I am looking at the engine tag on my 1966 Camper Special, 352, Auto. See Below. I think I have decoded everything but the last number. Anyone know the meaning??

First Line:
352 - Engine Displacement
66 - Year
6 - Change Level

Second Line
6 F - built June (F) of 1966
Absence of a number between the "F" and the "290" denotes Dearborn engine plant (An "E" here would be Windsor, Ontario engine plant. - "C" would be Cleveland)
290 S - Engine Code Number - What is this number mean????

Thanks,
Rich in Colorado

 

ENGINE IDENTIFICATION TAG
IN ALL INQUIRES ALWAYS FURNISH THE COMPLETE TAG IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION
All Ford engines built from early January, 1964 include an engine identification tag. This tag describes C. I. D ..
model year, year and month of production, and change level number, The location of this tag is as follows:
under coil attaching bolts on all 6 cylinder engines, under the dipstick - tube - attaching bolt on 8 cylinder 352
engines, under the heat indicator bulb on 8 cylinder 330, 361, 391 engines and under the carburetor attaching
stud on 8 cylinder 401, 477, 534 engines, The catalog uses the change level number in the same manner as date
restriction information is presently used. The change level number is advanced only when a replacing part or
assembly being introduced and the old part or assembly it replaces are not completely interchangeable. All engine
code numbers consist of a basic number, a suffix, and in some cases a prefix. Generally the basic number is
adequate for engine identification; if additional information is needed the prefix or suffix is included. These Engine
Code Numbers and their designations are listed in the Engine Identification Chart which follows. In all inquires
pertaining to engines built from early January, 1964 always furnish the complete tag identification information.

The change level and engine code number determine if parts are peculiar to a specific engine.

 

I wasn't clear as to what I am asking.

In the article I was reading was for 64 to 73 Thunderbirds. For example, in the article an engine code of "357 A" is a code for a "Z-code 390 CID 300 HP Ford 4-barrel engine"

I was wondering anyone knew, specifically, what a code of "290 S" meant for a truck
Thanks
Rich in Colorado

 

Sure, it's right below the information (next page) that I pasted in above in the Master Parts Catalog. Note how that says the base number (290 in this case) is generally adequate. Meaning that the suffix is not needed in most cases.

This is going to blow you away. Lol. OK, probably not.

 

Wow, that is really funny. I guess there isn't any surprises there!

Thanks for information

Rich

 

For 1966, 290 S is for the 352 2BBL engine, and 290 B is for the 4 BBL engine, not available in trucks.

 

There isn't a 290 S or B, it's just 290 and this is the 352 2V...352 4V never offered for F100/350.

Look at the codes in post 4 that Chad posted from the truck catalog.

 

All of the 66 352 tags in a truck that I've seen are stamped with either an S whether manual or auto. The tag I've seen from a '66 4V 352 in a Galaxy had a 290 B. I did not document what trans it had, but most likely it was an auto. The TRUCK Master parts catalog doesn't specify because they only came with a 2 BBL. Look at the picture the OP posted of the tag; it has an S. The Galaxies were available with the 352 4BBL in '65 and '66.

I have not seen a tag from a Galaxy with a 2V 352, so it could have a different number and/or suffix if the internals changed such as cam or valve springs and it could be different for manual vs. auto.

 

There's no letter suffix after the ID tag code number in the chart. Cars use different codes than trucks.

See 289 in car pic:

 

So the book doesn't list a letter, but the tag has one. You can chose to believe what you want, but what I have seen with my own eyes is the tags that came on a 1966 2V 352 have 290S and the tags that came on a 1966 4V 352 have 290B.

 

You can lead a mule to water, but you cannot make it drink. (sigh)

I know the tag numbers have suffixes, but there's a space between the number and the suffix. So is it a suffix or does it refer to something else?

The fact is that there's NO suffixes in the car/truck parts catalogs listed with these ID tag code numbers. N-O-N-E NONE!

Plus cars use different numbers than trucks. You're making a mountain out of a mole hill. If you want to argue, go buy a rug.