Engine partial VIN decoding

[KRSESQ]

Found an engine for my 1975 Type LT project car. The donor vehicle was a '72 Chevy van, but it was not the original engine. According to the engine serial number it was made for a '85 model year truck. But I cannot decode the partial VIN code, so I cannot tell exactly what vehicle it came out of. Not terribly important as a practical matter. Just thought it might be a good piece of info to have.

The engine SN is V1115FMS (Flint factory, Nov. 15 for model year 1985 truck with 4bbl &4-bolt mains)

The partial VIN is CFS125702

Any clues?

I also got a TH350 Trans out of the same van as part of the deal. The code on that identifies the original vehicle as a '80 or '81 sedan.

 

[Mitch_Z]

You will need to do some detective work, start here.

https://www.genuinegmparts.com/src/pdf/resources/1960-2020_Vincards.pdf

 

[Nightmaro]

C = Chevy truck
F = 1985
S = St Louis assembly plant

EDIT:

From HAMB

85 would be two piece rear seal, and they were still internally balanced in the front when they changed to the external balance flywheel in 87.

If the damper has the recessed area like a 400, then it's an external balanced crank, and since the block is most likely a 350 block, you probably have a 383 stroker.

if the damper is just big, but does not have the recessed area on one side for balance, then it's just a 350 or 305.
____
I'm not sure how much of that applies to you, but hopefully something here helps!

 

[KRSESQ]

C = Chevy truck
F = 1985
S = St Louis assembly plant

Sweet. That pretty much confirms everything. Thank you.

Got the engine decoding info from here. I see no sign that the motor has been altered from stock in any way, aside from whatever mounts or adapters might have been needed to transplant it from, say, a pickup to a van. The van, btw, also appeared largely stock.

I haven't visually confirmed four-bolt mains yet, but it does appear to have the 8.5:1 pistons common to workhorse engines of the day. All the books rate it at 160 HP, which makes it more powerful than the '75 Camaro's original 350 (155 HP). I could use it as-is with no issues at all.

I'll be going through it eventually though. 9:1 pistons and a fatter cam, at least. Circumstances may compel me to reuse the stock heads for the time being, so it might be a challenge finding a cam that will play well with both the stock heads and any higher-performance heads I might come across in the future.

 

[Nightmaro]

As long as it fits and it goes, you'll have fun with it. That's all that matters. Are you gonna make a project progress build thread?

 

[KRSESQ]

If I actually make any progress...