340 engine decoder??

[70survivor]

Can anyone please help deciphering this Cuda 340 engine..I knew it was not numbers matching but was asked what year code it was and couldn't answer, what I think is a pertinent question if I decide to sell this car. There is the casting number on driver side which tells it's a 340 "2780930-340-6" (not sure what the 6 means) and on front of driver side of block is FW340P_ _4304468 - the 2 numbers (or letters) in the spaces left blank very hard to read .. I think they are 2 9 . . Ill post a pic for the hellovit - any help is greatly appreciated -

View attachment 125857

 

[MoparCarGuy]

EDIT: Your attachment did not work initially. Glad you were able to fix the picture of the stamping.
'Example below for a T/A-AAR block which has the small "s" in 6th position.
You should have 8 numerals after the P (Premium fuel). The Assembly date (4 digits) and the number of the engine built that day.
FW340P_ _4304468 seems to have an extra character. Broken out it would look like FW340P_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. If the last 4 digits are 4468 that is not really possible since they could not have built 4,468 engines in one day.
Do you have the Scheduled Production Date (SPD) for the car the engine came out of? That info will help narrow down the engine Assembly date window so we can attempt to decipher the actual numerals.

 

[70survivor]

Your attachment did not work. Post a picture of the stamping.
Example below for a T/A-AAR block which has the small "s" in 6th position.
You should have 8 numerals after the P (Premium fuel). The Assembly date (4 digits) and the number of the engine built that day.
FW340P_ _4304468 seems to have an extra character. Broken out it would look like FW340P_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. If the last 4 digits are 4468 that is not really possible since they could not have built 4,468 engines in one day.
Do you have the Scheduled Production Date (SPD) for the car the engine came out of? That info will help narrow down the engine Assembly date window so we can attempt to decipher the actual numerals.

View attachment 125918

thanks for the looking out moparguy. . you are right, looks like I typo'd and xtra 4 ! ! And. . I located the "date code on Passenger side to 5/28/69 ! ! I do not have any info on the donor engine at all as it cam running and driving in this Cuda - Looks like a clump of stray casting is in the way of those digits - Your diagram pic is very helpful TY!

 

[70survivor]

thanks for the looking out moparguy. . you are right, looks like I typo'd and xtra 4 ! ! And. . I located the "date code on Passenger side to 5/28/69 ! ! I do not have any info on the donor engine at all as it cam running and driving in this Cuda - Looks like a clump of stray casting is in the way of those digits - Your diagram pic is very helpful TY!

Im pleased about the correct date code as far as a 1970 block as well' I believe it will help with the resale value a bit ! ! Thanks again moparguy

 

[DetMatt1]

Im pleased about the correct date code as far as a 1970 block as well' I believe it will help with the resale value a bit ! ! Thanks again moparguy

Why the talk about resale???

 

[70survivor]

Why the talk about resale???

Hey Detmatt, was recently asked about the engine year but felt "got caught with my pants down". I understand the difference between the 70-74 engines but was embarrassed I wasn't sure. It is quite peppy and is pretty stout but truly didn't know being the engine replacement occurred in 73. Tony passed on the receipts of the work done from back in the day.. the receipt of the Weiand intake it's still sporting, the Crower cam you can still hear 'singing', the balance card, crankshaft polished, new rings, bearings etc.. When I bought from Tony he said his buddy that owned the car prior to him believed it was # matching but Tony found out later it was not. It really didn't matter to me as I was enamored with the cars relatively "all there" condition and that I could drive it home(are you kidding me?) ha ha - I LOVE this car but recently did a mockup ad as possibly looking to payoff house with the help$$ .. I know I would regret it immensely and Immediately!! I may need to be talked down out of a tall tree.

 

[70survivor]

Your attachment did not work. Post a picture of the stamping.
Example below for a T/A-AAR block which has the small "s" in 6th position.
You should have 8 numerals after the P (Premium fuel). The Assembly date (4 digits) and the number of the engine built that day.
FW340P_ _4304468 seems to have an extra character. Broken out it would look like FW340P_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. If the last 4 digits are 4468 that is not really possible since they could not have built 4,468 engines in one day.
Do you have the Scheduled Production Date (SPD) for the car the engine came out of? That info will help narrow down the engine Assembly date window so we can attempt to decipher the actual numerals.

View attachment 125918

upon further "Scraping" the numbers are 2 & 9, (- a 4') thank you for your time bud! Big help

 

[MoparCarGuy]

So now we have some info to work with.
The 340 engine is FW340P29430468.
That breaks out to a 1970 Windsor-built 340, Premium Fuel, 2943 (Assembled - September 18, 1969), and 0468 which was the 468th engine built that day.
You noted the casting date on the side of the block was 5 • 28 • 69 which would be 3 months, 22 days prior to the assembly date which is typical.

Now we need the partial VIN which is just above the oil pan rail, passenger side, near the water jacket drain plug.

It may start with 0B (1970 Hamtramck, MI) or 0E (1970 Los Angeles, CA) and will have the 6-digit VIN sequence number after that. Assuming it was installed in a Hamtramck E-Body, the sequence number would likely start with a numeral 1 for a car built in September-October timeframe. It could even have been installed in a late-November car and have gotten a numeral 2 (200,000) sequence number. No way to know if it is truly an E-Body engine. It could just as easily have been installed in another model, e.g. Dart/Duster, etc.

Post a picture and we can then see if we have a "missing" 340 for a known E-Body that matches that partial VIN. Long shot, but stranger situations have linked an engine to the original car.

And to answer your question about the Casting Number of 2780930-340-6...
The number 2780930 is a 1968-1973, 340 LA-series small-block, Not T/A or AAR. The 340 is obviously the engine CID and the -6 is the block mold revision number.

Additional sources: 10,000 Day Calendars and A Guide To Mopar V8 Cylinder Head And Block Casting Numbers

 

[70survivor]

May I call you Cudawhisperer, Moparguy?. . never would have guessed you could get it narrowed down that far!! Super-kule' - Thanks so much for taking the time with these hieroglyphics for a novice! I took a couple pix of this greasy, grumpy 340 tattoos . . to me looks like when scrolled in on my phone this Chrysler alphabet is 0B125734 - best I can tell . AND this engine seems so close for my build date on vin tag on door 10/69

 

[70survivor]

May I call you Cudawhisperer, Moparguy?. . never would have guessed you could get it narrowed down that far!! Super-kule' - Thanks so much for taking the time with these hieroglyphics for a novice! I took a couple pix of this greasy, grumpy 340 tattoos . . to me looks like when scrolled in on my phone this Chrysler alphabet is 0B125734 - best I can tell . AND this engine seems so close for my build date on vin tag on door 10/69

View attachment 125951

View attachment 125952

here's my partial vin

 

[70survivor]

This old gurl looks to have the born with alternator, starter, radiator and trans lines also. Was told the 53,045 miles were original on dash but have no proof. (off the road stuck in garage since mid-80's) The more I'm with her and inspecting here and there when crawling around it, seeing it still sporting the brittle plastic routing looms, bracketry etc... it is believable. I really wouldn't care if it had a million miles to be honest. Just KOOL to think it is real

 

[DetMatt1]

- I LOVE this car but recently did a mockup ad as possibly looking to payoff house with the help$$ .. I know I would regret it immensely and Immediately!! I may need to be talked down out of a tall tree.

Ok, I’ll start…..
Life is short. Hurry up and pay off your house for what? If you’re that close to paying it off and you think having the house paid off will make you every bit as happy as this car seems to make you well then go for it.

 

[Xcudame]

One note on casting numbers (actually engineering numbers), The - 6 in the 2780930 - 340 - 6 just means it's mold number "6". I keep hearing it's a mold revision number, which perhaps it is, but in every casting and forging house I've been to, it's just a mold number to keep track of the numerous molds they have. It's kinda like a serial number. Don't know why Chrysler would be any different. Notice on cylinder heads they have -11 and -12 sometimes which makes sense because they're casting two heads for every block.

 

[70survivor]

One note on casting numbers (actually engineering numbers), The - 6 in the 2780930 - 340 - 6 just means it's mold number "6". I keep hearing it's a mold revision number, which perhaps it is, but in every casting and forging house I've been to, it's just a mold number to keep track of the numerous molds they have. It's kinda like a serial number. Don't know why Chrysler would be any different. Notice on cylinder heads they have -11 and -12 sometimes which makes sense because they're casting two heads for every block.

Thanx Xcuda - appreciate ya!. . something like a "batch" number to keep track of issues

 

[70survivor]

Ok, I’ll start…..
Life is short. Hurry up and pay off your house for what? If you’re that close to paying it off and you think having the house paid off will make you every bit as happy as this car seems to make you well then go for it.

Well. . if you put it that way! . Hard to argue that point.. I guess figure out needs - and wants. Thanks for your tree talkin

 

[MoparCarGuy]

One note on casting numbers (actually engineering numbers), The - 6 in the 2780930 - 340 - 6 just means it's mold number "6". I keep hearing it's a mold revision number, which perhaps it is, but in every casting and forging house I've been to, it's just a mold number to keep track of the numerous molds they have. It's kinda like a serial number. Don't know why Chrysler would be any different. Notice on cylinder heads they have -11 and -12 sometimes which makes sense because they're casting two heads for every block.

We need a lot of casting dates and mold numbers to test this possibility out. If correct, we would find earlier casting dates on some numerically higher mold numbers and vice versa.
Need more data!

 

[70survivor]

We need a lot of casting dates and mold numbers to test this possibility out. If correct, we would find earlier casting dates on some numerically higher mold numbers and vice versa.
Need more data!

Thank you sooo much Moparguy. . Huge help narrowing down the Old 3forty for me. I'm happy with knowing she's a "close too" the production date of original as I think I would have ever guessed . . beats the pants off a 72-73 340 LOW Compression emissions special ..ha ha

 

[Xcudame]

We need a lot of casting dates and mold numbers to test this possibility out. If correct, we would find earlier casting dates on some numerically higher mold numbers and vice versa.
Need more data!

I will start a new post in "General Topics" tomorrow showing what I have regarding casting numbers and dates. Look for "Casting (Engineering) Numbers". Others can add to it. I have four "516" heads from two 1966 engines and six "906" heads, two 440s, a 70 413, and three 340s to discuss. I know the casting houses don't really keep track of revisions, especially in the 60s and 70s when quality control was almost non-existant.

 

[MoparCarGuy]

I am more interested in engine blocks than heads. Only the blocks got a partial VIN and could be matched up to a body VIN.