1969 Chevelle Engine ID Codes - Engine Pad

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The engine identification code consists of the engine assembly plant, the engine assembly date, and a 2 or 3 letter suffix indicating the cubic inch displacement, the horsepower rating, and generally, what type of transmission was to be installed with the engine. Manual transmissions required a bushing in the rear of the bellhousing where an automatic transmission did not. Many engine "accessories" such as the carburetor, distributor, and exhaust manifolds were not installed at the engine assembly plant but rather at the final assembly plant.

During the 1969 model year, the 396-cubic inch engine was increased in size to 402 cubic inches by means of a .030 increase in cylinder bore size. It is believed this was done due to less restrictive emission standards on engines 400 cubic inches and larger. These 'new' 402cid engines can be identified in 1969 by the three letter suffix code and, to date, only one example has turned up. See below.

A total of 54,851 6-cyl engines were installed; 25,919 230cid and 29,932 250cid engines.
A total of 448,501 8-cyl engines were installed; 245,488 307cid, 116,383 327cid, and 86,630 396cid engines. This figure does not include the 323 427cid COPO engines. Since the 427cid COPO Chevelles were NOT built as SS396 optioned Chevelles, the 323 number would, logically, be subtracted from the base 307cid engine totals.

The L35 engine was also available in non-SS396 optioned Chevelles as a special ' police package ' that also required power disc brakes. It's believed that 323 non-SS396 optioned Chevelles were built accounting for the discrepancy in the 396 engine vs. SS386 equipment production numbers. All L35, L34 and L78 engines came standard with A.I.R. except L35 with TH400.

# Vintage Vehicle Services documentation indicate:
Of 2,673 13427 & 13437 300 Deluxe coupes & sport coupes built for sale in Canada; 36 were built with the L35 engine.
Of 787 13667 Malibu convertibles build for sale in Canada; 726 were built with the L35 engine.
Of 9,612 13637 Malibu sport coupes built for sale in Canada; 294 were built with the L34 engine and 427 were built with the L35 engine.
Of 10,828 13637 Malibu sport coupes built for sale in the U.S. 1,598 with L35 engine.
Of 10,828 13637 Malibu sport coupes built for sale in the U.S. 769 were built with the L34 engine.

201 Malibu sport coupes were (built in the U.S.) 'exported' for sale in Canada.

The engine assembly date and ID suffix code is always stamped on the engine pad except for Atlanta and Kansas City 396 engines as shown here. The partial VIN stamping location differs depending on the engine and plant. Listed in the matrix below are locations reported for the various plants and engines.

* Only 396 engines found to have partial VIN stamped by oil filter, all small-block engines are on the engine pad. To date, all L6 engines were stamped on a pad by the distributor.
** Tonawanda does not show this engine in their production reports but information presented here is from Alan L. Colvin's "...by the numbers..." reference book.
See this page for more.

Controlled Combustion System