67 383 engine stampings question

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31pickemup

31pickemup

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Hey Gang
I pulled my 383 out of my 67 Barracuda and found out that the block is dated 1965. So I was wanting to put a correct date coded 67 block back in. My question is were the 383's stamped with a H.P. like the 440 blocks or could I use any 383 block with a production date of Feb/March/April for my June 9th build?
 
What is stamped on the pad in front of the right cylinder head? While not likely with a 383, some engines were cast long before the SPD of the car (very typical of hemi cars, but you never know).
 
OMG I just checked the stamped pad. Its stamped C-383 HP. So it is the original engine! They used a 65 block in this thing. How strange! Another cool item is they swapped the 516 heads for 915 HP heads sometime in its life.
 
31pickemup said:
OMG I just checked the stamped pad. Its stamped C-383 HP. So it is the original engine! They used a 65 block in this thing. How strange! Another cool item is they swapped the 516 heads for 915 HP heads sometime in its life.
Click to expand...

C stands for 1967, not sure what you mean by a 65 block. Yes the 516 and 915 were the heads for 66-67, both being closed chamber, and the 915 was supposed to be for the 440's (key word here supposed to be). Also both originally had the 1.60" exhaust valves with the 915's being upgraded to the 1.74 later.
 
It could have left the factory with the 915s as they really were completely interchangeable. If they were scrambling to get enough parts to put it together, who knows?
 
Demon seed
The C stamping is for the 67 year Yes. But the block casting is 1965. That is what i mean. They used a 383 block that was cast in 65. I'm pulling the heads tomorrow but I think from looking at it they might be the 1.74" valves. I'm hoping but it doesnt make a difference if there not. I can always have the larger valve installed at a later date if I decide to go that route.
 
Yes, it is very possible that they used a 65 casting in 67. The A-body 383 blocks had the holes drilled and tapped in the front of the driver side of the block for the motor mount. This boss and steel mount were also used on 65 C-bodies and possibly a year or two earlier or later.
 
The stamped pad below the distributor will have the Year/Engine Size, C383, and below that will be the date the engine was assembled, Month then 2 digit Day.
HP would be stamped after that, either next to it, or slightly below.

What is the date?

Compare it to the shipping date on the fender tag or build sheet. The assembly date on the engine has to be prior to the fender tag/build sheet or, obviously, it is not the original engine.

If the dates are very close, get the IBM build card from Chrysler- that will have the actual shipping date of your car. The fender tag and build sheet have the scheduled shipping date, which was not always the same as the actual shipping date- could be before, could be after.

The 67 A body 383 was the Commando 383, the 68/69 was the Super Commando 383.
From what I am told the 67 383 was not an HP engine.
67 383 HP engines were made, but they were not used in the A body.

Now any of the on-line decoding tools for the fender tag or build sheet will list the "H" in your VIN as 383 HP, and even the IBM build card from Chrysler lists it as 383 HP, but it is not the same as an "HP" engine.

When I received my IBM card, it had "383 HP" and I followed up with Chrysler asking them to confirm if 67 A body cars came with the "HP" engine even if it was not stamped "HP" as mine was not.
They told me the "HP" engines in 67 went into police cars and other body types, but not the A body, and they were painted orange. A body 383s were painted turquoise, as everyone will tell you.
The problem I had with that was, after going over every inch of my car, the 383 appeared to be originally orange, and painted turquoise while the engine was in the car- but anything can happen in 40 years.

OK, I'm babbling- but I am curious of the assembly date on your engine.

Yours would be the last 67 383 Barracuda built in our registry, please share more info on the car if you can:
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=118352

Let me know if you need any help with anything.
 
I will check tomorrow on the engine assembly date. I know my car was built on June 9th and I have the original build sheet that I removed from the driver side bucket seat. On my build sheet it says under shipping order 609
 
There is a 67 4 speed 383 that has been on ebag twice, not sold.

Check the build date on the fender tag.
 

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Matt
Ok I checked buildsheet and fender tag. Both say June 9th as a production date. I looked at my block and its assembly date is May 23rd 67
 
Matt
Ok I checked buildsheet and fender tag. Both say June 9th as a production date. I looked at my block and its assembly date is May 23rd 67
 
Well I pulled the heads off and it does have the 915 heads with the large exhaust valve. Bad side is the machine shop who redid them never put in hardened seats and did a horrible valve job. No wonder why my compression was only 125lbs
 
I did a little more research on the HP stamp, and from what I can determine, the HP stamp designated a High Performance engine with larger valves, more cam, free-flowing cast iron headers and a 4-bbl carb. It started in 68 and was used on the Road Runner and Super Bee.
Now when I spoke to Chrysler Historical they told me the HP was used in 67 on the 383s they placed in police cars.
Then add in that the A body did not have free flowing cast iron headers by any means, and there are a few open questions, at least in my mind, on when HP was used and why.

That is kool that your engine was assembled prior to the scheduled shipping date, but I bet your car was shipped prior to June 9th. Just a guess as my engine was assembled on 5/23, the fender tag has 5/31, but the IBM card confirmed it was actually shipped on 5/26.

Was your car ordered?

What are the part numbers and dates on the other pieces on the engine?

I've had many discussions with people about the validity of what appears to be the original color of my engine, orange not turquoise, and everyone insisted that it could never have been delivered orange.
When I suggested that maybe it was an HP engine that was never stamped HP, or just painted orange for whatever reason, I was informed that Chrysler never put HP 383s in the 67 A body and all A body 383s were turquoise.

Anything is possible, first year of the big block, end of the model year, stuff happens.

Get that IBM card and let me know when you get it- I'm a nut when it comes to the 67 Barracuda 383, so my apologies for the winded reply.

Hey, I took a pic of your engine when you weren't looking!
 

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Matt
What pieces do you want part numbers and dates off of? I'll gladly look. My car was an ordered California car. It is automatic, monotone-yellow, with black bucket seats and console interior, Factory Tach, 3:23 sure grip rear, disc brakes, and am radio. Not much else is on it. It was kind of bare bones besides the tach, which is a surprise being a automatic car. Oh, one other thing which is odd on this car; the rear valance has only one cut-out. It doesn't seem to have been replaced either. Not sure if that is correct for a California car or not, but that's the way it came.
 
Not looking for anything specific for part numbers, it just helps establish the engine as original if the other parts have dates in the same timeframe.

383s had dual exhaust, so that rear valance is weird.

It has an "H" in the vin and 62 on the buildsheet and fender tag, correct?
 
Yep, All the numbers are present. If its one of the last ones built maybe they ran out of the correct valance? Or some knucklehead just put on the wrong one. The car is partially torn apart right now. The engine, transmission and whole front K-member are getting rebuilt and detailed right now and the car is getting some bodywork and a fresh coat of base/clear. I'm going to get a closer look at the rear valance this week. Not sure if I'm going to replace it or not with the correct one. If the factory built it this way I might as well leave it that way. Plus with turn-downs it doesn't cause a problem. To me it tells a story about the car and how it proves Chrysler never did things by the book all the time and anythings possible.
 
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