Like the title says, i have a 302 sat in a car that i need identification for, as in what vehicle did it come in. I was told its from a 79 Mercury Marquis, is there any way to find the car's VIN number from the engine block's serial number? Thanks in advance, norwegian car laws make me queasy!
Do you need to lock it down to an exact vehicle, or just a model year? For model year, you can get an approximation (parts carried over from precious years) from the letter/number codes that the part numbers start with. The first character is a letter representing the decade after WWII, and the second character is a number representing the year (e.g.: A9=1949, B5=1955, C2=1962, D6=1976, E4=1984, etc.). The third character is a letter that represents the model it was installed in. US law required a standardized 17-digit Vehicle Identification Number or VIN by that year. If it was, and I am not aware that Ford did, stamped on the engine, it will be the only 17-digit number. For specifics on model, you need to find a number that is in this format: C5ZZ-2140-CR. This should help you get it down to what type of vehicle it came in.
Might help to know what number you found stamped on the block...or are you also asking where on the block to find that number? like he said, Ford generally didn't stamp numbers on engines in that era. They made it rather difficult to figure out what an engine is from. They did have a metal data tag on the engine, held on by the ignition coil bolt, but that usually is gone by the time a hot rod is built. you might also find casting date information on the block, heads, manifolds, etc. Look for a number, letter, number sequence. Such as 9E12 would be 1979 (or 1969 or 1989) May 12th
Even with the date codes, you still might not be able to lock it to its true year. Ford, as all other car manufacturers did, often used castings until they decided to stop. You might find a casting marked C8 (1978) in a 1981 vehicle, or E0 (1980) in 1978 vehicle.
I was referring to the casting date code, not the engineering part number. The engineering number will get you to the right decade, the casting date code will tell you exactly what day the part was cast.
Even then, it is not a strict guarantee of exactly when it was installed. If he needs an exact year and model, this will be about as close as he's going to get. D98 could easily be in a 1980 model year car, even though the casting was done in August of 1979.
What are the Norwegian rule makers requiring you to do exactly? Do they want you to produce a document or chart to prove what and which original vehicle the engine was used in? Or will something more general identifying the year and manufacturer be good enough?
They require the actual vehicle the engine came from, even though most car brands dont seem to have a matched car\engine number of any kind, making it redundant. I should probably not be saying this, but so far when i've needed to get an engine swap approved, i've simply found a car that had the same engine, and used the number from that... But its proving a little hard to find a 302 donor, this is norway after all, most cars are weezy 4bangers! And thanks for all the quick replies, i will go over the engine tomorrow and see what numbers i can find
I'd say that is probably about what you need to do be it totally honest or not. Best thing would be if one of the guys had a 79 Ford something that came with a 302 in it rusting away in the back field to pm you the vin. Maybe even send a back dated bill of sale for "one used 302 ford engine as is where is with no warranty or guarantee implied or offered" With a core value price on it. And the vin of the car it "came out of" of course. I'd imagine that their concern is either for tax or emission compliance with the possibility of proving that the engine was obtained legally. According to this there is a "serial number" on the engine https://itstillruns.com/ford-302-serial-number-motor-5843383.html reading a couple of other sources that may be the number that you already gave and not a stamped number.
Some Fords, mostly hipo's but not all had a partial vin stamped on the left rear of the block just below the cylinder head on flat machined pad. Should look something like this.
The Jalopy Journal
