Corvettes leaving the factory with a non-matching engine?

[Mark E.]

In Richard Lentinello's column in this month's Hemming's he says: "Not always does the chassis number match the ID number stamped on the engine block. In most cases, engine and chassis numbers are relatively close in sequence, as not always did the same numbered engine and chassis meet upon the assembly line, but they should at least be relatively close in numbering sequence."

Is this true? Lentinello is talking about cars in general, but have any Corvettes left the factory with a non-matching engine?

[Rich G.]

[Jimmy G.]

Re: Corvettes leaving the factory with a non-matching engine?

Actually worse that that We had a chapter member with a C-3 where the engine number was one number from the car. original amd never changed. just goes to show ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN

[Loren L.]

Re: Corvettes leaving the factory with a non-matching engine?

Sure they have - a good example is the Jewel Blue '59 that left St Louis in 59 riding on a '53 chassis with a '56 Sebring motor, still wearing its 1953 hubcaps............but please don't take anything that Lentinello prints as gospel......leads to visits to Mental Health surroundings.

[Michael J.]

Re: Corvettes leaving the factory with a non-matching engine?

You never say never about human built, assembly line, mass produced cars.......

[Bill W.]

Re: Corvettes leaving the factory with a non-matching engine?

Jimmy,
You are correct, and that C3 was judged at Joplin, MO many years ago. I and another judge called the motor, team leaders and national judging chair put their heads together and said "Looks good to me", or words to that effect. If I remember correctly the car was low mileage, unrestored and correct in all other respects.
I wonder where that car is now and how it would be judged today. Anybody got any guesses? Safe and happy holidays to all! Bill

[Joe L.]

Re: Corvettes leaving the factory with a non-matching engine?

Jimmy,
You are correct, and that C3 was judged at Joplin, MO many years ago. I and another judge called the motor, team leaders and national judging chair put their heads together and said "Looks good to me", or words to that effect. If I remember correctly the car was low mileage, unrestored and correct in all other respects.
I wonder where that car is now and how it would be judged today. Anybody got any guesses? Safe and happy holidays to all! Bill

Bill-----


In the case of a car with an engine VIN derivative being a single digit off from the vehicle VIN, the chances of that being anything other than an original factory mistake is less than winning the Powerball lottery 5 times in a row.

[Terry M.]

Re: Corvettes leaving the factory with a non-matching engine?

Bill-----


In the case of a car with an engine VIN derivative being a single digit off from the vehicle VIN, the chances of that being anything other than an original factory mistake is less than winning the Powerball lottery 5 times in a row.

I am not sure if the C3 we judged in Frisco (I think it was) this last year is the car Jim G and others above are referring to, but it, or one like it, was judged good as gold just this year. The owner didn't tell us he had won the Powerball even once.

Humans built them and "You can't make this stuff up."

[Roy S.]

Re: Corvettes leaving the factory with a non-matching engine?

This thread reminds me of a C3 Coupe I bought with 5,000 miles on it from a NCRS member and sold to a NCRS member years later, the car was perfect in fact today it is a Bowtie/Duntov/Bloomington Gold /Benchmark.

It is missing one digit in the VIN, instead of 13 digits it has 12

[Tim G.]

Re: Corvettes leaving the factory with a non-matching engine?

This may shed some light on the possibility of that happening. Here's my '67 VIN 350 pad with the transmission stamp VIN of 349. The engine and transmission have never been out of the vehicle and the build date of the transmission is P7P01 that matches the Warranty Plate date. Since it happened on transmissions i'm sure it could happen on an engine.

[Bill W.]

Re: Corvettes leaving the factory with a non-matching engine?

Joe,
One digit off was the case with the C3 in Joplin. If I remember correctly (a problem lately!) the car was white in color, from Calif. and loaded with enough options that seeing clearly the motor VIN stamp took a while. I remember looking, then comparing the body VIN, not saying anything to my judging partner then comparing our findings. At that point we called the team leader and the national judging chair who didn't take long to decide all was well.
Things like this probably didn't happen often, but then did happen. Bill

[Michael J.]

Re: Corvettes leaving the factory with a non-matching engine?

We should have another Regional in Joplin......

[Mike E.]

[Edward M.]

Re: Corvettes leaving the factory with a non-matching engine?

I used to own a 1973 base motor Corvette convertible that had the last digit of the VIN overstamped. The original VIN stamped on the engine was 422398. The last digit of the VIN derivative was then overstamped with a 7. The correct VIN was 422397. The automatic transmission had the same overstamp on the VIN derivative.

[Mark H.]

Re: Corvettes leaving the factory with a non-matching engine?

While looking thru the Winter 1983 issue of The Restorer (some people drink, some people do drugs, I read back issues of The Restorer), John Amgwert had an item about a '63 convertible VIN 100870 with an engine stamped 101870. John was certain the car was all original.