I think that I’ve sorted this out. One thing that is very curious is that the block (3788378) and head (3788380) casting numbers from the earliest 194 production where never referenced as identifiers in the service parts catalog (at least any of the copies I have seen). In the Hollander Interchange for Chevrolet they seem to consistently reference the Group 0.033 ‘Fitted Cylinder Block’ catalog number 3792489 (with pistons, pins, rings and bearings) to identify a particular block. My October of ’61 Parts Master for Corvair and Chevy II documents the replacement parts as block (3788406) head (3788415). The same reference from October of ’62 is online at the
GM Parts Wiki - Oct '62 But those apparently aren’t what was being cast in the fall of ’61.
When I look at early examples of 194s found in ‘62s they all have these original castings and the rest of the identifiers comport with late ’61 early ’62 production. These engines were not serialized – so one typically finds F and T prefixes (Flint and Tonawanda) followed by Day Month and then an application suffix. Relate this with the Conveyer casting date and vintage is revealed: CON3 A 24 2 (Conveyer 3 – January 24th of 62) T0302HF March 2nd Powerglide transmission -- CON3 K 9 1 (Conveyer 3 November 9 of 61) F1127HB November 27th Three Speed with an HD clutch.
There was one example that was causing head scratching over at
HotRodders The block was cast early in ’62 - but based on the S prefix (on the pad by the dizzy) it took a trip to Saginaw Service Parts to be re-manufactured – which also where it picked up the circa ’64 replacement head:
GM Parts Wiki - Oct '65 Curiously, my 29th edition Hollander describes the ’62 Chevy II as a 6 cylinder with no mention of displacement. It references part number 3792489 with casting number of 3788406 and gives it interchange #498. My 50th edition Hollander doesn’t mention this interchange number because it falls out side the date range in focus (74-84). So I got my hands on a 39th Edition Hollander and bingo! Interchange #498 references the casting 3788378 – but it uses a newer replacement part catalog number (3931064). This catalog number did not come into use until May of 70. And visiting the GM parts wiki
GM Parts Wiki - Oct '70 - there is no casting number referenced.
So my vote is that somewhere along the line 3788378 was associated with a 292 by mistake – and over time all of the various references picked it up and continued to spread it about – including Hollander.
But this in turn has added a new item for the bugaboo list – casting number 3788406. The parts master catalog documents this casting number as having been used for both 194s and 230s. But I have yet to see an example of a 194 that carries this casting number. Has anyone ever seen one?
