My car has a body cowl tag date of 3rd week Jan 1970 but missing the original engine but did get one 70 intake and one #6 head with the car that could be from the original engine. Recently read the date codes are simply the day of the year like 1-365 so I went and looked. The intake I got had a 364 on it so I guess December 30th 69 and the head has just 12 so I guess Jan 12 1970. Does this seem like a good match for a 3rd week January Body Tag? I am thinking Yes considering fast pace and full speed production at that time. For comparison the engine that is original to the 1st week January Body Tag date on my old parts car has a 351 date on one of the heads so two weeks later body is pretty darn right on for the one head I have. Thoughts?

 

Parts on a single car can vary date-wise all over the place. I use my '68 4-4-2 as an example. I know it's all original as the car has been owned by my family since it was new. The build date on the trim tag is 04A, or the first week of April 1968. The engine block was cast on the 304th day of 1967 (Nov. 1) which is a full 5 months before the trim tag says the car was built. The heads are dated 64 (3/4/68) and 67 (3/7/68). The exhaust manifolds are dated 87 (3/27/68) and 88 (3/28/68), but the intake manifold is dated 24 (1/24/68). The steering box is dated 92 (4/1/68) and its cover is dated 95 (4/4/68) so these parts were hardly cold before they went on the car when it was built.


So, from what I've seen and documented for myself, in general, if you are within the 6 months before the date code on your trim tag, it's a good match. Just personal opinion from me!

Randy C.