1968 RS/SS Factory Mis-Stamp???

[ruggieaj]

Greetings! New to the forum…

I’ve stumbled across a 68 RS/SS with a strange block stamp. The last 6 of the vin is 311218 but the block stamp is 18L311213. What are the chances of this being a factory mistake or is it likely a re-stamp that was done incorrectly? I can’t imagine someone finding a replacement engine within 5 units of the original VIN. Thoughts from the experts?

[bertfam]

What's the casting date of the block? Also, post a picture of the pad.

Oh, and welcome to the site!

Ed

[ruggieaj]

Still waiting on the casting number on the block - should have that from the seller within a day or 2. I believe I attached the stamp picture to this comment. The seller also has the window sticker but I’m not sure how much weight those hold in validating a true ss/rs with all the repro’s that are around.

[bertfam]

Well, it doesn't look good Tony. All my other LA pad partial VIN stamps in that same time frame have different fonts and are spaced much different than what you have. Granted, I don't have a ton, so I'll let Kurt or one of the other guys comment.

Get the casting date anyway, and go ahead and post a picture of the windows sticker. And get a picture of the suffix code too.

I see that the car is all over the internet (example HERE), so see if you can also get a picture of the rear axle date and the transmission code.

Ed

[ruggieaj]

I was looking for the broach marks but couldn’t see anything obvious. Good thing I havent bought the car yet. Window sticker below! I’ll post the casting date as soon as I get it. I’m not sure why someone would restamp the wrong vin though 

[KurtS]

I agree, the pad is a restamp. And I'd seen that window sticker several years ago, it's a repro.
124378L311218

[ruggieaj]

Ahhhh okay. So I’ve come across a known suspect car? That’s good to know and I’m glad I joined the forum to ask the question before pursuing the car any further. I can’t believe someone would restamp the block incorrectly LOL. For my knowledge - how can you tell if a sticker is a repro?

[fsc66]

I doubt anyone is going to get into any details about this terrible repro. There are m ore things wrong than are right about it. Fonts terrible, suffix stamp terrible, verbiage terrible, ECL codes terrible, etc

Paul

[ruggieaj]

Definitely appreciate the insight. It looked fairly legitimate to my untrained eye but that’s why I wanted to get the expert’s opinion on this site.

[bertfam]

I doubt anyone is going to get into any details about this terrible repro.

Paul's correct. We don't discuss things like this on a public forum as not to give the fakers any more ammunition than they already have!! The only way to learn is to start doing your own research. Compare the one above with known good window stickers you can find doing Google searches and most of the issues with this one will jump right out at you!

Ed