330 engine numbers.

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kare
Posts: 547
Joined: Sun Sep 22, 2002 11:34 am
Location: Helsinki, Finland, Europe

330 engine numbers.

Post by kare »

The numbers on block casting are pretty interesting and it looks like "209 1000" is made out of plastic "mail box letters" glued to the pattern and "41" is added with Dymo tape. As it is too difficult to replace Dymo tape after each mold, this number must be either a part number or batch number.

They did make 330 America blocks in two batches (two batches that were used that is). I believe the block design was final when they started casting them, but a small batch was needed to test the arrangement; to see that the metal ran into the mold properly and the feeding (compensating the shrinkage) worked correctly and the solidification process was in control resulting in a casting that could be sent to the machine shop. As soon as it turned out that the test castings were all right (no ratholes, no porocity in critical areas) they poured the rest of the blocks.

This is why block numbers appear completely random in the 330 America series: comparing numero internos with serial numbers it shows that the 2nd car built has one of the highest block numbers (4969 - #1862) and the lowest known block number so far appeared relatively late in the series (5061 - #1716).

It would be very interesting to see if the block of s/n 5061 has the same numbers on top of the block. It might be just and just be possible to get those numbers with digital camera on a complete car...
250 GT 2+2 3197/GT
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