Waste of a good short block ?

Check the balancer to see if it's a cast crank, the rest of the stuff is interchangeable inside anyway!! That should give you a clue. A 71 cast date is a 71 or later motor, and could be a 72 assembly. If it's late enough in the 72 model year, they changed to a cast crank in Feb. I believe!! Geof

X2 on the balancer 72 ish had a big cast crank only on the balancer.
My cousin bought a 73 RR this summer factory 340 4-speed car.
He got extra lucky after we got it home, it drove with no issues.
It had a 70 340 forged crank motor in it.