Since I don´t know when the engine was built, I´m asking people in the know: will the castingdate on the heads (K 9 and K13) match up with the builddatecode on the engine, 292 ?
The 02C date you mentioned in the initial post is the 3rd week of February. K9 and K13 would be October 9th and 13th, respectively. That's almost a 4 month window from the February date, which was more common with electrical parts: I.E. alternators, distributors, voltage regulators, etc.
In some instances high performance engines had a longer spam from being built to when they were actually used in a car. If these heads were put on an engine being built in December and the engine is put in a car in February, it would all make sense. But since I can´t decode the 292-stamp I don´t know when the engine was built. For example: the bornwith engineblock in my COPO 9561 had a January castdate, but the Camaro was built in late June.
the ss letters with the wide space is for a 4 speed car,the ss close together were for automatic cars if i remember right,its been a number of years since i remember these things
I guess my stage one was supposed to be a four-speed then I wouldn't go by the spacing of the stamp of the S S stampings on the deck.
I´ll rephrase myself concerning the heads castingdates. Does any of you with Stage 1 cars built in February-March have heads cast in october ?
Like I mentioned before, it's very unlikely there was a four month window with the cast iron engine components. Electrical stuff, yes but highly unlikely that an October set of heads would be in a late February build.
I don’t think 70 Stage 1 cast engine parts were were ever that far apart. Doesn’t make much sense. I have never seen it. It’s not a COPO. If it happened it’s rare. They were cranking out 455’s in 70. Date codes should be close. Not sure where the spacing of the engine code stamp has anything to do with transmission?? My 71 Stage1 had the TS far apart and it was an auto. The assembly worker stamped the damn thing wherever he wanted. I don’t think it was that high tech or they wouldn’t be all over the place. My theory on the engine build code is it relates to start of engine production for the model year so it probably starts in Summer 69 for a 70. So you would have to know that. It’s not based on a date like casting numbers. I think Duane knows but he is not telling. Probably just as well. Cuts down on the forgers.
Engine block date cast was on front of block near water pump for some years. Look there on passenger side. A letter and number. Same as heads and intake.
Brett, I know that within two months is pretty normal for parts that are cast. But sometimes, because of a strike or some other reason, a longer span would be normal. But I'm sure you would have known about such an incident. I'm perfectly happy with having the bornwith block, 4-speed and rearend. And initially they will be used in "the Hartford frame" anyway. Thank's for your answer !
I'm looking at a 1970 Buick GS and GS 455 wholesale car order to list the options on this car. It's a GS sport coupe (4637) in lower bodycolor Desert Gold (63) and the top is Dark Brown (F). Vinyl buckets in Burnished Saddle (189). A1. Stage 1 Performance Option. B3. 4-speed Manual Floor Shift Transmission. It says M20 on the order, but the B on the trans means M21, doesn't it ? B8. Short Non-Shift Floor Console. Could you order this without a Consolette ? Because there is no Consolette with the car. C6. Power Steering. D1. Sonomatic Radio. F7. Super Wide Oval White Billboard Lettered Tires G60-15. G1. Performance Axle with Pos. Traction. H6. Rallye Ride Control Package. J3. Custom Front and Rear Seat Belts. L2. Soft-Ray Tinted Windshield. O4. Door Guards. Q6. Custom Padded Cushions. Nothing I have noticed but it says it's std. with Bucket Seats) (Std. GS 455) S7. Tilt Steering Wheel. U1 or 3. Convenience Group. I noticed a Trunk Light. V2. Chrome Plated Wheels (Std. with F7). W4. Protective Body Side Moldings. X2. Rallye Steering Wheel. As you can see it doesn't have Disc Brakes, nor Power Brakes. Was that unusual ?
69-71 blocks have the date code cast on the front of the block. If you get in front of the car and look directly down on the passenger side, where the front cover bolts to the block, there will be a letter/number combo cast into the block. That will tell you the month/day it was cast. It will not tell you the year however, the stamps on the head surface would let you know the year of the block. Also 1972 blocks are not dated there. They are dated internally, in the valve train area under the intake manifold, so you cannot see them until you take off the intake. The block casting number changed through the 70 to 72 model years. I do not remember what the numbers are, but the "72" block I am talking about was a mid-year change. There are guys out here that can tell you the block casting numbers and when they changed. I never tracked that. The following is to be used as a guideline only, not to be set in stone, or to be used as a reference by anyone. Also there are 2 more things I have noticed from looking at the 1970 cars, and let me pre-face this by saying I have not looked at this type of thing for the entire 70 production run; 1. Most of the time (for the 1970 cars only) the major cast iron pieces, ie the Block, heads, and intake will all have been cast within a few days of each other. The Exhaust manifolds sometimes are close as well. 2. Again for 1970 only, the dates of these cast iron pieces are often only 2-3 weeks before the body build date that is stamped on the ID plate on the firewall. Again, this is what I have observed from looking at a few different original cars at different "times" of the 70 production year. Also the above info cannot be used for the 71 production year. They made so few Stage1's that year that the date codes are much more spread out. Duane PS. If you want to talk to someone about the fonts, spacing, etc of the numbers stamped on the head surfaces of the blocks, the guy to talk to is John Chamberlain. He knows more about that stuff then I ever will. He can authenticate that type of thing, but from what I have been told, charges quite a bit for that service.
"As you can see it doesn't have Disc Brakes, nor Power Brakes. Was that unusual ?" "B3. 4-speed Manual Floor Shift Transmission. It says M20 on the order, but the B on the trans means M21, doesn't it ?" I had an early 70 Stage 1 4-speed with manual brakes and a std interior. Also "M20" was the sales code Buick used on the Wholesale Car Order Form to fill out the options when you bought the car. That does not mean you get an M20 trans. (This has led to at least 25 years of confusion that I have seen.) Duane
