YOU GUYS SEE THIS!?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/69-Z-28-302-Short-Block-Reconditioned-Standard-Bore_W0QQitemZ320060086654QQihZ011QQcategoryZ14068 4QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

:hurray:

I believe, indicates that this is a crate engine. This can be easily stamped with the "DZ" part number for the purist.

yikes :eek:

Loooonng time ago, this is the way they were sold over the counter or service replacement. The CE verifies this. If this was a warranty replacement, our service dept would restamp the body and vin onto the pad, just to id the car to the body in event it was stolen. Not for any other purpose. If this procedure was wrong then we were never alerted. We did not ever think of stamping the DZ. Those that went over the counter just had the numbers you see here.
I have never tried to decode these numbers but will guess the last 4 are the blocks made. Could be the factory started 302 replacements with 1000 and this was the 4th? Maybe some older than me that worked at the engine foundry would chime in?

I've asked for the cast date of the block. My guess is that if the CE3 is correct it will be a 1973 cast dated block. In short, no pun intended, a common 010 casting replacement block with several four bolt aplications replaced under warranty for a 1973 model year vehicle. The CE prefix, "C" Chevrolet "E" engine, was used followed by the "model year" and five digit sequential engine plant allocation numbers.

I've asked for the cast date of the block. My guess is that if the CE3 is correct it will be a 1973 cast dated block. In short, no pun intended, a common 010 casting replacement block with several four bolt aplications replaced under warranty for a 1973 model year vehicle. The CE prefix, "C" Chevrolet "E" engine, was used followed by the "model year" and five digit sequential engine plant allocation numbers.

Maybe thats what the 3N3 is,, 3rd of Nov, 73?

I think the number after the CE indicates the year of engine build, not the year of the car it's going into. So a 512 casting b/b block with a CE0XXXX number could have been for a 69 427 or a 70 454. The difference would have been everything else except the block.

Many of the later "CE" blocks didn't follow the normal published "CE" stamping convention, but generally the digit following the "E" is the year of manufacture. :thumbsup:

I think the number after the CE indicates the year of engine build, not the year of the car it's going into. So a 512 casting b/b block with a CE0XXXX number could have been for a 69 427 or a 70 454. The difference would have been everything else except the block.
No I was refering time line on motor manufacture, 3rd , nov, 73, not car. And it prolly did not make any difference what size the motor was as that part number would fit various years and applications. At least we never saw any indication. It was the part # and casting that told us this.

Many of the later "CE" blocks didn't follow the normal published "CE" stamping convention, but generally the digit following the "E" is the year of manufacture. :thumbsup:

We have had this discussion a couple times in the past John and I agree with you, as you know, that the year is the assembly date of the block and not the model year of the vehicle. I have yet to find a CE block with a year designation in the third position that supercedes the year of the cast date of the replacement block. However, using this block as an example, the cast date of the block is E282 and the year is CE3 (1973). Given this combination it appears that the replacement blocks follow the current "model year" and not the calander year. This might give new interpretation to the CRG GM warranty block service memo to mean "model year in current production" rather than model year of the vehicle recieving the replacement component? I also have a 3935440 block, cast date G98 (July 1968), with a CE950332 sequence and T088 assembly code making it the 332nd block of the Tonowanda sequence for the 1969 model year since it started at 50000. As UnReal pointed out this system could produce non conforming castings with just internals to identify the application. So in retrospect this ebay block could be a 302 CE replacement given the 5/50 warranty. It also opens up a real can-o-worms for those with legit CE blocks :(

For those of you who are not totally confused and sick of the subject, I may be myself, here are a few more detailed observations. The letter code following the year found on Flint small blocks is not found on Tonowanda big blocks and consists of A, B, C and N and possibly others? It's meaning is unknown but it might be a designation for the type of assembly built? Some of the Tonowanda blocks have been identified with what appears to be a compressed assembly code, plant month & year, located at the flat surface where the starter mounts. For example I have two 440 blocks identified, one is CE967575 with a D119 cast date and a T059 (May 1969) assembly code. The other is CE950332 with a G98 cast date and a T088 (Aug 1968) assembly code. This is interesting as it demonstrates that of the 50000 to 79999 sequential replacement blocks at Tonowanda for the 1969 "model year", between August of 1968 and May of 1969 a total of 17,575 CE assemblies were produced! Of course this is for all GM products fitted with Tonowanda blocks not just Camaro. Maybe JohnZ can give us a production figure for the plant to put it in better perspective?

Flint V-8 and Tonawanda each made about 1.5 million engines per year. :thumbsup:

If my Jethro cyphering is correct thats an actual replacement rate of about 1.5% at Tonawanda. With that being said the 30,000 block CE sequence reserve was set at 2% total production. Almost sounds logical for a change :)