Where did my 401 come from?

[Bill Lawton]

My 78 Chero came with a 360 according to the vin but it wasen't the PO that put the 401 in. Is there any way of checking the engine to determine what year it was manufactured?

[Ghinmi]

If it's still got the original valve covers there's a tag on them that you can decode. If you don't have the stock valve covers or you aren't sure they're original to the engine, the casting numbers on the heads will narrow down the year range. You'll have to pull a valve cover to read the head castings.

Greg