DZ stamp opinion

[jeff400w]

Has anyone seen a DZ stamp like this?  I know it looks like a bad restamp, but I have owned this block since
1975. I knew the 2 previous owners of the car. To the best of my knowledge the motor had never been apart before
my friend,the previous owner spun a bearing and pulled it in 1973. It sat for a couple years before I got the short  block. You can see I had the blocked decked but made sure the stamping pad wasn't touched.
Having an explanation on this makes a big difference on the value of this block.

[william]

It does not match up with other early September 1968 stamps.

[KurtS]

I looked at your pad before (fb?). I don't believe it's an original stamp.

[Delco115]

Just throwing this out there..... Is it possible the "Z" character could have been loaded upside down in the gang stamp holder, allowing it to be misaligned with the rest of the stamping?

I haven't seen an empty gang stamp holder in some time and am not real familiar with how the individual number/letter stamps are secured in it. Does anyone have detailed pictures of one and how it was loaded prior to its use?

[bcmiller]

Has anyone seen a DZ stamp like this?  I know it looks like a bad restamp, but I have owned this block since
1975. I knew the 2 previous owners of the car. To the best of my knowledge the motor had never been apart before
my friend,the previous owner spun a bearing and pulled it in 1973. It sat for a couple years before I got the short  block. You can see I had the blocked decked but made sure the stamping pad wasn't touched.
Having an explanation on this makes a big difference on the value of this block.

Take a clear high resolution pic of the whole pad after you clean it off with lacquer thinner on a rag. Then send to me full size.

[william]

The Z character isn't the problem.

[bcmiller]

Agreed.

I still want to see the full pad. You can send to me if you want.

Engines were definitely being restamped in the 80s, and probably some in the 70s.

[boomer632]

This is one of them

[jeff400w]

bcmiller , I'll clean up the pad and see if I can get a better picture.

[bcmiller]

bcmiller , I'll clean up the pad and see if I can get a better picture.

Sounds good.

[firstgenaddict]

Is that a 386 block?
I don't have a problem with a GRIND OUT and gang stamped over the grind out - it's the errant skewed Z which is difficult to explain.

[bcmiller]

Is that a 386 block?
I don't have a problem with a GRIND OUT and gang stamped over the grind out - it's the errant skewed Z which is difficult to explain.

From his original post.

You can see I had the blocked decked but made sure the stamping pad wasn't touched.

[firstgenaddict]

I can see the marks on the pad from being ground out with a rotary abrasive wheel.

They run approx in the direction of intake to exhaust

There are NUMEROUS examples of these (grindouts using a rotary tool and either hand or gang stamped) on low mileage never apart Corvettes.

The problem here is because it was decked there are no broach marks ANYWHERE, which makes the whole thing MORE QUESTIONABLE.
If I were writing a report for a customer. I would state that the pad has no broach marks visible and does not represent the typical characteristics of Assembly line deck stamps. I may indicate the appearance of a grind out, however with also being decked determining exactly what has happened very unlikely and would not be able to make a determination whether or not the engine was a DZ from the factory. 

[jeff400w]

Here is hopefully a betting picture. As I have looked more closely at this stamp it does appear that the stamp had been ground off and restamped. If  you look closely under the 4 and the D you can see a DZ.
Yes it is a 386 block Cast H 28 8

[bcmiller]

Does look like a grind out. Will let others chime in.

I could be wrong, but I am leaning one direction.