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Original Message
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| RE: Probably not |
| By Bill Brady - 08/24/2001 6:51:23 AM; IP 63.238.170.106 |
| Orin: I think you'll find that matching numbers to most people means the actual drivetrain (or at least the original engine) the car was originally produced with. That's how I learned it and what it's always meant to me and most of the people I've had a reason to speak about it with over the years. Most GM, Mopar and a number of Fords, especially with high performance engines, had the VIN (or at least a good portion of it ) stamped onto the engine block and transmission. When the serial number on the engine and trans are the same as the car's VIN, "the numbers match". It's my understanding that as the 60's rolled on into the '70's, this became more commonplace, mostly due to federal regulations requiring the serial number to be on many components for aid in tracking stolen cars and parts. My '71 Torino, for example, with 351C-4V and C6 had a partial VIN (year, plant and last six digits of serial number) stamped on the back of the driver's side engine block and on a pad on top of the trans which I discovered when they were pulled to rebuild, so I felt I was fortunate to discover it was a "numbers matcing car". Interestingly, a lot of the so-called experts at these musclecar magazines back in the '80's swore Ford never stamped the blocks with the VIN except for ultra high performance engines like in the Boss cars, 289 hipo, etc, yet I've found the numbers on just about all the cars I've had or parted out, including garden variety 302-2V's from '70-71 (Mr. F, a comment or two here on these guys?). You can't touch a new car without finding the VIN somewhere. I believe that what you refer to with the casting dates not predating the production date by 45 days means just that, a correct date coded engine and components that someone has put together because the original engine may have been removed or grenaded over the years. This is often what judged shows use as a guide and the judging standards aren't necessarily concerned with whether it is in fact the original engine, so long as it is date and appearance correct. Also, many times you'll see someone refer to an engine as having a correct replacement block. That can often mean the original block was replaced by a dealer under warranty or otherwise, or the owner has tracked down the right year over the counter block to put the remaining original components (or ones they've tracked down) onto. However, those cars, like the date correct cars, will never be considered true "matching numbers". Hope this helps. |
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