The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Engine Serial Number

Can anyone give any info on this serial # N357283CAL. This engine is in a friends garage. It appears to be a 235 low preasure, it has the short side plates and the two acorn nuts on the valve cover. The # is on the boss by the distributor.

no luck on
this Id link

I looked in My book{chevy truck ID numbers} from 54 on and did not see anything like that maybe it's a car engine?

Pete

That looks like a California assigned number to me.

I also think it is from a car and the engine is in California. I just saw a 1952 Deluxe Sport Coupe (power glide)40,000 miles all orginial, the gentleman that has it is the second owner. That engine has the exact same external look as the engine I am inquiring about.

The engine, or at least the block, may have been a replacement that came from Chevrolet with no serial number stamped on the pad. A previous owner could have had anything stamped, depending on the circumstances of the replacement.

Do you have the block casting number? It is a seven-digit number cast into the block, probably forward of the fuel pump, above the oil pan flange. Are you sure that it is low pressure? Does it have the oil distributor on the driver's side of the block? The 1953 Powerglide engines have the short sideplate and two-stud valve cover, but they are high pressure engines with aluminum pistons.

Hoyt

Hoyt, yes, it has the oil distributor on the drivers side. I don't think any PO would have stamped numbers on the boss. If it was a replacement engine the PO wouldn't have cared if it had umbers or not. This engine was given to the owner now and the person you he got it from doesn't know anything about it. The engine has a ton of crud on it.

I don't have access to the engine right now (it's about 15 miles from me) to get the number forward of the fuel pump.

AD Pickup,

I was trying to point out that replacement engines from Chevrolet came with a blank distributor pad where the serial number should appear. Depending upon the titling and registration laws of the state, either the the serial number of the original engine (which was then scrapped) or a new number assigned by the state was to be stamped into the distributor pad. I have heard of other practices, legal and otherwise.

In any event, the serial number on the engine in your friend's garage may not be much help in identifying the which engine it is. Getting fifty years of crud off to find the casting number will be a messy job.

Hoyt

AD Pickup,

People have reported that CA is a state that liked to have an ID stamped into the frame (GM did not do this from 47-55, at least). However, people have reported IDs being found stamped into their 47-55 frames from CA. Have you looked at the frame rails to see if a code is stamped anywhere? It would be interesting if you found a code that matched your engine code. The person/shop that put in the replacement engine might have followed the CA rules for changing the registration/title ID.

By the way, the engine/head casting codes are quite helpful in identifying an engine; but, head and block casting codes were sometimes used used over multiple years. Date casting codes are also quite helpful in identifying the pedigree of an engine.

Here are locations of casting codes for a 1951 low-pressure 235 truck engine. I do not know if 235 car engines have these codes in the same locations.

Tim, there is no frame in the garage, only a engine. This gentleman is wanting to know info on the engine and it also has my curosity. The crankcase vent turns toward the firewall and then down on a angle. That is just like the vent on the 52 coupe powerglide that I looked at. The motor mounts are on the side of the engine and not in front. So, I am sure it came from a car and I am pretty sure it is a 235 low preasure. If I get a chance I will try to get the other numbers to determine what year of car it came from.

The low pressure passenger car 235 engines with the side mounts were the 1952 Powerglide (15 head bolts and hydraulic lifters) and 1953 standard (18 head bolts and solid lifters).

Hoyt

Hoyt, I called the owner of the engine and he got the number forward of the fuel pump.

3835692 with GM above.

I found this on a Chevy Engine ID site... 1952 3835692 235 Passenger with Powerglide, Truck

also on the link I provided....says yrs 50-52 however does not indicate powerglide or truck....

Joker, the way I interpret it... the 3835692 was used in the 1950-1952 trucks and the 1952 powerglide.

roger that, my hot rod came with the 235 and powerglide..

The Master Parts Manual the 3835692 casting number was for 50-52 235s with Powerglide. The Beck's listing at the Inliners' site says it's a 1952 235.

Are the side mounts still attached to the block?

Getting close. The cylinder head and date codes will help.

Hoyt

No, the side mounts aren't there but, you can see where they were. No crud where they were mounted.

Hoyt, there is conflicting data on these casting numbers This site list 3835692 as 1952 powerglide and trucks. They have the 50-51 as a different casting number. Check the 50-52 numbers on this site.

AD,

Yes, there is a lot of conflicting information.
Beck's:
52 KDA, KDM, KEA, KEM 3835692
Question: What are these codes? K is for 1952, but chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com says "????"

Hemming's:
1952 3835692 235 Passenger with Powerglide, Truck

The "default" Inliners' site:
3835692 Chevrolet 50-52 235

The Chevrolet Master Parts Catalog:
50-52 ALL w/235 (exc P.G.) (aluminum [cam gear?])
or,
50-52 Pass, w/P.G. (fiber [cam gear?])

It might be time to pull the side cover and timing gear cover to see which tappets and cam gear are in the engine to tell if it is a passenger P.G. or a truck 235.

Hoyt