Need help interpreting julian dates again

[Tom Kochtanek]

Was down the basement last night looking for parts and part #s and noted a bit of an oddity as far as one of my blocks was concerned. I was trying to match up block casting dates with head casting dates.

The block of concern is a 1963 "814" casting with rather large Julian dates of the RH side of the rear stating what appears to be "I 7". Not "1 7" but with an "I". It's pretty rough in that area of the block, so I compared that julian code (which I thought would be all numeric, with no letters) to other blocks I have on hand. The earlier 1961-2 blocks all seem to have a smaller tag using the mo/dd/yr configuration, and they are (in the case of my blocks) all placed in the middle flat section of the back of the block (not the RH side like later blocks?). Then I looked at several 63-64 blocks and noted a different casting date, at least in terms of size and alphanumerics. These were larger in size than the 61-62 castings, all place on that RH side of the rear of the block, and all were strict numerics, no letters.

So I go back to my 1963 "814" block and it really does have a larger "font size" than the other 63-64 blocks, and there's that darn "I" sitting there :(. Maybe it is a one and a seven, which would put that mid January 1963???

This is a Tonowanda cast block, TO 223 QB, with a clear stamp to the left of the suffix code having a "J225927". Is that the Janesville plant, where it was mated with its body? So what was the likely born on date for the casting or assembly of this engine?

As always, thanks for your consideration. Sorry to be overly concerned about numbers. Maybe the guy with the original vehicle is around, who knows?

Cheers,
TomK

[TomO]

Tom - I took at look at my 814 block. The date code is on the RH side in 3/8" tall font. No letters in the date code.

TomO

[oldskydog]

Tom. "
Since your assembly date is Feb 23, I would think you are right in that the I 7 is a julian date for casting in January. If it was an alpha-numeric date code it would have to have two more characters for the year.It could be that thay were just changing over to Julian dates and may have used different size fonts and characters until they settled on a standard. Maybe they didn't have a "1" in that size so substituted the "I" . Remember that they didn't use the character "1" in the pad stamp but used the "I" character as a one. Do you have any other julian dated parts with a "1" or "I" to compare? I checked mine and they all are in the smaller characters and the number "1" in the julian dates is clearly a "1" and not "I". Does it have the "CFD" casting?

:scratch :scratch :scratch

[Tom Kochtanek]

Cecil:

Yes, this is a "CFD" cast block. Definitely from 1963. You are right, perhaps this was on or near the "cusp" of when they switched over to Julian codes (sometime in the 1963 year as I recall). The font size is what throws me, it's HUGE compared to the other julian codes I have on 63 and 64 blocks. Only have a few, so not much to compare to, and no other ones or "I"s in those. I guess it's an odd one?

So its possible this was cast on January 7th and assembled February 23rd. In that case the "I" would mean or represent a "1". Interesting.

The objective is to locate a date coded set of 690s for the block. I have one 690 that is clearly from a 1962 build (K 20 61), another with Julian codes "59" which might be near the last day in February 1963? So I'll be looking for another 690 head, might try to trade with someone who needs what I have. Or maybe I can find one for real cheap, like $250 :).

Cheers,
TomK

[LongIsland63SS409]

Tom,

For the record on my 814 63 block:

I have a casting Julian date of 23 and an assembly date of March 03/05. The Julian date represents the 23rd day of the year.

Your casting date without seeing your block would be the 17th day, six days before my block was cast.

My car has an assembly built date of 03B, around March 13, 1963. My car was assembled at Tarrytown, New York.

The Late Great Chevrolet Club of New Jersey documented my car and verified that it is the original 409.

Hope this info helps.

Mike

[Ronnie Russell]

TomK, While looking at Mortec yesterday, I noticed they said that some 60s blocks used Roman numerals for 1, which of course is I. Im sure you have visited that web-site often,as I, but until yesterday I have never taken the time to read some of their explainations. Dont know if this is of any help or even relates to your question. Good luck..........

[Tom Kochtanek]

This is the best photo I could get that represents the rather large julian date code on that 1963 814 block. Does this look like an "I" or could it be a Roman numeral, or perhaps a "1"?

Best,
TomK