I recently bought a 62 Dodge Polara 500 and Im trying to figure out what engine it has. My only problem is the numbers and letters on the block make no sense. Doesnt say 361 or 383. It says H4O across the top then a 3 and then on the other side an 8 and below an E.

H 4 O
3 8
E

Look on the front of the engine right below the head on the driver side. Let us know what you see.

The 361 was standard in 1962 Dodge Plolara's.

The 383 was not offered!

S 36=361
S 38=383
S 41=413 These are 62# 63 same except T before #
Right side of block below dist. 383's were offered,not sure if in a Polara.

wouldnt it be easier to just look at the side of the block and get the casting #.It should say the engine size and year.

Yep, sounds like a '72 400 has been swapped in there. Crawl underneath and see if there is a VIN stamp on the pad. Depending on how dirty the motor is you might also be able to see the casting number and/or date.

If the engine has a cast crank damper then that should be a clue that it is from a later model car.

Im positive the car is a 1962 Dodge Polara 500, so it wasnt made in 1972. Its a 1 owner car, Im the 2nd. It has a steel crank and small harmonic balancer. Still has the points distributor, small port AFB carb, original air cleaner and it still has bolt-up tranny6 front drive line. Ill look under the car tomorrow to fund more numbers. Thanks for comments so far.

Something could've happened to the original engine block and all the parts were swapped over to a later model block. If the block says H40 with an E on the ID pad then that is most likely a '72 400. Either that or someone restamped an original block with some odd numbers. Sounds like you won't know what you have until you look at the casting numbers.

Couldnt stand the wait so I braved the cold and wind to get the numbers off the underside of the block. 36142302 is what I found, so I believe I found a 361BB

No, that is a 1972 400 that you have. 3614230 is a 1971-72 400 block. Someone swapped in a later model engine at some point.

Well you all may be right, I never asked the old lady if it had an engine swap. They bought it new and I didnt see any changes when I looked at it. I guess its still worth the $2000 I paid for it. Thanks for all your help guys.

Here are a few pics of my car

And the interior of the 62

At least the engine runs fine...

Good buy enjoy your new car.
John

very nice!

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Nice car!