Sorry I missed this comment before. If you know nothing about the history of the car and engine it can be difficult. There are several things you can check to be pretty sure. For a small block chevy in a Camaro: 1. Check the block pad stampings. That stamp shows: Engine Plant, Engine Assembly Date, and the application for that engine. For instance, my pad stamp is V0206ME which means 327 2bbl engine built in Flint Michigan on February 6th to be put into a 1967 Camaro with an automatic transmission and no smog pump. A lot of information on a few stamped letters and numbers! 2. Once you have that info check the casting date of the engine block. That is located nearly below the distributor on the back side of the block against the firewall. It can be hard to read due to a lot of oil and dirt collecting on top of it. Clean it off and you'll find a date code. Mine is A317 which means the block was cast January 31, 1967. The block casting date will always be earlier than the engine assembly date for obvious reasons. The casting date is usually pretty close, mine is 6 days before the assembly date. 3. Compare the dates in 1 and 2 to the build date of the car from the cowl tag of the car. Since the engine had to be assembled and ready to be installed in a car the cowl tag date should be after the engine assembly date. (Usually less than 30 days apart with exceptions) The cowl tag build date on my car is 02B which translates to the second week of February. So that goes well with the February 6th engine assembly date. NOTE: All of that can show that the engine is CORRECT for the car, but not that it is the actual assembly line original engine. (At least for 1967 Camaros) . Since I bought the car completely stock in 1975 with 50,000 miles, when combined with checking the numbers I can be confident it is the actual original engine. NOTE 2: For 1967, the engine pad in item 1 does not also have the VIN number stamped. The 1968 and 1969 models did, with some exceptions. So having having the VIN stamp would help ID an original 68 or 69 engine. NOTE 3: Most of the above info I learned from the Camaro Research Group website at camaros.org/drivetrain.shtml#PadStamps
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How can you check if you have an original engine?
Sorry I missed this comment before. If you know nothing about the history of the car and engine it can be difficult. There are several things you can check to be pretty sure.
For a small block chevy in a Camaro:
1. Check the block pad stampings. That stamp shows: Engine Plant, Engine Assembly Date, and the application for that engine. For instance, my pad stamp is V0206ME which means 327 2bbl engine built in Flint Michigan on February 6th to be put into a 1967 Camaro with an automatic transmission and no smog pump.
A lot of information on a few stamped letters and numbers!
2. Once you have that info check the casting date of the engine block. That is located nearly below the distributor on the back side of the block against the firewall. It can be hard to read due to a lot of oil and dirt collecting on top of it. Clean it off and you'll find a date code. Mine is A317 which means the block was cast January 31, 1967. The block casting date will always be earlier than the engine assembly date for obvious reasons. The casting date is usually pretty close, mine is 6 days before the assembly date.
3. Compare the dates in 1 and 2 to the build date of the car from the cowl tag of the car. Since the engine had to be assembled and ready to be installed in a car the cowl tag date should be after the engine assembly date. (Usually less than 30 days apart with exceptions)
The cowl tag build date on my car is 02B which translates to the second week of February. So that goes well with the February 6th engine assembly date.
NOTE: All of that can show that the engine is CORRECT for the car, but not that it is the actual assembly line original engine. (At least for 1967 Camaros) . Since I bought the car completely stock in 1975 with 50,000 miles, when combined with checking the numbers I can be confident it is the actual original engine.
NOTE 2: For 1967, the engine pad in item 1 does not also have the VIN number stamped. The 1968 and 1969 models did, with some exceptions. So having having the VIN stamp would help ID an original 68 or 69 engine.
NOTE 3: Most of the above info I learned from the Camaro Research Group website at camaros.org/drivetrain.shtml#PadStamps