Hot Rods Engine Decoding

I'm looking at purchasing a 6cyl chevrolet engine from a fellow, he said its a 235 and came out of a 55 Chev car. The engine serial number is C390181, however I can't find any information on decoding it. Here is a pic of the engine, hoping someone can help me confirm what it is?

 

Probably canadian, so I can't be much help....

If you look next to the starter, maybe you can find a casting date code for the block. And if you look under the valve cover on the head, you might find one for that as well. Letter followed by a few numbers, such as

D 14 5

would be April 14 1955. Month is the letter, (D is the fourth letter in the alphabet, so it's the fourth month of the year), 14 is the day, 5 is the year, they only show the last digit of the year.

 

As Squirrel said,
The casting date code for the block is located behind the starter.

The 7 digit casting number is cast on the side of the block just ahead of the distributor hole.
Might be able to i.d it from this as well.

 

If you can, check on the inliners international site. The numbers listing is quite extensive. You may find just what you're looking for. From the picture, it appears to be a later model 235.

 

The oil filler in the center of the valve cover as opposed to the front is a clue of some sort.

 

Can't help ya. Just clicked on this thread so I could get a better look at your avatar.

 

Try http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/showforum.php?fid/31/keyword/1955-1957_Chevys/

or http://www.trifive.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=11

 

I'll let my wife know you checked her out. She'll smile.

 

If tappet cover goes from valve cover to bottom it's a 216 if it goes about below plugs it's a 235


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk