How often did Tonawanda ship engines to St. Louis?

[Steven S.]

Was there any schedule that was followed as to when Tonawanda made shipments to St. Louis? From what I have read so far they shipped by rail and it took approx. one week, but I didn't find anything that pertained to a schedule. There is this '66 BB car that has an engine assembly date of January 5th and the cars estimated build date is the 10th (which is a Monday), but I have a feeling it may acutally have been the 11th. Now those dates are on the ragged edge of being possible, at first glance I would say the dates are too close but a few facts on the engine shipping practices could make or break it.

John if you are reading this I'm sure you will have some insight!

Thanks,
Steve

[Ronald L.]

Re: How often did Tonawanda ship engines to St. Louis?

Steve,
Several 427 66 motors I have seen from members of c2registry were a week to 10 days from engine asy to body build date. My late April inclusive, 9 calendar days. I hope John sheds some light on this as it is a great question.

[Joe R.]

Re: How often did Tonawanda ship engines to St. Louis?

Steve,

I'm going from memory here, but I'm pretty sure that my L72's engine assembly date is May 16, 1966 and the car's calculated birthday is May 24.

Joe

[Jack C.]

Re: How often did Tonawanda ship engines to St. Louis?

My 427 was stamped on Thursday January 11 in Tonawanda and the build date of the car is Monday January 22. It looks like the shipping/installation time was similar throughout the years.

[Jack M.]

Re: How often did Tonawanda ship engines to St. Louis?

Excellent question...I'm all ears on this one too. I believe my engine to be original, but my build ~vs~ installed dates are even closer. My 427 engine was built on Nov 13, 1965 (a Saturday) and the vehicle trim tag is November 15th. I'm guessing the engine would have been installed on the 16th of November (just a 3-day window). Could this be another supply example of last on...first off?

[Stephen L.]

Re: How often did Tonawanda ship engines to St. Louis?

My 1967 L36 427/390 was stamped on Wednesday March 29 and the body trim tag was stamped on Monday April 10.

[William G.]

Re: How often did Tonawanda ship engines to St. Louis?

Hey Guys,
But............couldn't the body trim date tag lead the car's assembly date (birthday) using the calculator by even as much as a week or so........depending on when that color body was needed?
Bill

[Joe L.]

Re: How often did Tonawanda ship engines to St. Louis?

Excellent question...I'm all ears on this one too. I believe my engine to be original, but my build ~vs~ installed dates are even closer. My 427 engine was built on Nov 13, 1965 (a Saturday) and the vehicle trim tag is November 15th. I'm guessing the engine would have been installed on the 16th of November (just a 3-day window). Could this be another supply example of last on...first off?

Jack------

Engines placed in the engine bays at St. Louis were not rotated. In other words, the last in was the first out.

During 1966 St. Louis was using about 215 big block engines per week. I would guess that this constituted about 2-3 rail cars full.

[Jack M.]

Re: How often did Tonawanda ship engines to St. Louis?

Hey Guys,
But............couldn't the body trim date tag lead the car's assembly date (birthday) using the calculator by even as much as a week or so........depending on when that color body was needed?
Bill

Bill - Although my trim tag is dated Nov 15th, I'm told the shipping date was Nov 17th. I don't believe my Vette sat around too long (if I understand what you may be describing).

Jack------

Engines placed in the engine bays at St. Louis were not rotated. In other words, the last in was the first out.

During 1966 St. Louis was using about 215 big block engines per week. I would guess that this constituted about 2-3 rail cars full.

Joe- Thanx for the clarification. Do you believe a 3-day window from build to installation was possible? Is anyone else this close?

[Mike B.]

Re: How often did Tonawanda ship engines to St. Louis?

Steven , Joe, and Jack,

Excellent thread. Jack, you and I are real close in date spread. Here's the dates on my '66 L-36:

#942 casting date: I225 (Sep 22, '65)
Assembly date stamp: T1126IL (Nov 26, '65)
St. Louis trim tag body build date: C30 (Nov 30, '65)
Factory shipping date: Dec 02, '65

Joe, I'm always relieved when I hear "last in first out". I remember we had a similar thread a year or so ago, but the theme of that one was the LONG spread between casting dates and final engine assembly at Tonawanda.

Mike

[Joe L.]

Re: How often did Tonawanda ship engines to St. Louis?

Bill - Although my trim tag is dated Nov 15th, I'm told the shipping date was Nov 17th. I don't believe my Vette sat around too long (if I understand what you may be describing).




Joe- Thanx for the clarification. Do you believe a 3-day window from build to installation was possible? Is anyone else this close?

Jack-----


Yes, I believe it's possible.

[Edward C.]

Re: How often did Tonawanda ship engines to St. Louis?

If there engines were shipped by rail the shipping time would be at least a week of longer with no guarentee by the railroad. The only way to get faster guarenteed delivery is by truck. Ed

[Joe L.]

Re: How often did Tonawanda ship engines to St. Louis?

If there engines were shipped by rail the shipping time would be at least a week of longer with no guarentee by the railroad. The only way to get faster guarenteed delivery is by truck. Ed

Ed-----

Small blocks were shipped to St. Louis by rail. However, I don't know if the same was true for big blocks. Due to the much smaller number of engines, it might be that they were shipped by truck.

[Dick W.]

Re: How often did Tonawanda ship engines to St. Louis?

Ed-----

Small blocks were shipped to St. Louis by rail. However, I don't know if the same was true for big blocks. Due to the much smaller number of engines, it might be that they were shipped by truck.

Somehow I seem to remember they were trucked to STL. Rail service during that era was very unreliable.

[Jack M.]

Re: How often did Tonawanda ship engines to St. Louis?

Great info and discussion folkz...I've always had a concern about the narrow window from engine build to installation.

Mike- Glad to see someones who is very similar to mine...can you hear my sigh of relief?