Let's put a little twist on this . Lets say you have a T/A Challenger and the motor is long gone.
It's time to find an engine for the car, and you are doing a correct resto. Do you try to find a
T/A block , or will a 73 cast crank 340 do the trick ? Why bother trying to find a real T/A motor? After all, the car will never be numbers-matching. Nobody will ever crawl under the car and look at the side of the block, or make a casual glance at the numbers stamped on the front
below the head .So why bother finding a correct block ?Part of the answer is so it will look correct, IF anyone ever looks at the side of the block, or the finish pad etc. It's the next best thing to having the original engine, because it is the exact same type, from the same plant, dated
probably just a few days from yours would have been . So now your T/A has the original engine from an AAR built 3 weeks before your car was built. OR , you Could have a 340 from a 73 Dart Sport, where the casting dates, finish sates, etc. are not what they should be.
The same holds true for your 1970 Challenger R/T 440 six pack. To do a correct resto,you want the car to look correct. Looking correct for the exhaust manifolds means they have the correct casting # and date. Looking correct for the engine block means it has the correct casting numbers, and casting, final assembly date . The block is no different than any other componant when it comes to looking correct, and casting numbers, dates, etc. are all a part of looking correct , because those are things you can see , plain as day, if you look in the right place.
If I were restoring a 70 Challenger R/T V code car,
I would much rather use an engine from a U-code
Challenger built 4 weeks from my car, than a 74
U code Charger .
That's how I see it .

Greg

Wards Classic Car Radio Repair Specializing in restoration and sales of Mopar A B E body radios
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The t/a block is a unique situation.
If NOM costs 20%, a 'date correct' might only lose 15%? It's still NOM.

The original motor was put in a truck in the 90s and then sold? Are you kidding me? I could see if it was 1978 or something. Nobody thought this was a bad idea. Why can't I find people like this. Around here, anyone with a '73 slant 6 Dart thinks they are sitting on a gold mine. Not a 6-Pack, but about two years ago I saw an old fart that was selling his '69 Charger R/T. The original motor had over 100,000 miles on it, so he had the motor swapped out for a rebuilt Napa 440 before he sold it. Matching numbers is the original motor and trans. Are you doing this to make money? I'd get the car back to a kick [Edited by Moparts - Keep it clean] driver and enjoy it. Drive the think and forget about a trailer queen.

What about a warranty replacement block, I know it is said that it only counts if you have the paperwork were it was replaced under warranty. My AAR has a warranty T/A block and I have statements form the original owner to the fact that it was replaced in 72, not NOM but as close as I can get now.

"Date coded motor" I think was a feelgood term dreamed up by the guys with non-matching cars. Plant correct, date correct, shift correct, employee correct, same dealership correct, but still NON ORIGINAL TO CAR CORRECT.

Rick.

I think I would rather have the correct year block if the original motor was missing but would anyone really pay more for a correct date but not numbers matching motor ??? How much more ?? I think some people feel that if the date matches the car, the car is now worth just as much as if it had the original motor. That just nuts !!

I agree with Greg.

Now, if the numbers are missing from any part of the body....................