Couldnt seem to find a readable casting date on the intake, maybe I'm looking in the wrong place? When I got this car years ago, it looked pretty much untouched and never apart except for a set of Rocket Mags and Header exhaust. Heres a pic of the valve covers for Scott to examine

Hey that's a good one as well!

Only the SECOND set of original orange 340 valve covers without the wire loom shield in the center wire tab location on the passenger side. You did one better, you have a production date assosiated with yours, the other example I have has no date reference. Here's my set.

Is that the Duster or the Road Runners 340? Could you post or send me fender tag or BS info for those 2 cars?

Quote:

---

1969 1/2 A12 Bee
1969 road runner B3/B7
1970 Challenger Vert 383 4 spd FE5
1970 Chrysler Newport 383 4bbl
1971 Duster 340 FJ6
1971 road runner 340 EV2
1972 Challenger 340 EV2
1972 Charger
1974 'cuda 360 KB5
2003 Grand Caravan Cargo Van
2007 Caliber R/T AWD

---

Quite interesting! Those look like Mound Rd-style valve covers on a Windsor engine.

For reference, I have provided this info before, but to reiterate, the engine from my convertible (3/31/71 SPD) is blue, with both the block and hump-style intake having January dates. It is a Mound Rd engine stamped GM 340P 3510 0085. It does NOT have the wire trough on the pasenger side valve cover, and the plastic plug wire loom clips ARE painted engine color, as is typical with Mound Rd engines.

Bill Rolik

I missed that before Bill, I'll take note.

I dont have the Fender tag handy tonight, but it was a very late build as the vin sequence is like JS23H1B423548 or something to that effect. Its up there and is probably one of the last? Pretty cool 71 Black on black, with luggage rack and just about every moulding package, with that plaid cloth interior. I really appreciate the help on the engine color.

Good Thread!

Tav

i wonder how close the SPD is to the actual date the car's went down the line? even more so with high impact paint cars..

Ademon....So it's 339? = Mid November 1970 assembly date, that's the one that's from your spring 71 built car right?

Scott, it's numbers are GW340P33980351. X /maltise
#'s matching and spd is 4/02/71, i've located the owner from 73 to late 79 he new the whole history from new always orange engine, car was ordered from Bettenhousen dodge by a machanic there. Car was sold in 79 to a young kid who spun a rod in 1980 and the car sat. i purchased it in 91 pulled the #'s motor and replaced with a 360 in 2000. Engine was cast 7-1-70 so some 4 months and two weeks later factory assembled it, then about another 4 months and two weeks in went into the demon.

Yes, I remember dicussing that car with you in the past. I can't say what happened in your case, I can only say that it's VERY MUCH out of the "norm", who knows what happened?

In my observation the 340's were (generally) cast and assembled very soon afterwards, usually days or weeks afterwards, a month or two after wasn't uncommon. But even more unusual is the amount of time that passed between the time yours was ASSEMBLED, usually the norm is a few days, maybe a week or so, before the Scheduled Production Date of the car. To have an assembled engine sit around for 4 months waiting for a car is way out there! I can only guess it was due to some kind of supply or scheduling malady back when it was ordered/built.

As far as blue vs orange engines, myself and a few of the other guys have bounced various therories around as to why they changed from Orange to Blue during the middle of a production model year. One of the possibilities that I've considered is that there was some kind of problem or production efficiency discovered that influenced them to change. Since most HP big blocks were painted orange, and all other small blocks were painted blue, maybe it was decided to add the 340 to the 318/360 assembly/paint room and to just use one color for all small blocks rather than to have special handling of only one small block so that it could be painted orange? Tough to say but the more original evidence we can gather, the clearer the picture will become.

In 1971 there were 30,000+ 340 cars built.
This should be easy to figure out.

Does anyone have a blue engine from one of the other plants: St. Louis, Lynch Rd., Los Angeles or Windsor? In one of the rare 340 b-bodies from '71?

Does anyone have a BLUE '71 engine from the WINDSOR engine plant: stamped "GW340"?

Does anyone have a ORANGE '71 engine from the MOUND RD. engine plant: stamped "GM340"?

Since the exhaust manifolds were different between the E & A bodies and they were on the engine assemblies when the engine was painted; it makes sense for the supply of engines to be used up at a different rate and the change from orange to blue to take place on different dates in the same plant (E vs. A). Probably between manual vs. automatic also.

Are there 1972 Windsor engine plant 340s?

Probably never going to know unless records are found or someone that worked at the plant sheds some light. I've worked in manufacturing for 20 years now and have seen how the supply & demand of a product can swing. I've read where their were strikes at Windsdor in 1970 but haven't found anything concrete.

The only strike of any duration at the Windsor plant was in 1965, the year the Auto Pact was introduced. It lasted 56 days.
There was a short strike by a Chrysler parts supplier in 1971 but not the engine plant.

also remember engine were assembled and put on racks maybe some racks got shoved back behind others and were not dug out in order or at all until a later time frame... this could account for small batches of wrong colored engines in any given SPD dan

May as well keep this thread from going MIA