Need Help Identifying 1963 Impala ss 409 dual Carbs

[Carl 1962]

The # of cylinders by vin is true in most cases but didn't the 1959 and 1960 Elcamino's have an issue with them building the main part of the car at one plant or something and finishing the car at another plant so they didn't always know if a 6 cylinder, small block or 348's would end up in them until final assembly. Thanks again for any insight Carl.

In 1959, all bodies built at Cleveland (Body code EP built El Camino, Sedan delivery and wagons), Flint #1 (Body code FB, and was actually a Buick plant that built wagons for Chevrolet), and Lansing (Body code LA built convertibles) were all shipped to other Chevrolet plants to be mated to a chassis and assembled.

In 1959 in each of these cases, the Fisher plants at Cleveland, Flint #1 and Lansing did not care what engine was going to be fitted, but this changed in 1960 when each of these Fisher plants, and most of the others too, started stamping a code on the cowl tag that denoted which engine badge had been fitted to the trunk (or tailgate) before the body was shipped to Chevrolet for completion. In 1960, even if the Fisher plant knew that the car was going to have a 6-cylinder engine fitted and stamped the cowl tag with a code (or no code in some cases), the STYLE code was always the V8 code for that model. FYI, in 1960, Cleveland, St Louis and Van Nuys built El Camino bodies.

 

[midnightdobie]

409 Engine stamp matches VIN#. I don’t see how Acc. Letter on cawl tag could be an M. Any ideas or comments would be appreciated.

 

[midnightdobie]

Blown up…

 

[pvs409]

That QG stamp is for a factory 409 powerglide model - so that 409 motor was a 340 HP single Rochester 4 barrel carb motor with small cast iron heads

 

[midnightdobie]

Blown up…

 

[pvs409]

QG also indicates that that 409 motor came on a 409 car with a factory powerglide transmission

 

[R63ss]

Have you checked the heads casting numbers(should be 690’s) and date codes,how about the carbs?Typically they should be 2-6 weeks before the assembly date of the car.It is tough to make out from your photo but it looks like 3d so you would be looking for date codes before the 4th week of March 1963.I know you want it to be legit,but between the M(yes it is an M)on the trim tag,the QG on the engine stamp pad,and the Tonwada stamp letters being all over the place I would be leary of assuming it is original.I have a 67 tri power corvette and the ncrs guys go crazy over stamp pads and broach marks.Remember the letters and numbers where put into gang stamp and struck.They should be somewhat straight.Original blocks are rare and when financial gain is involved people will do anything to sell for more money.Sometimes the person that stamps it just wants it to look correct and discloses this when he sells it.But then the next owner forgets to mention it when he sells it.
Good luck