Some details

 I'm sitting here watching the first practice of the F1 grand prix in Las Vegas. That sphere thing is amazing!  I thought I would put together a collage of photos of some of the details I have found so far.  I've had the oil pan off the engine and now the transmission and bell housing are off to replace the clutch.  There's some oil pollution coming through the crank bolts and also the transmission snout.  A few more things to update that I'll get to.


 Left - The engine machining date is 4K23.

 Right - The crank is marked with an orange paint stroke and also has the polished rear counterweight and small "K" stamping.




All the glass is original and has date codes of 4K and 4J.  The windshield is tinted "Sun Visor."






The block casting date 4K22 is the day before the block was machined.





The engine was rebuilt at some point and it appears that the block was decked because the engine build date stamping at the front of the LH cylinder bank is missing.  The heads have casting dates of 5D27 (LH) with the "21" ID and 3D18 (RH) with the "19" ID. There's also a rebuilder's warranty mark on the front of the head.  Seems likely that the heads are replacements taken off the shelf.  The rockers are Competition Cams (Crane) roller rockers.



Probably the most intriguing things about the engine is the VIN stamping on the RH lower side near the pan rail.  I questioned this on concoursmustang and the feedback indicated that it was not.  If the block were a replacement then the casting and machining dates seem to be coincidentally close to the car build date.  Further investigation turned up other very early San Jose engine blocks with similar smoothing to the block casting surface in the same area where the VIN is stamped.  Of course, the engine VIN stamping at the factory where the car is assembled and not at the engine factory, so the characteristics of a San Jose car must be taken as a unique set.  I will learn more as time goes on.






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