From: sfisher@wsl.dec.com (Scott Fisher)
Subject: Re: US V8 engine id numbers
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 90 22:24:51 GMT
In article <180003@hpbbrd.HP.COM> gary@hpbbrd.HP.COM (Gary Tuosto) writes:
>
>  Is it true that the id is stamped somewhere on the block? I have
>  yet to find anything on my 350. Where is it? How does it break 
>  down?

The id of most American V8s is an integral part of  the casting, applied
while the metal is still in a  molten state.  The superego is rarely used
these days as a cost-cutting measure; it used to be applied as a hot-vapor
coating just after the casting molds had been removed from the block
(though Hudson had experimented with brushing the superego directly into
the casting cores and pouring molten iron into the hollows; this was one
of the keys to their  "twin-H-power" engines having such reliability,
because the innate sense of moral obligation provided by the superego kept
them working beyond the realm of most contemporary psychoplants).

The roller-lifter ids in use on modern Chevy V8s are not compatible with
the solid-lifter ids in use  during the Fifties and early Sixties.  Later
Tonawanda blocks (recognizable by a difficulty in approaching ethical
questions without some form of affective neurosis) can use the modern
roller-lifter id due to an effective ego structure in the rocker valley
that enables strong decision-making, effective value judgments and good
low-end torque.  

It breaks down first by suffering valve seal deterioration, usually in the
#1 cylinder.  After several thousand miles of this, it's not uncommon for
the Chevy 350 to experience minor personality dissociation, followed by
occasional impotence, anticipatory disaffiliation, and a loss of short-
term memory.  In extreme cases, where the motor has been abused while
young, it can suffer from unresolved Oedipal conflicts resulting in a
tendency for the pistons to gall the cylinder bores.  There has been only
limited success with standard treatment (such as cylinder honing,
dry-sleeving and transactional analysis) but new hope appears to be
offered from a combination of role-playing in a group format and PTFE
treatment of the reciprocating surfaces.

--Scott "Have you driven a Freud lately?" Fisher