Well, I pulled the pan and the first connecting rod bearings.  Boy was I suprised to see 010 stamped on the back of the bearing.  I looks like my engine has been rebuilt at some time.  Who ever did it did a poor job.  It leaks oil, seems like everywhere.  The engine casting on the front right of the block is C1143876 K04 24T  How can I tell if this is the original engine?  My Vin is 1Z37J3S418784 and my  Body build data is H26

Thanks,

John

John,

That can't be the original engine. The last six digits on your block should be the same as the last 6 digits of your vin #. I could be wrong but I think that's right.

John, we're assuming it's your 73 vette.  Look on the engine stamp pad on the right front of the head.  Give us the numbers off that.  One will be the date your engine was built and one will have the last part of the cars serial number. 

Mark

John, check out THESE PICS to determine your casting, and engine ID nums. That will make it easier to determine what nums. you are looking for, and what they are.
I gotta tell ya tho....it don't look good for you having the orig. engine in your long lost first 'Vette.

Well, the  engine Id number/vin code is definately not matching the VIN, so the engine is not original.  Someone must have swapped engines at some point.  Probably just had a rebuilt engine swapped for the original.  So maybe a crate motor is in my future, since I no longer have a numbers matching original.

John

I appreciate all the help from the experts!  So now that I know the engine in my long lost 73 Vette is not original, is there a good way to tell what car the engine is out of?  Does the engine stamping on the front "C1143876 K04 24T" Tell what kind of car the engine was originally in.  I plan on getting a mirror today to find the date stamp on the back.  Also how can I tell what cam, compression, ect the engine has.  I am going to buy a compression tester today, so I can check that, once I get the new rod bearings in it.  As for the cam, it idles pretty normal, and I used regular unleaded all the way home from Calif with no sign of knocking, so I think it must be stock 8.5 : 1 compression.  Although lately here in Austin it tends to run on (diesel) a bit when the ignition is switched off.  The bottom half of the engines looks pretty clean (no bad deposits or sludge), and the crank journals are fairly fresh (no bad scoreing), so I think this rebuild was put in not too many miles ago.  It does have a bad oil leak on the right side, which I suspect is from the valve cover, but I haven't confirmed that yet.

Thanks, John

You can take those numbers and go to a good GM parts dept, and they can tell you what the engine is from.

Maybe.....I've never seen a "24T" stamp. It looks like this is a Nov. 4th assy date(K04). The date on the rear of the block would give the year. I don't have a clue what the "24T" is.
Let the research begin!!!

Hey!!! maybe it was for a '24 model T!!!

Sounds like that engine was bored .010. 2 cruzn38825.5298148148

I don't know if it was bored out, but the crank rod journals are ground 010.  I just picked up new rod bearings 010, so I should have the car back on the road by this weekend.  I forgot to look at compression testers while I was at the auto parts store.  I will try and get one before the weekend.  I am juggling multiple projects at this time.  I am in the middle of putting granite tile counters with tile backsplash in the kitchen.  My wife started giving me hints Saturday after I spent a couple hours under the Vette, so Sunday I finished up one section of the kitchen, and have about 4 more to do.  Still the Vette sits there begging for attention.

John