The casting number number on my engine is 3835911. From one of my books this appears it could be for a 235 corvette or a 235 w/powerglide. I am assuming since my truck is not an automatic that it does not have powerglide? The serial number is 055I22I F54X. I'm not sure if that helps or gives any additional information. The only other numbers are D194 CON4. Looking around online it appears the D194 is the production date which would have been April 19, 1954. What would the CON4 mean? What is really throwing me here is that a mechanic I took it to told me the engine was not the original but he gave that opinion based simply on the fact that it had been painted orange. Now it obviously is the correct year engine so is there any real way to determine if this would have been the original engine. I assume the engine could have been rebuilt at some point and was repainted and not to the original color. I know there are lots of you out there who know more about this stuff then I do so any help you could give me in figuring this out would be greatly appreciated.
Check the numbers stamped on the flat pad just behind the hole the distributor fits in. This will give you a positive ID of the engine.
Steve, the engine serial # 0551221 F54X breaks down as follows: 0551221 is the unit number, "F" indicates that it was built at the Flint, MI plant, "54" indicates the model year, and "X" indicates use in 3100 series trucks. The block casting number, 3835911 is consistent with 235 engine blocks in 53-55. Ken
Ken - Thanks for the info Ken - Thanks for providing me with that. So I can only really confirm that the engine is the right engine for the truck. No real way to confirm if it is the original engine that would have come with the truck? I figured that might be hard to do, but at least it is good that it is the right engine. I have attached some pics just so you can see what I am seeing and make sure I provided you with the right information. Thanks again for the help.
The plot thickens So the one number that I forgot to mention which admittedly I just noticed was the number on the cylinder head. That number is 3835913. From the book I have that seems to be a right casting for a '54. So from my understanding, the cylinder block on a '54 would have 3835911 on the casting and the cylinder head would have 3835913. I just want to make sure I have that right. If so, I can't believe that this truck could possibly have the original engine in it and more importantly that after almost 60 years it still runs (at least until I started taking it apart). I have attached a pic for reference on the cylinder head number.
The casting number on the head matches those used in 54 and 55. It's quite possible that you've got the original engine in your truck. Certainly the numbers match up. Don't underestimate the reliability of these engines. Chances are very good that you have the original engine that came in that truck and even if it is almost 60m years old, chances are REAL good that it will still run. They are very well engineered and so simple to maintain that, unless they were abused, they will outlast us all! PS: I'm not so sure that I'd trust a mechanic who bases what year an engine is solely on what color it is.
