what year is my engine

[58CHEVYAPACHE]

What year is my 235. I found two sets of numbers F0828J and the casting number 3769716. I've searched around some say it's 1958 - 61. Some say 61. Well its in a 1958 truck.

[mr48chev]

That block casting was available from 58 through 61. That is why "some say". Chevrolet casting numbers for a certain size engine usually run for several years until a major change was made in the casting. On that block it means a 235 with side mounts.
On the code stamped on the pad by the distributor the F means that it was built in Flint Mi the J means it's a truck engine.


There is also a casting date code on it that tells you pretty well when the block was cast.
The casting date code for the block is located behind the starter.



The first letter stands for the month { A is January - L is December}
The second number is the day of the month
The third number is the year.

[55dude]

Looks like 1960.

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by 55dude

Looks like 1960.

What he provided just says that it is a 236 for a truck built in Flint Michigan that is the correct engine for his truck. The date casting behind the starter will tell if it is the correct year block or is a later block that was swapped in which is only wrong if you are restoring the truck to perfection and intend to put it in the national Chevrolet shows where having the correct date code means scoring points or the wrong date code means loosing points. In the real scheme of things it isn't worth getting his undies in a wad worrying about it if it isn't intended to be a 100 point perfect show truck.

One has to remember that these trucks got used and used hard and sometimes when an engine wore out or broke the fix was to swap in a good used engine from the wrecking yard and go again. In other times the fix was to swap in a rebuilt engine that came from or one of the GM rebuild centers or an aftermarket rebuilder and trade in the core much the way you trade in a late model engine at Napa, O'Reilly's or Autozone today. You would get the correct block but it could be the wrong year of block.

[58CHEVYAPACHE]

Thanks for the help. Ok I got the casting numbers off the block and the head. Block is GM 17 and the head is GM 2. Any clue what that's means? I'm hoping 1958.

[58CHEVYAPACHE]

Degreased engine block number is H278. August 27 1958????