68 BB engine pad issue

[Joseph C.]

I had my 68 BB judged for the 1st time over the weekend and was told that the broach marks and font was incorrect. I was very surprised by what I was told. I was going thru an old 2008 article in corvette mag. and stumbled across a 69 BB pic of the engine pad with the same font and style location. I couldnt confirm the broach in the photo. I have contacted that guy with the 69 and he is going to get me(hoefully) some clean pics of that pad so I can see the broach marks. If any one has pics of their for documentation i would appreciate that and comments.
Joe

[Michael W.]

Re: 68 BB engine pad issue

How about a picture of yours for comparison?

[Joseph C.]

Re: 68 BB engine pad issue

Sure I will post it tonight when I get home from work

[Jack H.]

Re: 68 BB engine pad issue

Depending on where your car was judged (chapter, regional, national) and by whom, I'd start out taking the stamp pad call for what it was: the best efforts OPINION of those assigned to the mechanical judging task.

I've seen cars fly at the Chapter level, have their stamp pad 'called' at the Regional level and judge without a hitch at the National level along with other variations on this event sequence...

Calling a stamp pad for factory authenticity is a REAL art form and you'll find differences of opinions even among those who are known to specialize in the area... Heck, we see it here on the DB when a given stamp pad picture is presented for comment!

[Michael W.]

Re: 68 BB engine pad issue

I had my 68 BB judged for the 1st time over the weekend and was told that the broach marks and font was incorrect.

Calling a stamp pad for factory authenticity is a REAL art form

We don't authenticate engine stamp pads during Flight Judging, nor will a good judge say that something is simply incorrect. Specifics should be provided.

It might be that the OP's engine is the one installed by the factory but is a one in a 'million' oddball exception like the recent example of an engine outside the usual six month allowance.

[Joseph C.]

Re: 68 BB engine pad issue

What was stated was "it appears to have been restamped" and after looking at some high quality 67's , I agreed that it didnt look like the 67's pad. My 68 is a very early 68, so many of its charactaristics appear to be 67, but there are variances in what was done. One comment I received was there was no such broach marks that went up and down??? Which mine clearly did. But looking at that 69 photo it doesnt appear to have the marks either way. I know the motor was rebuild in 77, I have the receipt and what was done, no mention of decking the block, but who knows, but the font style and angle which it was stramped looks exact. Then the second set of numbers or a smaller font and look exact as the guys 69 in the pic???

[Jack H.]

Re: 68 BB engine pad issue

Stamp pads from Tonawanda (BB's) CAN have VERY light/shallow broach marks. I've seen some that I first swore were totally lacking broach marks until I got the light & magnification just right.

On decking the block, most machine shops routinely resurface the cylinder head interface of the block to 'true' it unless specifically asked NOT to. But, that generally results in partial or total removal of the pad's stamped characters.

The next time you have your car judged be alert to the judging process and prepared to 'discuss' the judges' deduction(s). Specifically:

(1) Broach marks, Flint/Tonawanda stamp and St. Louis VIN derivative stamp are three INDEPENDENT issues with points assigned to each.

(2) Restamping and pad resurfacing IS legitimate IF done properly in keeping with typical factory production norms (that's where the subjectivity and experience of the judge(s) enters the picture)...

(3) There are NO condition points associated with the stamp pad. When factory fresh/new, the pad lacked rust, pit, and stray handling 'ding' marks. Some will attempt to judge a pad based on condition looking for it to bear appropriate age/use telltales. That's NOT right!

(4) They should be 'blind' to the issue of a pad's condition and go solely from the geometry/composition of what remaining broach marks exist + the font and position of the two stamps.

(5) In my book, a stamp judge should be able to explain clearly/concisely WHAT he/she sees in each of the three separate areas instead of simply taking a compound deduction (88 points) for the pad NOT having 'typical factory production' semblence...

[Mark J.]

Re: 68 BB engine pad issue

Hope its not the same number as yours. 68 L36 IL = L36 manual trans, and that's what I have.




hmmm.. those 4's look a little funny, kind of curved instead of straight...


Did a little research, and found several other 68s with that slightly curved number 4 font. Was this just a 68 thing?