CE codes..how far out date wise?

[ZLP955]

Welcome back, John!

X2, good to hear from you John, and a (late) Happy New Year!
Did you by chance retain any copies of the dealer documents you mentioned having for the CE block in your former car?

[bcmiller]

Thanks for clarifying that John. Even not that many years ago I know of some warranty W motor 409 short blocks that were found in storage at old dealerships.

At a large auction - attended by people from all over the world - several years ago near where I grew up, there were all kinds of service parts that were sold, including such things as NOS crankshafts, camshafts, heads, etc.

Dealers talked to each other for such things as trading cars - and parts - in the 60s and 70s.  So it wouldn’t be a stretch to think that a few short blocks were obtained that way.

[Kelley W King]

Just for info my 12A L78 has a CE block dated F119 and both heads are B 19 9 . No I do not have any docs. Owner history shows the engine was in the car back to 1977. The original 400 turbo is still in the car.

[firstgenaddict]

There are a number of 67 L78 engines not in their correct cars.
I inspected a 67 L78 pacer a few months ago which had another car's engine T0413MQ N212xxx last 3 digits had too much paint to make out.

[bcmiller]

You might want to consider a 70 or later 4.25 bore CE block and build a 427 or 454. Or just take a good 4 bolt main 454 truck block, zero deck it, blueprint and balance everything. You could even do a stroker 496.

I am running a 4 bolt main 454 block, bored 0.060 over - old school 468 cubic inches. My original 396 block probably won’t ever show up. Such is life.