Mid Year Orange 1956 Corvette Motor?

[John C.]

Hi,


Ok, here are the date codes for my 1956 Corvette 225HP motor and a photo for reference.


3720991 - Block - 5 - 28 - 1956 (E286)


3731762 - Cylinder Head Left - 5 - 02 - 1956 (E26)


3731762 - Cylinder Head Right - 5 - 12 - 1956 (E126)


3731557 - Exhaust Manifold Left - 4 - 30 - 1956 (D306)


3731558 - Exhaust Manifold Right - 5 - 03 - 1956 (E36)

IMG_0306a.jpgIMG_0310.jpg


The car was found in Hawaii, shipped to CA where the owner removed the engine (he wanted a resto mod) and I bought it complete for my 1956 Chevy Bel Air. I disassembled the engine and found it to be an extremely low mileage motor as there was very little wear and had the original bore of 3.750". The engine had obviously never been out of the car.


I know, long lead in....but I thought all but the very last Corvette motors of 1956 were Red! My engine is pretty much a May engine and it was orange.....here is a photo of the stock motor mount. I'm not a Corvette guy, so I painted the engine red for my Bel Air....not knowing that Corvette engines were also red for '56....lucky me!

IMG_0296.jpg


So, what's up with the mid year orange Corvette motor?


Thanks!


John

[Mark S.]

Re: Mid Year Orange 1956 Corvette Motor?

John: There have been a few very late 56 Corvettes that have showed up with orange painted engines. My late 56 has some 57 parts on it; and the orange painted engines may have been part of the change over for 57. Sincerely, Mark

[John C.]

Re: Mid Year Orange 1956 Corvette Motor?

Hi Mark,

So, would my May engine be considered a candidate for a very late 56 Corvette engine and do they paint the engines as soon as they are assembled?

Sorry, totally Corvette ignorant!

Thank You!

John

[David B.]

Re: Mid Year Orange 1956 Corvette Motor?

All of engines cast iron components were cast at Chevrolet's central foundry in Saginaw, Michigan and sent to Chevrolet's engine assembly plant in Flint, Michigan for machining and assembly. To answer your question in a shortened version after the engine was assembled, it was painted with a semi-flat paint which covered most of the initial inspection makings. The machined serial pad located in front of the right-hand cylinder head was taped off during painting. Thereafter, they were shipped to St Louis Corvette assembly line as a complete subassembly.

[Mark S.]

Re: Mid Year Orange 1956 Corvette Motor?

John: To my knowledge, a May car seems a bit early for an orange engine. My Corvette, serial #4200, a late August build, is a car with some 57 parts on it. Sincerely, Mark

[Dan H.]

Re: Mid Year Orange 1956 Corvette Motor?

John, just a guess, but it appears the motor mount was painted off the engine, maybe a water pump replacement, then 'detailed' with later chevy orange paint which had to be applied while mount was off engine.
Dan

[John C.]

Re: Mid Year Orange 1956 Corvette Motor?

Ok, thank you David, Mark and Dan!

Yes, the water pump was replaced and it was obviously incorrect as witnessed by the square hole cut in the motor mount to clearance a top mounted heater hose fitting.

In any case, it is red now and I'm not going to paint it again.

BTW, the 2 x 4 carb engine in my avatar was built for my '56 Post and it is not the Corvette engine.

Thanks again!

John

[Gary C.]

Re: Mid Year Orange 1956 Corvette Motor?

John,

Does your engine have a production date with engine application suffix and a manufacturing sequence number stamped on the pad?

Late 1956 4206 engine was 1956 red. The last 100 1956's and 1st 100 1957's give or take a few were produce at the same time in St. Louis.

4206 has a mid June date frame stamp and a 1957 frame stencil 303190-40. 4206 was produced Augst 16, 1956.

4206 lead me to discover that August produced 1956's has the 1957 1st design frame 303190-40

Gary
....

[John C.]

Re: Mid Year Orange 1956 Corvette Motor?

Hi Gary,

Ok......here you go:

IMG_0313.jpg

Thanks!

John

[Gary C.]

Re: Mid Year Orange 1956 Corvette Motor?

John, 1956 engine stamp pad information that's close to your engine stamp pad that was collected by the late Mike Hunt. Gary....

Engine Sequence No. 1956 VIN Transmission Block Cast Date 0506966F56FG E56S002947 Automatic 0505217F56FG E56S002943 Automatic 0505122F56FG E56S003023 Automatic 0550918F56GV E56S003222 3 Speed F216 0505118F56FG E56S003591 Automatic

[John C.]

Re: Mid Year Orange 1956 Corvette Motor?

Hi Gary,


So, the ascending vin number indicates a later car mfg date, an ascending engine sequence number indicates a later engine mfg date, but the two together can and often are out of sequence, correct?

Thank you!


John

[Gary C.]

Re: Mid Year Orange 1956 Corvette Motor?

John,

Parts including engines came into St. Louis and basically were used without respect to any sequence, engine number, etc.

Gary
....

[John C.]

Re: Mid Year Orange 1956 Corvette Motor?

HI Gary,

Ok, thank you!

Btw, what is the secret to formatting a reply as it relates to table alignment?

I finally had to give up after numerous attempts.......I simply could not duplicate your table as I wanted it!

John

[Joe R.]

Re: Mid Year Orange 1956 Corvette Motor?

Hi John,

I had the same problem with aligning text in a table. I think I finally resorted to a table in Word, saved as a PDF. Maybe I printed and scanned, I don't remember. A lot of trouble, I remember that much!

Joe

[John C.]

Re: Mid Year Orange 1956 Corvette Motor?

Hi Joe,

Ok, I will try experimenting with word, pdf's etc.

Thank you.

John