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.

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 production numbers.

# GM of Canada reports that of 10,828 13637 Malibu Sport Coupes imported from Canada for sale in the U.S., 1,598 were equipped with the base L35 396 engine and 769 were optioned with the L34 396 engine.

The engine assembly date and ID suffix code is always stamped on the engine pad 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. If you have a partial VIN stamped in another location, please go to this page to fill out the research form and let me know.

* 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.
See this page for more.