Classic/Antique Car Repair: 1972 400 gm engine, gm engine, ram air

Question
i have a 1966 catalina with a 1972 engine i am told it is a 400 cid the serial number on the right front bank is  c480112 with ty stamped below it can you define this for me.
thank you
mike

Answer
Hello Mike,

The numbers cast into the block should correspond to the last 7 numbers of the car VIN. Since yours is not the original engine, there's not much to help you here.

The codes underneath the engine number generally specify engine family (400,HO,455) and transmission. The problem is that I could not find a TY Code from 1966-1976. The closest I could find were YT codes in 1968-69 which were 400/automatic equipped cars per the example below:

1968 ENGINE CODES

Pontiac 400:  WZ (manual), YT (automatic)

Pontiac 400 HO:  WQ (Manual), YW (automatic)

Pontiac 400 Ram Air:  XN, XT (automatic), WU, WI (manual)

Is it possible the letters could have been transposed when you copied them?

Hope this helps!

Bob