Some where along the way my car lost its original engine. I got one out of another car of the same year and model. But the date on the block is off.
What is the point deduction for a original engine but the casting date is later than the build date of the car?

As of right now there is no deduction for the correct displacement engine that looks like the original. So in your case no deduction. It may change sometime in the future but not likely any time soon.

The VCCA doesn't go by build dates.

The VCCA doesn't go by the cowl tag information either!

What about a documented replacement with a not original engine?
I have a 1931 sedan. The engine was replaced in 1937 with a 1934 block & internals. The head (?), manifolds, and carburetor are from the original '31, as are the starter, generator and ancillary stuff. The fuel pump and (vacuum advance) ignition are '34.
I have a copy of the original 1937 biil-of-sale for this (warranty? repair)- at a whopping $135! It specifically lists the old and new engine numbers, presumably for registration (Texas, which used the engine number as the vehicle ID).
My car's probably never going to be VCCA judge-worthy, but that's been my standard as i restore (20+ years in progress, so far). I'm not going to replace this engine (it works great), but I'm curious.

Points will be deducted for your engine since it is the wrong year and the wrong cubic inches.

Rob,

How did they make the 34 vacumm advance work with a 31 updraft carb? Just wondering since you really need a 33 or later downdraft carb that has a take off for it to work.

1931 head will not fit on a 1934 engine.
It will fit on a 1933 engine. The fuel pump attaching bolts are straight accross on a 1934 and one higher than the other on a 1933 block.

31rob55,
A '31 head may bolt up to a '34 block but will not provide proper cooling as several of the coolant passages are either blocked or different sizes. Are you sure it is a '34 block or a '31 block cast in 1934?

Well, I've researched more, and it's a '34 head. I had mistakenly thought that since the rocker cover and manifolds are '31, the head must have been.
The block is casting # 473741-1, casting date G-7-4. The head is # 473740, casting date H-15-4. (1934 Standard).
The 886848 intake, 886842 exhaust, and Carter C-RJH-08 are definitely 1931.
The vacuum advance is tee'd at the manifold (with the wiper), and it works rather well.

Funny....because having the vacuum advance hooked like that would work very much like your wiper motor. You would always be all the way advance when the car is running. Then when you put your foot into it, you would lose your advancement like when your wiper stops. I saw someone with a 31 try this once before and all kinds of problems with it.

32confederate, your logic is completely correct. But your conclusion isn't.
Unlike the more common "ported vacuum source" (where the vacuum source is a small hole in the carburetor just upstream of the throttle plate), this is a "manifold source" system. Vacuum timing advance is used (in addition to mechanical timing advance - the fly-weights inside the distributor) to advance the timing at low to mid engine speed/load conditions. This provides full vacuum advance at idle. Vacuum advance disappears at wide open throttle, and the timing returns to the initial advance (if any), plus the mechanical advance. This setup allows a somewhat richer carburetor adjustment at idle, and improves driveability (but probably not economy) at low speed.
I don't know if the '34 was actually set up this same way, or if it had a ported vacuum, but this works swell with the updraft carb.
And, a side note: the original SPARK control cable is hooked up to where the ('34) "Octane Adjuster" screw arrangement was, so the Spark knob still adjusts the base timing.

(one more side note, this thread probably doesn't belong here; maybe it should be moved.)

There is a 50-50 chance your car would be judged without anyone noticing it had the wrong engine.

Mike

I'd guess more like 90-10 chance... (90% would NOT notice)

This thread has TWO topics, but, heck, let's keep it in the original one - Judging. No prob.

-bb

Then they should not be judging in the VCCA! That is the first thing that every judge should look for before even starting on the engine. In the last 10 years I have taken the mandatory point for 3 cars with the wrong engine.

Careful.... there's two different discussions going on here.

Of course, a 1931 with a 1934 engine would get marked down... probably 99.9% of the time. No argument there.

But a 1931 with a 1931 engine that was "cast" after the "build" date of the car would probably never be caught, nor marked down. Our rules allow for the same year engine in the same year car. No problem.

---Bill