489 housings date codes

[Vitamin c]

I have two 489 housings, and am trying to identify them if possible. One is a 3.23 open that came with some extra parts and im fairly sure its the original to my 9-70 built 71 R/T charger. It has a date of 12-23-69 on the ring gear. The housing casting numbers are clear, but the date is not as good. It has two codes, one is 000 and the other appears to be 344 or 844. The second housing is much harder to read the casting numbers and has aftermarket 3.55 richmond gears. It has only one code and appears to be 319 or 819 that is very hard to read.

 

[Rocky_JS]

If I had to take a stab at it. The first 2 digits are the week and the third is the year.
On the 319 = 31st week of 1969 the housing was cast?

 

[Vitamin c]

That would be my guess also, but not sure. That flies in the face of the theory that the 3.23 open is original to my 71. Any guess at the different castings? The one looks nice and crisp and the other looks really rough.

 

[Rocky_JS]

The only thing I can guess - one is an early casting the other later. There are even clear differences in the cast. Possibly the one believed to be a 71 was a replacement, warranty maybe?
I can not make out the forge/vendor mark on both, right of 489 numbers one is a diamond the other is in a circle perhaps also a diamond?
I just don't have enough of them around to give a concrete answer to the differences, but it is interesting.

 

[Vitamin c]

Yes, they are two very different castings. The rough casting has the diamond with the circle around it and the letters AAPW. The other has very clear numbers, and only a diamond with no circle. It has a ring gear with a 69 date so what appears to be a 344 date has me confused.