About 2 years ago I had the 351cj in my 1972 Mach1, completely rebuilt. At the time I believed that the CJ was the original engine. I wanted to keep the engine (if it was original as the 2 previous owners told me). While the engine was being rebuilt I did some research. I learned that part of the V.I.N. should be stamped on the block at the rear, below the head. I could not find any such #. I did find the casting numbers I expected D2AE-CA, or possibly "DOAZ-D", or "DOAE-J- G". The number is in fact "DOAE-L OH4". Is this a 1970
casting? Either way I now have doubts about the heads. Where would the heads casting # be? I do know that they are 4 bbl. heads.
Thanks for any input,
Keith
First off if indeed it is a "true" CJ engine & heads, then the heads will be 4bbl style heads however they will be of the open chamber type and not closed chamber as those in the previous picture. That is the easiest way to first look and see if they are the correct type for the year & engine. Then you can ID them. The block if it is a CJ block should also be a 4 bolt main block. Not guaranteed though since ford would indiscriminately use 2 bolt mains in a 4 bolt application and vice versa. I have seen documented 2 bbl cars with 4 bolt main blocks. Also as far as blocks go, remember that this was getting close to the end of the production run on the 351C engines for the USA. Australia got them for several more years. However I have worked on mustangs my whole life and have worked on completely documented & verified cars and on 3 occasions the engine in the car did in fact have the wrong date code. It was leftover from the year before. While this is the exception to the rule it in fact did happen. Ford would "use up" what was left. So take it with a grain of salt they are all good. The problem lies in if you are doing a concurs restoration, then that changes everything. Hope that helps.
YLWHRSE