Jordan73

Hello everyone, I just signed up today but have been a loyal thread reader for over a year!
I purchased a 1973 L82 about 6 months ago and absolutely love it. I've been thinking of adding some performance parts to give her some go, or debating just pulling the motor and dropping in a crate engine.

So today I was doing some research and have hit a road block that has me baffled. I was told when I bought the car that it had the original engine. However the engine number makes no sense to me.
The only thing stamped on the pad in front of the passenger side valve cover is: "CE3278 0 9" Does this make sense to anyone? No other markings are visible. I did a search online and came across "CE" being a 1956 Impala 265 ci engine code which again makes no sense.

The casting numbers on the back of the block by the transmission show "3970010" which would be a 350. Plus the numbers for the exhaust manifold, intake and carb all go along with the L82 numbers.

Can someone shed some light? I'll try to figure out how to attach a picture and I'll show you what I'm looking at.

Thanks again!

gbvette62

The "CE" in the format that's stamped on your block, indicates that it is a GM warranty, or "over the counter" service replacement block.

The "3" after the CE, would be the year 1973, so the engine was probably damaged while still under warranty, and the new CE short block was installed.

The engine is not the original engine, or at least the block isn't, sorry.

If it had been a 1956 engine, the CE would be found in a format similar to this: F0521CE, with the "F" indicating the Flint engine plant, the first 2 numbers being the month of assembly, the second 2 numbers being the day of the month, and then the CE at the end would be the engine suffix code.

Jordan73

This is what I'm talking about. What's up with the spaces and can anyone make heads or tails out of this?

Jordan73

Is there any link, guide, etc. that would tell me what the other numbers mean? And also, would this still be considered a "numbers matching" car if the block was replaced under warranty?

LeMans Pete

Hi Jordan,

CE stands for "Chevrolet Engine." Since yours is a '73 it is very likely it was put in as a warranty motor. It is still likely that someone just bought it over the counter and installed it themselves.

CE motors were recorded with a 6-digit serial number. The first digit after CE is for the year, so in your case 1973. For the Flint plant, where the corvette motors were assembled, the sequence went from 20000 to 49999, then from 90000 to 99999. So your lies there at the beginning with 27809.

I have postulated that the "CE" and the first 4 digits were stamped after the block casting as a gang stamp and then the final two characters are individually stamped at the time of build-out of the motor.

Depending on the reason for replacement, you typically received a new block with rotating assembly. From here, any usable parts from your original motor were transferred to the replacement shortblock.

Unfortunately, this would not be considered a "matching numbers" block. That disappeared when your original block with the VIN and assembly stamping was replaced.

But, enjoy it for what it is!

EDIT: I wanted to clarify, there is no paper trail that ties your CE number to what is inside that motor or any further documentation that I am aware of.

Mike Ward

To be short and blunt and after reading the responses above from gb and Pete, no and no.

Sorry.

LS4 PILOT

Glade your enjoying your ride.

If the replacement block is not buggered up badly or over bored already, I'd just rebuild to the power level desired , with in reason .

A 3:70 rear or 3:55 rear axle gear , will perk up a base car .

Compression was the issue with post 1970 engines.

There is adequate hp available over the counter, you can build your block since it is not matching numbers, without spending a fortune .

11:1 compression or so will really wake up a Chevy small block . Just plan on using hi octane fuel

Good luck

Easy Mike

I agree with my learned colleagues. Just the same, you should be ready to be told your CE block can be "numbers matching" with a little work on your part.

Jordan73

Thanks everyone! I appreciate your quick responses and your wealth of knowledge.
The only reason I was considering the crate motor was because I didn't want to mess with "original engine". Seeing as how that's not the case anymore, can anyone steer me in the direction of best bang for my buck regarding performance upgrades?
I'm thinking headers, intake, and K & N air filter to start.
Then maybe this winter I can pull the motor ( I have to anyways to fix that leaky rear seal ) at that time maybe different heads, and cam.

Any tips or pointers or advice? Thanks in advance!

davidchristopher

See, now- it's not a numbers matcher, so it'd be hard to say without pulling the heads and calculating compression ration, but the first thing *I* would do is cam it + intake.

Mike Ward

First the K&N filters do nothing for performance, so save your money.

Without a teardown, there's no way of knowing what's inside the engine. Intakes and headers won't do much for what might be a low HP smog motor.

AirborneSilva

Cam, intake, heads, headers and a 2 1/2" exhaust

Shark Racer

I agree with you on the intake and disagree with you strongly on the headers. A set of 1 5/8" long tube headers will work wonders on these cars. I'm pretty sure the exhaust manifolds were designed by plumbers trying to get the job done...

AirborneSilva

Would that be the Mario brothers

Jordan73

It is definitely a 73 engine. As I said before, all other numbers point to it being a replacement block L82. I haven't pulled a valve cover yet to get to the heads numbers, any other way?
VIN # says its an L82, aluminum L82 valve covers, tach is correct, carb from L82, I haven't driven an L48 so I'm not sure on the difference in "feel", but I'm pretty sure its got an L82 350 under the hood.

Another question: How do I know what I have for rear gears? Did the L82 come with a certain gear ratio? I know there were options, but how can I tell whats in this car?

Jordan73

Oh, and it has 2-1/2" true dual exhaust (factory) already.

AirborneSilva

See there, you're partly there already I'd put some good Magnaflow mufflers on it though.

Mike Ward

I have no doubt that it was born as an L82 and most probably the CE short block presently installed is similar/identical to the original engine.

Given that you've got the L82 exhaust pipes, swapping to headers from the stock rams horn manifolds won't do much. It's still a low compression 250HP smog engine.

LS4 PILOT

Having something higher than a 3 .08 highway axle will help with the acceleration.

If you have the bottom end pieces of the old L82 , crank etc ....it a good start for an old school engine build to add an extra 100 hp.

I like old school simple chit .....myself ......I'm not racing anybody these days .

Blue73Shark

[QUOTE Another question: How do I know what I have for rear gears? Did the L82 come with a certain gear ratio? I know there were options, but how can I tell whats in this car?[/QUOTE]

Stamped on the underside of the differential, on the flange, where the cover attaches, is a code that identifies the gear ratio among other info.
First two letters indicate the ratio:
AX, LR - 3.36
AC - 4.11
AB - 3.70
AA - 3.55
AW - 3.08
Fran