I am looking at a car with a 472 crate hemi in it, I am trying to figure out if it's the "bad" early version or the better newer version. He thinks it is about 5 years old so that's kinda right when they were switching over from what I hear. There are freeze plugs on the heads to the right and left of the water pump but don't see any on the block. See attached pic....does that mean its the old version?

Thansk!

The core plugs are on the sides of the block.The only plug in the bellhousing area is the cam bore plug..Most blocks from Mopar that were to thin walled to go past 4.370 were tagged at the back below the head.The really bad blocks were cast in the early to mid 90s and were S/N mid 300s and lower.If it's a 472/471 then it is most likely 4.370/4.375 bore.Is it a siamese mega or water block?

Ok, this one was made around 2007, I was under the impression that was around the time Cummins in Canada stopped making them for MP and Ray Barton started, the cummins ones are supposedly bad? and the Ray Barton ones much better.

If it was cast in 2007 you should be fine with the bore at 4.370+-.The later blocks were fine other than thin walls and need to be sonic checked.The early blocks had other major issues.They were not stress relieved and distorted before and after machining and even worse when heat cycled.