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Old 12-04-2001, 12:03 PM
PowerRam86 PowerRam86 is offline
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Location: Mabank, Texas
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Default Block Number Cipher

I have been trying to figure out the block numbers so that when I go to the junk yard to pick up a core I know what I am getting. Can anybody tell me what the numbers off my current block mean and where to get this information in the future?

From my 86 Power Ram 318
My block number is: 432 3(this number may be an 8) 33031818. I have read in a book I have that the 31818 is cubes and manufacturing date. But the rest is mysterious to me.

I got this number off the driver side of the block just behind the exhaust manifold. Could not find any numbers anywhere else.

I could not find any head casting numbers. Where are they located?
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Old 12-04-2001, 01:07 PM
Dave Dave is offline
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It is kind of a pain to see. Usually you need to see the rocker shaft and rockers. It is on the top of the head. Depending on how many miles are on the motor you may have to wire brush the crud off the # to make it visible.
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Old 12-04-2001, 06:47 PM
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tsteiner61 tsteiner61 is offline
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The casting number ARE a pain to read. A wire brush and a REALLY strong light are a big help.

I think you mean 4323302-318-18.

That would be a stock 318 cast between 1986 - 90, probably cast in 86 (or really late 85, sometimes they start new castings early) given the vehicle. -18 has nothing to do with the date. But I've heard different myths as to what that number means. Some people say it has something to do with the number of cores used in casting, but I don't really understand that.

The casting date is usually cast in the block somewhere close to the heads, usually much smaller than the casting number you were reading and it is either a date in mm-dd-yy format, or a 4-digit (usually) date code. Also, there is usually a pointer cast in somewhere with either D-N (for Day shift or Night shift), 1-2-3 (1st, 2nd, or 3rd shift) or 12 dots in a circle for time of day with an extra dot under or above it for AM or PM (I don't know if dot means AM or PM).

All of the casting numbers for the various years' blocks are listed in the Mopar engines book 9th ed, in the chapter on 'A' blocks.

If anyone really knows what the -18 means, please fill me in, I've been dying to know.
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