block- D0VE-A
heads- D3VE-A2A

can somebody tell me what this means, or where this engine came from? i think its a passenger car engine

 

the casting numbers won't tell you where or what the engine came in as it is a generic number used in many different applications.

they are more or less engineering numbers telling you when the block and heads were first designed and used.

the number break down as

D = the decade in this case 1970's (C would be 60's, E would be 80's, etc)

0 = the specific year, 1970. 1 = 1971, etc.

V = vehicle line the part was originally design for. V in this case is Linclon. T would be truck, O is i believe Fairlane/Torino, etc. does not mean that part was only used in the Linclon, just that the 385 series engine (429/460) was first designed and used in the Licoln family.

E = engine part

the DOVE block was also used as the basis for the cobra jet engine and super cobra jet and in the trucks up to 79 when they came out with the D9TE block.

the DOVE was mostly used up till 71 or 72 when the D1VE block came out.
the DOVE block is probably one of the bette blocks (along with the D9TE) as most of them (but not all) had beefier main webs that can be converted to 4 bolt mains. the super cobra jet engien used this block with 4 bolt mains along with the later cobra jet engines, so the only way to tell if it is a 4 bolt block is to remove the oil pan and check.

the D3VE heads were the standard 429/460 heads from 73 up till about 78 when the D8VE heads came out. they were used on every 460 (except for some police cars) in all car and truck applications.

so no you can't tell by those numbers what or when the engine came from as they are generic numbers used in a lot of different applications.

rgds
Mike

 

thanks thats very helpful to know.

 

If you post the date casting numbers found inside the oil galleies of the heads and down near the starter. This would help me let you know what it was probably originally put in .

Looks for casting number like this *1C23* or * 3G6*

 

There never was a D8VE casting, heads or blocks, the D3VE heads were used until the FI heads came out although there were some E5 and E6 heads that were identical as far as I could tell.

Now non of the years should have the DOVE block with a D3VE head so someone has done some cross breeding most likely on that engine and thus the casting numbers are meaningless becuase the engine isn't original