I just picked up a couple more engines... 1960 or 1961... How can I tell by casting numbers?

And... what is the difference between a 65 and a 60 or 61? These are marine conversions by Chris Craft, and the cooling varies slightly, but that is a marine only difference...

I am considering a roller cam etc, so I understand there are differences based on that..?

Here is a photo of a marine 430 ...1965...

Hi, check out this section. The sticky posts cover a few casting numbers according to various MEL engines.
it would be a lot easier to tell us what you read on your block.
Generally a C denotes the 60ies decade. The second number is the year. So C1 would be year 61 while C6 is 1966.
D would be the 70ies decade and so on.
Note that the block casting numbers did not necessarily change each year becaus design changes haven't been done each year.
Good luck

Sorry, forgot to give you the link.
viewforum.php?f=29

Cool... They are 1960 engines. Bought two of them rebuilt complete with less than 100 hours for $500 US

Congrats, sounds like a good steal. As a comparison: The camshaft sprocket of my Mercedes is about 380 $. ....

The vintage boat restoration problems are really magnified in comparison to car restoration, owing to the much smaller numbers of units produced. To put this into perspective, the supersport I am restoring was made for 3 years or so, and a total of 125 boats were built. While trim and fittings and motors were shared across models, the TOTAL number of boats that Chris Craft built from the 20's until 1975 or so (it's continuous incarnation as a company, before restructuring etc) was around the 108,000 mark, with several hundred models being produced. Compare that to a GM, Ford, or Chrysler car, and the numbers pale by comparison. Oldsmobile, for instance, build about 30,000 W-30's if memory serves...

I am a real ebay/craigslist/kijiji junkie and it occasionally pays off. This time it did for my specific purposes. I will say that marine parts for the 430 are distinctly uncommon, and I'm glad to have the spare parts.

I think you're doing a great job. The world needs more people like you who help to conserve a piece of history. All deals with parts past 25 or 30 years or so shouldn't be taxed. Subventions should be provided instead. Wish you good luck with your project and thanx for contributing with your interesting project. Please keep us updated as the progression goes on.
Passion, allertness and patience. The journey is the reward.