1963 Carburetor Date Code

[Greg B.]

I have a '63 built in July with auto and A/C. It was just judged at the AZ Regional Meet. A question was raised about the date code on the Carburetor. It is stamped "AB3". There should be just one letter. Stamp appears to have been done at the same time, all characters are same font and size and evenly spaced. Can anyone shed light on this anomaly? Greg Barr

[Gary B.]

Re: 1963 Carburetor Date Code

Greg,

Take a look at this thread. It might partly answer your question.

https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthread.php?27764-c2-AFB-Date-Code&highlight=Carter+date+code

Gary

[Edward J.]

Re: 1963 Carburetor Date Code

Greg, the date stamp appears be, A=Jan. B=Second week 3=63.

[Gary B.]

Re: 1963 Carburetor Date Code

Edward,

One person who posted an answer in 2005 has a different theory.

Gary

[Arland D.]

Re: 1963 Carburetor Date Code

Had a chance to talk with Bob Kunz who is very familiar with carburetor information and the St. Louis process of manufacturing them. He feels the date code is established as - first character is the shift A, B or C - second character month - third character year. Bob has a long history of working on these so it seems his perspective would be pretty darn accurate. Considering the proximity of the carb plant to the St. Louis assembly plant, he has seen that there really isn't much lead time between carb date and assembly date.

[Greg B.]

Re: 1963 Carburetor Date Code

Hi Arland,
Thank you and Bob for this input. It sounds very logical. Now, I just have to convince the judges at the National. The judges at the AZ Regional meet docked me 9 points for "not typical" date code.
Regards, Greg

[David H.]

Re: 1963 Carburetor Date Code

Greg,

Post #6 on Gary Beaupre's link above I believe is correct.

"AB3" would be: "A"-> First Revision, "B"-> February, "3"-> 1963

Dave

[Greg B.]

Re: 1963 Carburetor Date Code

Greg,

Post #6 on Gary Beaupre's link above I believe is correct.

"AB3" would be: "A"-> First Revision, "B"-> February, "3"-> 1963

Dave

Thanks for the input. Whether it is a revision # or a shift #, at least the coding isn't NTP. Regards, Greg

[Duke W.]

Re: 1963 Carburetor Date Code

I doubt if the first character is "revision". That was handled by the suffix. For example the '63 3460S for Powerglide was replaced by the 3720S for '64, which was recalibrated (revised) twice to 3720SA and finally 3720SB.

The "shift" really doesn't make sense either. Why would the shift be listed without the actual day?

Duke

[Greg B.]

Re: 1963 Carburetor Date Code

I doubt if the first character is "revision". That was handled by the suffix. For example the '63 3460S for Powerglide was replaced by the 3720S for '64, which was recalibrated (revised) twice to 3720SA and finally 3720SB.

The "shift" really doesn't make sense either. Why would the shift be listed without the actual day?

Duke

OK, any idea what the "A" stands for? Greg

[Mike E.]

Re: 1963 Carburetor Date Code

I doubt if the first character is "revision". That was handled by the suffix. For example the '63 3460S for Powerglide was replaced by the 3720S for '64, which was recalibrated (revised) twice to 3720SA and finally 3720SB.

The "shift" really doesn't make sense either. Why would the shift be listed without the actual day?

Duke

[Duke W.]

Re: 1963 Carburetor Date Code

OK, any idea what the "A" stands for? Greg

Unfortunately I can't come up with a logical explanation. The original 3461S on my mid-March built (sequence no. about 50 short of 11,000) SWC's 340 HP engine is coded CB3.

As an afterthought it occurs to me that there may have been multiple "assembly lines". The same AFBs were used on the 327/300s, manual and PG, installed in full size Chevrolets, so thousands a month may have been necessary. I assume that the carbs were assembled on a short assembly line with a handful or two of stations where workers installed the various parts, so maybe the first letter indicates the specific line that the carb was built on. That's the only logical explanation I can come up with, but I'm just speculating... have no evidence to support my theory.

Duke

[Arland D.]

Re: 1963 Carburetor Date Code

I neglected to mention in the previous post that Bob felt the 'revisions' were indicated by the suffix codes.

[Mark E.]

Re: 1963 Carburetor Date Code

I'm surprised with the level of discourse about date codes for a 1963 carburetor.

I'm not a midyear guy but I thought NCRS would have figured this out already. What does the JG say?

[Duke W.]

Re: 1963 Carburetor Date Code

I agree, but then again, we're talking about '63, ahem!

My older addition JG doesn't say anything about the first letter, which may mean it doesn't acknowledge the existence of an A, B, or C as a first letter followed by the date code using letters (except I) for the month and the last digit of the year.

I'm the original owner of my SWC and the original 3461S AFB is coded CB3...no doubt about it.

Someone with the current version should post what it says.

Duke