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Tech Editor's DeskProjects, papers, writings, thoughts, musings of our technical editor Joe Padavano. To begin with, he will be making threads and can approve posts to it if he wishes. This can be changed in the future if it does not work out well.
If you are talking about this stamp, that's the VIN derivative on the transmission.
Once again, any "numbers matching" claims loose all credibility when the car is obviously full of aftermarket parts. All this proves is that the block and trans case are original to the car. We have no idea if the F heads are original to that block (or if they are even real "F" heads, since you can't read the head casting numbers). Obviously the orignal intake, exhaust manifolds, carb, air cleaner, and starter are gone. Heck, it doesn't even have notched valve covers. The red inner fenders look like repros, but it's hard to tell in the photos. The battery cutoff switch hacked into what appears to be a correct "flat flange" 1970 fender is unfortunate. There's a whole lot of orange peel in the paint. Good luck with the asking price.
OK, I completely missed the 31Mxxxxxx VIN derivative on the block. I doubt that's a factory mistake, but it would be difficult to find a block with the same VIN derivative but one year newer. On the other hand, that stamp looks a little fishy to me. Also note that this photo is of a bare block, which may or may not be the one in the car.
The pad looks really smooth, and the factory used a holder to keep the number stamps aligned. Note the alignment of the stamp on the trans as opposed to the one on the block.
