"So is it true that the "VIN" listed on most titles is actually the engine number?"
It is true that "DMVs used either the engine serial number or the vehicle serial number for titling/registration purposes." I have had titles/registrations from same-year trucks in same-states (VA & WA) that used either code.
Posting complete information often allows quicker (and correct) identification (many of us have been doing this for many years and we have wasted time trying to ID something using incomplete/incorrect information).
If you find and post block & head casting codes and date-casting codes, you will then know a little more (or, confirm what you now know). The locations of those codes should be shown in a link in my first post.
You might as well find and use all of the identification information that you have available?
