What does my engine number mean ?

[71 Bee Man]

G'day guys,

finally found what I believe is my engine identification number. I'm not talking about the cast numbers in the block, but rather the stamped numbers - the ones that generally go on your rego papers and the like.

When my car was registered they used the number up near the distributor....I think it was C383HP...something like that.
But on the bottom of the motor - right where the gearbox bolts on, there's a much longer stamped number. I thought there was supposed to be a number stamped on the right side, lower part of the block, but mine is stamped on the very bottom of the engine, near the bellhousing.

It starts with PT383H******

Is there any meaning to this numnber at all ? Also, how can I tell what year my transmission was built ? On one side there is a small "71" stamped, but is this the year I.D ?

Any help appreciated.

Peter
Sydney, Australia.

[MOPARHOUND!]

If the C 383 HP is stamped on the pad in front of the passenger side head, you have a 1967 model year High Peformance 383 engine. 

Post the rest of the PT383........... , it can be decoded.  It should not have an H following the 383, but 8 numeric digits.   PT means it was assembled at the Trenton Engine Plant, naturally a 383 cid engine.

[Ghoste]

The transmission should also have a series of stamped in numbers.  The date code will be among them.

[71 Bee Man]

If the C 383 HP is stamped on the pad in front of the passenger side head, you have a 1967 model year High Peformance 383 engine. 

Post the rest of the PT383........... , it can be decoded.  It should not have an H following the 383, but 8 numeric digits.   PT means it was assembled at the Trenton Engine Plant, naturally a 383 cid engine.

G'day again guys,

that first number i mentioned was actually D383167HP. Yep....she's a 68 engine.

The one I'm interested in is the other one which seems to be :

PT383H25160847

As for the transmission....I'll climb under and see if I can read the thing....just cramped, that's all.

Peter

[MOPARHOUND!]

I don't know that the H means after PT383 (maybe 4 barrel, or high performance??).......but the 2516 means the engine as a short block was assembled on Monday, June 17, 1968.

The 0847 means it was the 847th engine assembled that day.

If the top pad reads D383 and then 167HP, then it was a 383 high performance engine bound for installation in a 1968 model car (D series as the '68s were referred to for coding purposes).

The 167 I can only surmise as a jumble of the June 17th assembly date, that is 6 meaning June the 6th month, and the 1 and 7 meaning day 17.  Some crazy stamping shows up on the pads sometimes.  A July 16th assembly date would be a near impossibility for enough transport and sequencing time to find it's way into a '68 model car, most '68 production was done by mid July, and tooling changeover for the '69 model year was underway.