Pulled the motor out of my '65 K fastback this week. It was sold to me as a matching numbers car and I had no reason to believe it wasn't, but never did actually check for the VIN stamp. Well, today I cleaned off the area where the stamp should be and there it was... woohoo! 
Need to clean the trans next. It's an HEH-T, so it most likely is the original. And for reference to Marv... my car has an 11A scheduled build date.
Congratulations Charles,
It's always nice to know you have the
matching block.
/Bo
congrats - good luck with the resto. We all know it's going to be killer!
Charles,
Is your vin lightly stamped and are numbers/letters widely spaced? Can you and others comment on the vin stamping and where it was built? The one Dearborn kar I've seen was very lightly stamped and was stamped into the block without any prior grinding of the block. The K I just sold has a San Jose block with numbers stamped clearly and fairly close together and is stamped on the textured block. Has anyone seen the vin stamped on a block with the background appearing to have been ground?. I've recently seen a clear picture of a San Jose k coupe with this smooth stamping. This raises a red flag for me; however, the block is dated spot on to the vin and the numbers/letters do appear to be Ford correct.
Congrats Charles, finding the VIN on my block was definitely a day maker so I know the feeling!
Charles, I am happy for you that you are fortunate enough to have the original block. This is especially cool since you did not actually check it before purchasing the Kar. You had faith in the seller and it actually worked out. Good Karma!!!
-Fred-
Alex, I have several San Jose blocks and even a San Jose Kar or two. I have seen quite a few San Jose Kars in my time and all of them had the VIN stamped into the textured cast iron without any grinding to get the area flat. Some have been easy to see and others like my 66 Silver Frost Kar are so light that I almost did not find it. I have seen quite a few VIN stamps on K blocks that were fairly light. I have encountered a number of them where the engine paint had to be taken off of the area to make out the VIN.
-Fred-
All of the K code engines I have seen with a VIN stamp are haphazard with zero grinding. I would be HIGHLY suspect of a ground, clean, "Pretty" stamp.
FYI - My VIN stamps
mid April '65 Dearborn 2+2
Engine - lightly stamped - no grinding - near oil pan rail PS of block - not completely neat or straight
Tranny - light to slightly heavy stamp - on bottom of main case running front to back on the PS of the drain plug - also no grinding and not neat or straight
Edited by - RalphJr on 10/25/2008 10:48:32
Congratulations, Charles! It is a relief when you discover you have the original parts that belong with the car. <img src=images/icon_smile_cool.gif border=0 align=middle>
I think I said the exact same thing about 4 years ago. Never did paint the thing, but couldn't bring myself to stop restoring it!
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