Re: [FWDLK] Here's the engine stamping......

[Bill Watson <wwatson6@xxxxxxx>]

The "R" was for the engineering department "series" number, or as the
advertising./marketing people called it, "model year"

ALL 1961 Chrysler Corporation car and truck engines had an "R" in front.
"P" was for 1960 (except for Valiant which was "Q" - the only time "Q" was
used), "S" for 1962, etc.   The first time the letters appeared was in 1957,
"K". on Dodge engines.  In 1958 the "L" was used as the first digit on all
engine numbers as well as the serial number, as was "M" in.1959.

The "A" years were 1924, 1942, 1965 and 1982.  Letters used were A. B. C. D.
E. F. G. H. J. K, L, M, P, R, S, T and V.    Combined years were 1924-25
("A"). 1946-48 ("B") and 1951-52 ("E").

Chrysler of Great Britain used the engineering dept letters in the British
serial numbers in 1935-36, as did Chrysler United Kingdom and Chrysler
France in the 1970's.   And after 1969 Chrysler would use the letters in the
three-digit paint code to demote the year that shade was introduced.

As for this engine, right next to the "3" in "413" there appears to be a "J,
followed by a "C" (look very closely) with "300" following that..   The "62"
is actually the seqeuntial number of the engine size built that day and not
the year,   It is just a fluke the number came up as "62".  Only the 318 did
not use the "mm-dd" date of assembly followed by a daily serial number.
.The 300-J engines usually had "C-300-J" but as this is a very early engine
(assembly of the J did not begin until October), an incorrect engine stamp
would not be impossible.  Especially given that the car series stamp was
used only on engines destined for the J series.

Finally, the fact no options are shown under the row of letters on the data
tag leads to the assumption the standard engine was installed in this car at
the factory as no engine letter was used in that case.  Thus, if this car
was a V8 model (serial number starting with "5") the car came with a 318-V8.

"0823" is for the scheduled build date - August 23, 1960.  (Which makes an
engine date of  9-18 an impossibility)

"511" is for the model number -
5 - DartV8  (a 6 was "4")
1 - Seneca
1 - 2-door sedan

"304" - for the interior trim -
Gray cloth and vinyl

"JJ1" - exterior paint
J - Roof colour - Turquoise
J - Body colour - Turquoise
1 - Paint scheme - monotone

As yoiu can surmise, the floor shifter is not orginal.   Chrysler did offer
a floor shifter in 1961 Chrysler Newport models as Torqueflite was optional
and the deep dish steering wheels did not permit a column shift, but this
one does not appear to be factory.

Bill
Vancouver, BC



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "eastern sierra Adj Services" <esierraadj@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 8:50 PM
Subject: Re: [FWDLK] Here's the engine stamping......


> Jim (dunno if this will make it to the List), My 61 Dodge T.S.B. states
> that for Dodge (anyway) , the "R" is a "Series"-number, and that it
> appears on SLANT-6's (that's the  R 17 and
> R 22 that I mentioned, for the 170 & 225 blocks)
> as well as on all the V/8's .
>
> It looks like the "R" may have designated all 1961 MoPar engines.
>
> Neil
>
> *************************************************************
>
> To unsubscribe or set your subscription options, please go to
> http://lists.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=l-forwardlook&A=1

*************************************************************

To unsubscribe or set your subscription options, please go to
http://lists.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=l-forwardlook&A=1