How can I confirm that the 400 is the original to this car?

By casting and date codes on the block and heads. You compare the casting codes to what your car should have and the date codes to the build date on your firewall tag.

You can post that info here and we'll help you out if you wish.

This sight here is a little messed up, but it shows photos of the places you should be looking:

Franks\' Pontiac Page

And we might want to start by verifying it's actually a factory 400 car first. We can help there, too - but getting the documentation from Pontiac Historical Services is a good idea.

Welcome, by the way.

If it is a later 67 it will have half the vin stamped on the block near the timing cover on the passenger side.
Jim

That's a rumor. VIN stamping did not start until the '68 model year. There was a lot of debate about this over at the Classical Pontiac site and a poll was taken. Nobody with a '67 block could find a VIN.

My "numbers matching" '67 400 was built in June '67 and the YT block has no VIN stamping.

Diesel: If you car has an auto transmission (and it should be a Turbo 400) it will have a stamped YT block code on the upper right front of the block. Manual cars were either WZ or WU codes.

Unless you happen to have one of the 60 or so Ram Air I's.

Thanks for the help. I will look and let you know.

By the way harleyD, welcome to the site. I hope you enjoy this site as much as many of us do
Wade

I have had at least one 67 Firebird with the vin on the engine and also a 67 GTO. It is no myth. You should know better than to say something doesn't exist just because you can't find one at a particular date and time.
Jim

Interesting. What's the build date on those 2 cars?

Sorry. As I said - I just took the info off the Classical Pontiac site. It was debated over there with gusto. I asked specifically about my car with the June build date and was told no VIN's on blocks in '67.

It has been years since I have owned the cars and I didn't keep the documentation.


It should not be too surprising with your knowledge of GM and how they rarely begin or end a process at a year change. There are many changes that take place late in the year.

I imagine the subject was debated with gusto because there will be people that think they have seen everything and others who know what they have seen.

There are cars with missing engine vins through the years. I have had the privledge of working on the number stamping machines on assembly lines and if they don't work the line keeps moving. It would be nice to have "cut and dried" rules but the factory is an unpredictable place.
Jim

Interestingly enough - the Code section here in the 1st Gen FB Frequently Asked Questions for 1967's models says the same thing. No block VINS until '68.

It would have been cool to have the documentation that would change that!!

And when I was going though that section again (it's been a while) it occured to me it would be a great section to steer harleydiesel to. There's a wealth of info there.

BTW, I've always been curious about another thing I have heard - some early '68 Firebirds were built with mono rear springs and tractions bars. So far I have not come across one of those either.

Hmmmmm. I found a reference to a "numbers matching" article on '67 Firebirds in the June '93 of High Performance Pontiac that says there WERE partial VIN's in late '67.

I did not have access to the article, though.

It will take a while but I will dig up the issue.
Jim

The only 93 issue I could find was the October issue. All my 94's are missing also. I have them but they must be mixed in with Muscle Car or Hot Rod.
Jim

I hope you find that issue. It should be interesting.

When I got home, I remembered one sure way to verify a '67 motor's originality regardless of whether the VIN got stamped or not.

The stamped Engine Unit Number above the engine code on the front of the motor - it should match up with the number on the billing history that comes with documents from PHS.

I can't find that issue. I was taking the mags to work back then and I think they got borrowed. I'm positive about the vin being on the engine and I have talked to other people that really know the documentation business and they swear to it. Of course you can find car owners and dealers that will fight this because their cars don't have the numbers. Others, like you Salmon, will look for the truth. I first ran into this anomoly when trying to document an original 67 GTO. Years later, I found that the 1967 Firebirds were later stamped too.
Jim