Thoughts on this stamp?

[kenmerr80]

Just recently purchased this car.   i knew it had a CE block but i know nothing else about them.  What was the general process of these.  I can see remnants of a 3 and 4 on the pad.  What is your thoughts?  Thanks

First time using photo bucket so hopefully this works...

http://photobucket.drhinternet.net/click.php/e243915/h231046/qP2V2dD1lbWFpbF9zaGFyZV9tZWRpYQ/s59f1b2d926

[william]

Warranty short and fitted blocks were made to order. Looks like a 1972 build. Unless you have paperwork showing the replacement, no telling how it got there.

http://www.camaros.org/engine.shtml#service

Scroll down to "Service Engine (CE) and Transmission Coding"

That's a repro dash top. VIN tag has been off the car.

[bcmiller]

Just recently purchased this car.   i knew it had a CE block but i know nothing else about them.  What was the general process of these.  I can see remnants of a 3 and 4 on the pad.  What is your thoughts?  Thanks

How do the rest of the engine component (heads, intake, carb, distributor, alternator) dates compare to the build date of the car?

[kenmerr80]

Going to do my best to pull numbers off as much as i can this weekend.   I have just never known much about "replacement blocks" other than CE meant so.   For example what were the warranty time frames back in that era? (Im 36...)   Were the busted engines sent back to the plant for rebuilds as CE blocks or were CE's fresh builds?  In my picture you can see the remnants of a 3 and a 4 which makes me ask. 

[69Z28-RS]

CE short block was totally new.   If a warranteed block was *rebuildable*, then the rebuild was done at the dealership, but usually it was *cheaper* for GM to just provide a replacement short block, although I suspect if an owner screamed that he didn't want a replacement block and that the original was rebuildable, then that might have made a difference...

Warranty at the time was 5/50 (5 yrs or 50K miles) on the drivetrain major components.

[bcmiller]

After the CE, the next digit appears to be a 2. That means a 1972 model year CE (Chevrolet Engine).

As William stated, unless you have paperwork to determine when it was replaced, there is no telling when that was put in the car. Could have been in the 80s, 90s or even more recent. I have several CE coded blocks, with casting dates from the late 1967 calendar year into 1974.

Some information here.
http://www.camaros.org/engine.shtml#service

I have heard stories that when parts were replaced under warranty that local dealerships were told to destroy the damaged parts locally. Think sledgehammer.

[HarrisFD]

I have heard stories that when parts were replaced under warranty that local dealerships were told to destroy the damaged parts locally. Think sledgehammer.

I'm sure that was the "Corporate Policy" but in reality anything decent like a 302, 327, 396, 427 was probably made to "disappear". My uncle was a master mechanic at a prominent Chevrolet dealer in NorCal from 1964-1976. He had a '66 SS-396 Chevelle as his personal car and not surprisingly, he had several rebuildable 396's, 327's, muncies etc that were warranty pulls sitting in his garage. Bottom line, if it was desirable and  salvageable, it often found its way home from the scrap-heap with one of the techs.