I just got my car back, after a year of it sitting in front of my house. I thought I needed an engine rebuild this whole time, but turns out I just had a bad water pump. I hate not knowing anything about my car. I guess that auto 101 class I took last year (I'm a college student) didn't really teach me $#!+.

Anyway, to the point. It was brought up that there is a possibility that my Engine may not be the original engine to my car. The guy who worked on it was a Nissan/Toyota specialist for 20 years and just started working on Domestics, so he couldn't tell me any more about the car than I already know. IN fact, he thought somehow that it was a '62. oops.

So how do I tell if the engine is the original? The VIN on the car is LH41COR115XXX and a number I found on the engine block is 2806830...

Thanks

That "O" in your VIN (after the "C" and before the "R") is actually a 0 (zero). You've got a 1970 Dart Custom 4-door sedan there. The engine block number you found is the correct casting number for a 1970 engine (as well as other years, but not including 1962!), but without the engine ID numbers (stamped on the top surface of the block, below the frontmost spark plug, we can't say what year this particular engine was made.

In addition to the engine ID number, if you'll post the whole VIN (without the xxx after the 5) we can decode it for you.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

There should be a pad under the #6 plug that has the serial number stamped in it. It should match the sequential number on the car.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

The last digits of the VIN are 115296. I can't seem to find the numbers you speak of on the block below the spark plug, but I will look again when it's a little more light out (It's kinda cloudy... in Southern California, what the heck?)

The last digits of the VIN are 115296. I can't seem to find the numbers you speak of on the block below the spark plug, but I will look again when it's a little more light out (It's kinda cloudy... in Southern California, what the heck?)

My back hurts from moving crap around, so I'll take some pics for a break...

Check the Data plate, either on fender or door (or even the door sticker)...




Your slant more than likely is caked in tons of goo, like this one:




Grab the carb cleaner in a can and a nice rag or stiff brush...

Where the head meets the block under plug #6, beside the bellhousing, passenger side there will be a pad...find with light and feel, use cleaner and brush and scrub diligently...if the last numbers of the VIN match what's on the pad you have a ringer...









Other things you can check:


The tranny pad should have the model and type and your last digits if original:



May have to move the alternator and scrub the pad (actually an extension of the block face) under the #1 spark plug which can tell you a bit about crank type and sometimes under bore/over bore...etc...




At least on the late A-bodies, the radiator cowl 'lip' will also be stamped with your last 6 digits (not always true, and sometimes the factory made a switch/ooops in production)...

That should help you match up everything to see what might be swapped.

Happy hunting and grime scraping...

-D.Idiot