Portland68

Hello everyone, new to the forums and hoping to get some information settled without breaking any forum rules.

I just purchased a 1968 GMC pickup with what I was told to be a 442 engine and transmission swapped into it. The only number I am seeing on the engine is 396026G, any information would be great!

Thank in advance

rcorrigan5

That would be a 400ci block out of a '68 or '69 4-4-2. If you look at the VIN code, stamped into the engine block onto a pad on the driver side just below #1 cylinder, the second number in that series will tell you the year. The number should read "3 (which means Oldsmobile), either 8 or 9, a letter or number (E, M, Z or 1), then six numbers. If the second number is an 8, the block came out of a '68. If it's a 9, it came out of a '69. The same number should be stamped into the transmission casing, be it a manual or automatic.

Randy C.

svnt442

It may not have been out of a 442. Remember the Vista cruiser was also an A body and that fell under the CID restrictions at the time of no more that 400 CID.
Either way it came out of an A body, but the trans can actually be more telling. If the VIN derivative match on the engine and the trans and the trans has a tag that would have come from a 442, then that could be proof, but if the tag is either missing, too worn to read or not from a 442, or possibly from a different car than the engine, there is no way to know for sure.

Portland68

Here's a picture I took of the bottom of the transmission, if you would kindly point me in the direction of the transmission tag I will update with what it says.

wr1970

on Drivers side of trans not on the pan.

Portland68

Looks like 26A238713

svnt442

Look here

Portland68

it looks like 76 PC 82972, does that mean anything or am I reading it correctly?

Qwik71442

I believe the 76 PC came from a 76 455 Pontiac

70W-32

Yes, PC shows it is the code for a T400 originally installed behind a 455 Pontiac motor, and the 76 indicates it was a 1976 model year vehicle

Portland68

So with the casting number on the block it's looking like a 76 turbo 400 mounted to a 69 400 out of an A body that may or may not have been a 442?

MDchanic

Correct.

- Eric