Suffix Codes & CE replacements

[L34Pace]

After the block was hot tanked this is what I found. It seems to be an assembly date stamp including plant, month, and year. It is located at the starter flange of the block.

[L34Pace]

At the rough casting near the oil filter is a partial vin that is very likely punched one digit at a time. The first number 6 was washed out by the camara flash. The partial does not contain the 19N as would have been done during normal practice during assembly.

[L34Pace]

I have been able to document a couple other Tonawanda CE blocks with similar assembly codes. I have not found this application on Flint CE blocks to date. It appears that in my case the block was replaced before the car was sold to the first owner on May 13th 1969 per the POP in service date. This Z11 is a 03D build the block is a 272 cast D119, the assembly code is T059 (May 69) and the block pad reads CE967575 (69 67575). The interesting thing I take from this is that we know that at Tonawanda during the month of May 1969 the sequential batch #'s of 50000 to 79999 was at 67575. Take note that this 30K batch of blocks would include ALL models built at Tonawanda not just Camaro blocks. The only other conclusion I have drawn is that the "year" is not by model but rather by year of warranty installation. The GM documentation states it was by model year. I feel a revision was made. My opinion on the Flint SB system is that the 30k block of available sequential block numbers of 20000 to 49999 was not adequate to accomodate the CE warranty replacements required for GM's SB output. If so I believe that they used a rollover system and added the letter "A" to distinguish this. I've heard "B" and maybe even "C" were used? Another conclusion can be made from all of this. Alot more CE blocks should be under the hoods of our precious first generation Camaros than seems to be the case