'68 L68 intake 3937795

[Pete G.]

Restoration guide indicates casting date should be in format letter (month), one or two numbers (day of month) followed by a number (year). The casting date on mine seems to be format m.dd.yy (see pic). There is some type of code below this # but does not seem date related.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[Wayne M.]

Re: '68 L68 intake 3937795

Restoration guide indicates casting date should be in format letter (month), one or two numbers (day of month) followed by a number (year). The casting date on mine seems to be format m.dd.yy (see pic). ....

Pete -- just looked at the bottom of my October '69 '795' (going by the carb dates) and no casting date is visible; maybe under the steel oil splash shield. All that's on mine is a casting image of a long strip of Dymo tape with 10..20..30..etc., up to 90. Your numbers look like the date coding (M-D-Y) found on the (bottom) of one of the intake runners on Winters foundry aluminum heads.

But does the JG really call for the date on the intake to be examined ?

[Joe L.]

Re: '68 L68 intake 3937795

Pete -- just looked at the bottom of my October '69 '795' (going by the carb dates) and no casting date is visible; maybe under the steel oil splash shield. All that's on mine is a casting image of a long strip of Dymo tape with 10..20..30..etc., up to 90. Your numbers look like the date coding (M-D-Y) found on the (bottom) of one of the intake runners on Winters foundry aluminum heads.

But does the JG really call for the date on the intake to be examined ?

Wayne------


The date on these aluminum manifolds is usually under the steel splash shield. It couldn't be seen in judging unless someone removed both the manifold and splash shield. I don't expect that to ever become part of the judging process. Of course, if Superman signs on to the NCRS judging team, his x-ray vision might place a lot of guys at risk.

[Ridge K.]

Re: '68 L68 intake 3937795

Miniature camera and pinpoint light on a flexible lead. Ran down the dipstick tube, then fished back up thru the oil galley.......

[Pete G.]

Re: '68 L68 intake 3937795

Thanks all! Did not figure cast date on aluminum intakes would come into play during judging since it is located on underside. Was just curious to validate while I had intake removed. Splash shield is riveted so not worth the effort to remove just to validate cast date.

[Joe L.]

Re: '68 L68 intake 3937795

Splash shield is riveted so not worth the effort to remove just to validate cast date.

Pete------


You're right; it's definitely not worth removing the shield just to see the date. However, there might be another reason to remove the shield. Often times there will be large amounts of carbonized oil under the shield. It really won't hurt anything but some of it might flake off and fall into the engine over time. Even that shouldn't really hurt anything but some folks like to clean it out. Also, if a manifold is bead or otherwise abrasive blasted then the shield MUST be removed to make sure that all abrasive material is cleaned out.

If the shield is removed, never re-use the original drive "rivets". Either use new ones or, far better, drill and tap for machine screws and install same with Locktite.

[Pete G.]

Re: '68 L68 intake 3937795

Joe, thanks for advice, the intake was sand blasted so need to verify if the shield was removed to clean out residual abrasives.

[Wayne M.]

Re: '68 L68 intake 3937795

Pete -- here's an example of a date casting on the bottom of a '65 L78 manifold # 3866963. Don't know what the initials are. This is located at the front edge of the intake; there is no added oil splash shield on this design.

[Pete G.]

Re: '68 L68 intake 3937795

Removed the shield today and no cast date. So the cast date must be that shown in the left of the attached pic. Not good that it is 3 mos. post the assemble date of my car, but at least the part # is correct and the date is on the bottom of the intake where it cannot be verified during judging.

[Joe L.]

Re: '68 L68 intake 3937795

Removed the shield today and no cast date. So the cast date must be that shown in the left of the attached pic. Not good that it is 3 mos. post the assemble date of my car, but at least the part # is correct and the date is on the bottom of the intake where it cannot be verified during judging.

Pete------


Somehow I missed the fact that the manifold had the numerical series seen on the left side of your photo and external of the portion covered by the shield. There's absolutely no doubt that this represents the casting date. I've seen this configuration with "dots" instead of "slashes" many times before.

As you say (and as we've previously stated), the date is irrelevant for judging purposes since it cannot be seen.

However, the date seen raises another question: it's EXTREMELY unlikely that an engine would have required a replacement manifold early in its life, if ever. So, if it's a matter of concern to you, you might want to start looking a little closer to see if this is the original engine installed in the car at St. Louis.

[Ridge K.]

Re: '68 L68 intake 3937795

I started working at a dealership as a detailer while still a teenager in 1971. In this era, I spent a lot of time with the mechanics.
I remember many aluminum intake manifold equipped engines coming in with cracked bolt bosses. In some cases, from car-owners simply re-tightening without checking proper torque.

I saw quite a few taken off, replaced with service replacements, and the old intake thrown on the scrap metals pile. In those days, no one even thought of welded repairs.
Maybe rare in the scheme of things, .....but a distinct possibility.

Ridge

[Pete G.]

Re: '68 L68 intake 3937795

Thanks for the input. The shop doing the mechanical restore indicated similar scenarios re: intake service replacement, possibly in the first year.

I've validated all drivetrain #s during the rebuild, all in good order except one head had been replaced with a head from a '70 454. This one has me scratching my head a bit, why would a '70 454 head be on my '68 427 (specs are same, so functionally no issues)?? I'll drive myself crazy if think about this too long, no way to know what went through the heads (and driving habits?!?!) of the previous owners. Unfortunately, bought from a dealer and car has no documentation. I do have the previous owner's name and number, won't return my calls, Yes, this does have me thinking that he's not returning my calls for a reason....

Anyway, I've located a correct coded and dated head, now all drivetrain correct except the cast date on the intake. No biggie since date is on bottom of intake.