What is a limited use block?

[John F.]

A friend of mine says he has this old engine laying around and it is a "limited use motor". What does that mean? I think a 65- 327 motor.
John F

[Richard G.]

Re: What is a limited use block?

How long is a piece of string?

[John F.]

Re: What is a limited use block?

Black Book shows Corvette block casting #3858180 (lu). Anyone know what that means?
John F

[Joe L.]

Re: What is a limited use block?

Black Book shows Corvette block casting #3858180 (lu). Anyone know what that means?
John F

John-----

If I recall correctly, GM #3858180 was a Tonawanda-cast block that was machined and assembled at Flint as far as Corvette usage was concerned. For other car engines it was generally machined and assembled at Tonawanda.

As far as Corvettes go, I believe it was only used for a relatively short period of time during the 1965 model year. It may be that blocks were shipped from Tonawanda to Flint because of some sort of shortage of Saginaw blocks, perhaps because of some problems at the Saginaw foundry or perhaps because in 1965 Chevrolet was building a huge number of 327 engines.