212 cast on side of block?

7XPacemaker
7XPacemaker Senior Contributor
edited March 2021 in HUDSON
I just bought an engine and was told that it was a 175. I started degreasing the side of the block and found “212” cast into the block below the valve cover closest to the rear of the engine. What does this mean? I was under the impression that they didn’t cast cid numbers on the blocks. It is supposed to be a 40 or 41 engine. What do I have- a 175 or 212?

Comments

  • Uncle Josh
    Uncle Josh Senior Contributor
    edited March 2021
    A 175 has a 4 1/8 stroke, whereas the 212 has a 5 inch stroke.  Both bores are 3 in.  The same block would have been used in both engines.  The exhaust valve is directly under the spark plug so if you could get a stiff wire past the open valve to the piston at TDC and then at BDC maybe you could measure the difference in the wire length.  A little more messy, but you could fill the cylinder with oil at BDC then pump it out and measure the cubes at 29.2 inches vs 35.3 if it was a 212.  Or you could pull the head of course.

  • Uncle Josh
    Uncle Josh Senior Contributor
    Might be easier to pull the pan and measure the stroke there.
  • 7XPacemaker
    7XPacemaker Senior Contributor
    So, why the stamping? I understand everything that you said and knew all of that. I just don’t understand the stamping on the block. So, they all had that stamping?

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