numbers what I posted before may be in error. "Based on our casting and stamped codes, it looks like yours rolled out of the St. Louis factory slightly before mine".