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Earlier dated one I have record of is 14/1/68 and was told it was vita race engine so it looks like thick and thin flange block had an overlap period.
Somebody did say once that Abingdon used them on 68 monte

so 30 D4A IS 30th April 64 ?

Date codes on blocks read like this:

Assuming "S DD M Y" format of the block date code:

S = Shift. A=first, B=second
DD = one or two digit day-in-month
M=Month letter, see note below
Y=Year digit

So far, we have found photos/details of AEG312 blocks with all letters A through M except B,E,I.

I suspect letter "I" is skipped, so the resulting table would be:

A Jan
B Feb
C Mar
D Apr
E May
F June
G July
H Aug
J Sept
K Oct
L Nov
M Dec

Props to Paul Harris [TECH396] for the groundwork he did identifying sequences on other marques

this is the number below the dynamo that we fitted to the car in 1981

and this is the spare early block with the number under the dynamo aswell

a link to technical where the photo may be better
http://mk1-forum.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=36467

Nevsmini wrote: ↑Sun Jul 10, 2022 10:33 am Any info on the earliest thick flange block casting.

251 ENG wrote: ↑Sun Jul 10, 2022 7:02 pm Earlier dated one I have record of is 14/1/68 and was told it was vita race engine so it looks like thick and thin flange block had an overlap period.
Somebody did say once that Abingdon used them on 68 monte

It looks like a thick flange on this one, Nov 66 build.

another S block, later one

BAD942B wrote: ↑Mon Apr 24, 2023 3:56 pm so 30 D4A IS 30th April 64 ?

what date is this code please, see photo

OK here's one from 1974?

Or the 1953 BMC Ferrous Castings Coding System would have been of help. in the 1950s Wellingborough, my area of interest, used the following on some castings:
Number Number Number Number Letter Number - the 3rd and 4th numbers were Day, the letter Month, the last number Year. The purpose of the first 2 numbers is as yet unknown even by ex-employees I have interviewed.
By the 1960s Wellingborough did not use the 1st two numbers or the year code on its Head or Block Castings. DD/M was the format. The purpose of almost all codes was for defective castings to be traced back by inspection to identify and eliminate the cause.