331 caddy questions

i have read threads on here until my eyes hirt and still didnt cover half of them so im hoping someone can give me a hand or even some links to some threads.
i have a few 331 caddy motors,some complete and some in parts. i would like to find out their year of manufacture for future reference.
first question.is it correct that the first 2 numbers on the engine number{right hand side of the block}is the year of manufactor?
eg. 51.... is a 51 caddy and so on.
next question. what internals interchange between the different years?crank,rods,pistons ect....
i have a sweet standard 54 block{going by the engine number if thats the right way of telling} and i scored a rebuilt 55 short motor.i was wondering if i can swap the crank,rods piston ect into the 54 without to much hassle{obviously after machince work}because i have a trans setup already for the 54 and earlier.
i have also been looking at getting a rebuild kit from falcon but i have noticed that some kits dont over lap from year to year.eg 52 doesnt work on a 53 and 53 on 54.is there that much difference between the years?
thanks inadvance to anyone taking the time to reply....

 

for year id use stamped nr on block should be the same as vin nr on car. it starts 49xxxxxx comes this on my 1949 .real mach numbers!!!!!!!!

 

thanks swe64.
thats one question answered.
can someone help me with regard to the swapping of caddy crank,rods ect.

 

coop39 Welcome to HAMB,,,,,,,,,Get a hold of Goatroper02 here on the HAMB,,he is a member and runs Ross Racing Engines .They specialize in Olds & Cadilac v8 ..There phone number is 330 544 4466 . They are good people and able to help you out

 

Kanterauto.com has complete rebuild kits .They have a catalog .They are in Boonton New Jersy. Email them and request a catalog.

 

for crank swapping i have heard that same year crank goes with right year trans seems like bellhousing on block is diffrent but you can swap a complete unit from 1955 in a 1949 but not change trans or engine.
other people here onHAMB can more about this so some one have info here.

 

Look in the archives,there is some excellent info in there to answer probably all your questions and then some.

 

thanks guys.barrelnose i have read quite a few as mentioned but i couldnt find any with info on swapping internals or what the difference is betwwen the years.if someone could help.thanks

 

Coop I sent a pm.... U receive it?