55 engine stamping question

[Lynn L.]

Re: 55 engine stamping question

My name is Lynn Libby, and my 1955 #63 corvette is the subject of this discussion. My block is cast on L-20-54.
At the recent Lakeland regional I was surprised to learn that my engine pad stamp was not acceptable to NCRS standards. Due to the displaced first two 0s. I believe the pad was stamped with 4 strikes: 1 gang of 5 sequence numbers, 2 individual tenths place digit, 3 individual first place digit, 4 gang F55FG (flint, 1955, 265 powerglide corvette code. All 265 chevy blocks have a 7 digit sequence stamp number. 1955 corvette blocks are faked by finding a passenger car block and adding a G.Before restoring my car I had purchased TroyPyle's 1955 CD. The CD had car #29's stamp pad with very similar strikes. This is why I was blindsided by the engine pad evaluation. I contacted Troy during the judging, upset with the judged findings. The pad received a 50 point deduction on pad stamp. 30 points was given for correct broaching.
The frustration was that the engine stamp appears original in broach and font, but not in the location of first 0. The judges and I could not give any explanation but the stamp is atypical of other recorded 1955 engine stamps. The judges were sympathetic to my stand and are all my friends. My job now is to locate other similar block engine stamps to represent my car with a more favorable outcome. If you have a 55 corvette with a nontypical engine stamp, I'd appreciate your help!

[Lynn L.]

Re: 55 engine stamping question

#63

[John S.]

Re: 55 engine stamping question

when proteam had VE55S001002 they had posted a picture of the engine pad 0091603F55FG. the picture looked like the first five numbers were not in line and I made a notation about the pad, but never followed up on it. you might see if you could locate proteam's ad(feb 2011). The pad number that proteam posted was the same as the pad number I recorded when it was in the McDorman collection. #2 is a top flight and Bloomington gold car.

[John S.]

Re: 55 engine stamping question

My name is Lynn Libby, and my 1955 #63 corvette is the subject of this discussion. My block is cast on L-20-54.
At the recent Lakeland regional I was surprised to learn that my engine pad stamp was not acceptable to NCRS standards. Due to the displaced first two 0s. I believe the pad was stamped with 4 strikes: 1 gang of 5 sequence numbers, 2 individual tenths place digit, 3 individual first place digit, 4 gang F55FG (flint, 1955, 265 powerglide corvette code. All 265 chevy blocks have a 7 digit sequence stamp number. 1955 corvette blocks are faked by finding a passenger car block and adding a G.Before restoring my car I had purchased TroyPyle's 1955 CD. The CD had car #29's stamp pad with very similar strikes. This is why I was blindsided by the engine pad evaluation. I contacted Troy during the judging, upset with the judged findings. The pad received a 50 point deduction on pad stamp. 30 points was given for correct broaching.
The frustration was that the engine stamp appears original in broach and font, but not in the location of first 0. The judges and I could not give any explanation but the stamp is atypical of other recorded 1955 engine stamps. The judges were sympathetic to my stand and are all my friends. My job now is to locate other similar block engine stamps to represent my car with a more favorable outcome. If you have a 55 corvette with a nontypical engine stamp, I'd appreciate your help!

#29 pad should be enough evidence. if #29 is not good enough I would hope that the people you talk to might know that all 55 chevy vehicles use the same format. that is a group of 5 gangstamped, two individual numbers and a final gangstamp of 4 or 5 letters and numbers. this holds true for flint and Tonawanda engines. if they do not accept this have them go to "Corvette by the numbers" page 59. since you brought this up today I have a 55 engine block with a unaltered pad that I located on ebay. clearly shown are the broach marks and the first five numbers are not gang stamped. it is a Tonawanda block, but this should prove that mistakes in the gangstamps did occur. go to ebay and type in "1955 chevy engine block". the seller is "projectcars59" and the engine pad is 0132791T55F.

[Richard M.]

Re: 55 engine stamping question

Well let address the facts, In response #12 the reply is I was not there and it is bogus. Correct in one statement false in the other. Here are the facts at this time. No judges used the word bogus the statement was we HAVE not have seen this Stamp sequence at this time in any V8 engine built at flint in 1955, not one in our library sooooo we left the owner to gather some info to see if we can find another. We have people on our team also looking to help the owner locate another one .. We all agree (judges that day) it can be out there but we can not just let it go by without our due diligence to find another example.Guys when you have a one of one or something that We have NEVER seen before the burden of proof is with the owner and we are here to help with his cause

Greg, I have been following along, however I have no experience with the details of 1955 engine stamps and I cannot add any technical value to this discussion. But I have to commend you for your detailed explanation and goal to help the owner. The fact that you, and other judges are trying to help the owner investigate to ultimately assist him with a positive goal in mind, is a testament to you as Team Leader. Well done.

#29 pad should be enough evidence. if #29 is not good enough I would hope that the people you talk to might know that all 55 chevy vehicles use the same format. that is a group of 5 gangstamped, two individual numbers and a final gangstamp of 4 or 5 letters and numbers. this holds true for flint and Tonawanda engines. if they do not accept this have them go to "Corvette by the numbers" page 59. since you brought this up today I have a 55 engine block with a unaltered pad that I located on ebay. clearly shown are the broach marks and the first five numbers are not gang stamped. it is a Tonawanda block, but this should prove that mistakes in the gangstamps did occur. go to ebay and type in "1955 chevy engine block". the seller is "projectcars59" and the engine pad is 0132791T55F.

John, Good research. Here is the link to the ebay listing for you along with the image which will be stored here on our server. I rotated it 90* from the listing for easier viewing. Note this link may disappear in about 90 days after the auction ends. I've added the sellers description below for future reference. I'm not familiar with 1955 stamp pads but learning much. I just felt compelled to help Lynn with some some of the tech stuff to help his cause...Rich

"1955 Corvette or Chevrolet. Casting number 3703524........ This block was used for the complete '55 model year for all applications including trucks."

[Lynn L.]

Re: 55 engine stamping question

All good help, I call Proteam on tuesday to locate #2 55 owner. Thanks

[John S.]

Re: 55 engine stamping question

All good help, I call Proteam on tuesday to locate #2 55 owner. Thanks

seen #2 at auction several times since proteam had the car. I do not think they have a direct link to the buyer. I mentioned I made a notation about the pad and never followed up. I never looked closely at 02s pad, but I still have a picture I scanned of the engine pad in proteam's ad for #2. send me your email address and I will send you the picture. I also have a note that I requested the pad number of 63 in dec of 2014 from a (951) 830____ number. the pad number I was given matches yours so the pad was not changed during restoration.

[Lynn L.]

Re: 55 engine stamping question

Thanks John, sent personal message

[Edward M.]

Re: 55 engine stamping question

I looked at this very issue a number ago as part of a tri-five research project. I recorded about 10 examples of 55 engine pads and casting dates, but I can;t find that data now. So, I went to Ebay and checked 8 1955 blocks (4 Tonowanda, 4 Flint blocks). I found the following:

Block date code: I 15 4
Sequence #: 00I7285
Suffix code: F55F
Sequence stamp: first 5 in gang holder, last 2 individual

Block date code: D 15 5
Sequence #: 0222602
Suffix code: F55F
Sequence stamp: first 5 in gang holder, last 2 individual

Block date code: L 27 4
Sequence #: 0096463
Suffix code: F55G
Sequence stamp: first 5 in gang holder, last 2 individual

Block date code: A 8 5
Sequence #: 0I33082
Suffix code: F55G
Sequence stamp: first 5 in gang holder, last 2 individual

Block date code: H 31 5
Sequence #: 0349581
Suffix code: T55F
Sequence stamp: 7 individual stamps

Block date code: ????
Sequence #: 0026574
Suffix code: T55G
Sequence stamp: first 5 in gang holder, last 2 individual

Block date code: ? 8 5
Sequence #: 0II2I83
Suffix code: T55F
Sequence stamp: 7 individual stamps

Block date code: I 15 4
Sequence #: 00I7285
Suffix code: F55F
Sequence stamp: first 5 in gang holder, last 2 individual

All of the Flint examples use a gang holder for the first 5 characters, 3 of the 4 Tonowanda examples are individually stamped.

Clearly this happened multiple times through the year at Tonowanda, but the example posted by the OP is the only Flint example I have ever seen.

[John S.]

Re: 55 engine stamping question

I looked at this very issue a number ago as part of a tri-five research project. I recorded about 10 examples of 55 engine pads and casting dates, but I can;t find that data now. So, I went to Ebay and checked 8 1955 blocks (4 Tonowanda, 4 Flint blocks). I found the following:

Block date code: I 15 4
Sequence #: 00I7285
Suffix code: F55F
Sequence stamp: first 5 in gang holder, last 2 individual

Block date code: D 15 5
Sequence #: 0222602
Suffix code: F55F
Sequence stamp: first 5 in gang holder, last 2 individual

Block date code: L 27 4
Sequence #: 0096463
Suffix code: F55G
Sequence stamp: first 5 in gang holder, last 2 individual

Block date code: A 8 5
Sequence #: 0I33082
Suffix code: F55G
Sequence stamp: first 5 in gang holder, last 2 individual

Block date code: H 31 5
Sequence #: 0349581
Suffix code: T55F
Sequence stamp: 7 individual stamps

Block date code: ????
Sequence #: 0026574
Suffix code: T55G
Sequence stamp: first 5 in gang holder, last 2 individual

Block date code: ? 8 5
Sequence #: 0II2I83
Suffix code: T55F
Sequence stamp: 7 individual stamps

Block date code: I 15 4
Sequence #: 00I7285
Suffix code: F55F
Sequence stamp: first 5 in gang holder, last 2 individual

All of the Flint examples use a gang holder for the first 5 characters, 3 of the 4 Tonowanda examples are individually stamped.

Clearly this happened multiple times through the year at Tonowanda, but the example posted by the OP is the only Flint example I have ever seen.

there are two corvette pads posted that are not gang stamped. if Lynn decides to post the #2 pad you might have three.

[Edward M.]

Re: 55 engine stamping question

So it seems like there are 3 1955 engine Flint engine pads that display this characteristic.

It is interesting (not concerning, just interesting) that all three are Corvette application engines.

I have not yet found a passenger car Flint engine that also displays this "7 individual sequence number stamps" characteristic. Multiple Tonawanda engines, but no Flint passenger car engines.

However, I would personally say that the existence of the engine pad for #29 that shows this characteristic is sufficient evidence that this "could have occurred".

I still recall the best piece of advice I ever received about judging at NCRS events. It came from the 56-57 team lead during the 1986 Cypress Gardens meet (the very first event that I judged at).

As stated by Mr. Burt Lukens: "In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, give the owner the benefit of the doubt".

Thank you Bert, you taught me well!

[John S.]

Re: 55 engine stamping question

So it seems like there are 3 1955 engine Flint engine pads that display this characteristic.

It is interesting (not concerning, just interesting) that all three are Corvette application engines.

I have not yet found a passenger car Flint engine that also displays this "7 individual sequence number stamps" characteristic. Multiple Tonawanda engines, but no Flint passenger car engines.

However, I would personally say that the existence of the engine pad for #29 that shows this characteristic is sufficient evidence that this "could have occurred".

I still recall the best piece of advice I ever received about judging at NCRS events. It came from the 56-57 team lead during the 1986 Cypress Gardens meet (the very first event that I judged at).

As stated by Mr. Burt Lukens: "In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, give the owner the benefit of the doubt".

Thank you Bert, you taught me well!

Ed, never had a reason to look closely at the Tonawanda pads and assumed that the reference books researched the Tonawanda pads when they included them in the standard gang stamping patterns of flint. even into the 56 run the Tonawanda pads do not gang stamp the first five numbers.

[Edward M.]

Re: 55 engine stamping question

10-4 John, but I did find one Tonawanda stamp that used a gang holder...

Based on the number, I am going to say this is a late 55 engine. I don't recall ever seeing a 56 engine (either engine plant) with the individual stamps. But that doesn't mean it didn't happen...

We always have to look at Flint and Tonowanda differently when researching tri-five Chevys.

[John S.]

Re: 55 engine stamping question

10-4 John, but I did find one Tonawanda stamp that used a gang holder...

Based on the number, I am going to say this is a late 55 engine. I don't recall ever seeing a 56 engine (either engine plant) with the individual stamps. But that doesn't mean it didn't happen...

We always have to look at Flint and Tonowanda differently when researching tri-five Chevys.

the above comment is not completely true. when you want to determine changes in flint castings you have to examine when casting changes occurred in Tonawanda parts. many of the flint castings do not have date codes. your latest example is approximately a February block. K285 0081137T56FB individual stamp is a 1956 example. do not follow the thinking on the chevy forum that early flint pads were hand stamped. if you need a lot of early examples of flint blocks start a search typing in "0017285F55F". early date code of sept 15 1954. if you go through the vendor's site you will be able to view different pads which include 0017285F55F.

[Edward M.]

Re: 55 engine stamping question

John;

I didn't quite follow your point in your last post, but I did find two early 56 engines (both Tonawanda) that did not use the gang holder.

I haven't seen a passenger car Flint engine that used individual stamps ... yet!