c4nutcase

So i have a 73 454 corvette Elkhart Green but the pad numbers are very very faint the casting numbers are correct 39999289 the date behind intake is 2/73,
I am trying to see confirm if it is the original. I do have the
Tank Sticker also to help piece things together.
If anyone would like to help, id appreciate it very much.
b2 73 is back of block Feb 2ns 1973?
H 9 73 is intake can that be that far apart? august 9th 1973?
Carb is correct 7043200 454 Auto

69L88

Your car was built in late May of 73 so I would say based on the B 3 73 block cast date, it is possible it is original but IMO is on the ragged edge of likelihood as typically there was approximately a 30-60 window between when the engine was built in Tonawanda, NY and the St. Louis, MO factory assembled the car. The H date on the intake is clearly not an original part.

gbvette62

While I agree with some of what 69L88 says, I disagree with the build date he gave you. According to the C3 Registry's Birthday Calculator, 1973 VIN 31069 was built on June 23rd 1973, not late May (the last 73 built in May 73 was VIN 28892).

As you've already determined, the casting date of B 2 73 is February 2, 1973, almost 5 months before the car's build date. While it's not impossible that it's the original engine (the NCRS generally allows 6 months in judging), it is outside of what normally would be considered typical.

As 69L88 said the intake can't be original to the car because H 9 73 is August 73 which would mean the intake was cast 5 or 6 weeks after the car was built. With an August casting date it has to be a 74 intake, since 73 production ended on July 27, 1973.

The carb's date code, May 3rd (F3) works well with a car with a June build date. Note that the carb was added on the production line at St Louis so the carb's assembly date has no correlation to the engine's casting or assembly dates. As a side note, the two digit date code identifies the carb as a Q-Jet made under license by Carter. A Rochester built carb would have a four digit Julian date for the year and the day of the year.

Try to get some pictures of the pad (even if they are very faint) and post them here. Someone may be able to have more luck in decoding what's stamped on the pad.

Bikespace

Your trim tag will tell you your car's birthday.

https://corvettec3.ca/numbers.htm

Post the pad anyway! The camera can see things they eye can't.