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I wanted to know if you have any history on your car. I was in the Navy stationed at Cecil Field, near Jacksonville, Florida. A guy that I worked with had a red 63swc that he installed a complete 396/425, along with sidepipes in 1966. I know it is a long shot, but I had to ask. Btw, it was an original fuelie. He sold it to a guy that put it in a 55Chevy.
I wanted to know if you have any history on your car. I was in the Navy stationed at Cecil Field, near Jacksonville, Florida. A guy that I worked with had a red 63swc that he installed a complete 396/425, along with sidepipes in 1966. I know it is a long shot, but I had to ask. Btw, it was an original fuelie. He sold it to a guy that put it in a 55Chevy.
All I know is that I bought it from a Australian guy in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland in August of 2001. He was not the original owner, but he didn't pass along much besides that. The car doesn't have sidepipes, not sure if it ever did, maybe during the restoration it'll become more evident.
Was it red interior or exterior? Mine is Sebring Silver with red interior.
Sebring Silver/Red is one of the most coveted color combinations. The car deserves to be done right.
The closer to stock/original looking you can keep it, will ultimately increase the value to many (make it look like the original 340)
Also......that list of parts for 18K entails much more than an engine rebuild. There is some very expensive stuff on the list. For example, go price a correct 3461 carb or the 6 quart oil pan.
Take your time and do your homework. It seems to me that he has presented you a very comprehensive TOTAL package. Depending on your final goal for the car, 18K might represent a great value.
Sebring Silver/Red is one of the most coveted color combinations. The car deserves to be done right.
The closer to stock/original looking you can keep it, will ultimately increase the value to many (make it look like the original 340)
Also......that list of parts for 18K entails much more than an engine rebuild. There is some very expensive stuff on the list. For example, go price a correct 3461 carb or the 6 quart oil pan.
There's a 3461 on eBay for the low, low price of $999.99. And Zip has the oil pan for $595!
Take your time and do your homework. It seems to me that he has presented you a very comprehensive TOTAL package. Depending on your final goal for the car, 18K might represent a great value.
Good luck with your project
I'll certainly take my time, do research, and reach out to the forums here often. Like most people I have limitations on what makes sense to spend. I would love to have a car that is as close to what Tony proposed as possible, but I have a family and kids who'll eventually be going to college, and that helps frame my end goals.
And I want to drive the car, not show it, not race it. And certainly not sell it. It's not in my blood to sell, my Dad's '69 was bought new and probably has 1000 miles on it since 1980 and he's not selling!
That's a cool project. For our '51 Chevy, we just went with a Jeggs 260 HP new GM crate motor and did a bit of dressing. Great motor, lots of power and it was only $1,495 delivered. If I acquired a driver quality Corvette one day needing a new engine, this is what I would do again. Plenty of power enough for me. Have fun with your project!
I registered here a long time ago, but just started posting so feel free to treat me as a new guy. I have a '63 SWC with the wrong motor, it has a big block 396. Wrong hood because of that, but I have the original hood. No clue where the original block is. I'm pretty sure it originally had a 327/340.
I'm at the very early stages of a full restoration, so I won't get to the "need a new motor" part for a while, but I'm starting to ask questions.
My end goal is to have a reasonably safe, reasonably reliable driver. Not a daily driver, but when it's nice out I'll drive it to work. Don't care about winning shows, don't care about massive horsepower. But I do want it to look original. Not NCRS original, not trying to fool anyone, but I'd like it to look like a '63 Vette. I'm not above putting a 327 or 340 sticker on the valve covers, even if it's not really that.
So the question is, what's the best option for a motor in the $5-10k range that meets my requirements and, at least at first glance looks original? I've read a number of threads on drop in engine choices. I think I've learned that 350s and 383s are the same block as a 327, so would a crate 383 be a fairly inexpensive way to get where I'm going?
If there are existing threads please point me in the right direction, I searched a while but I'm sure I didn't see everything.
You have a lot of options here, and the final decision is really just a matter of personal preference, depending on how original you want the engine to look.
The simplest and lowest cost option is to just buy a crate motor (such as the GM Performance 350 part number 12499529 for $2347 at Summit Racing), and dress it as a Corvette engine with a correct intake and valve covers. You will have to deal with the missing rear crankcase vent but there are solutions that would not be very noticeable. Adding the various original or reproduction parts (intake, carb, distributor, etc.) to complete the engine might run the total up to $5000.
If you want a higher degree of original appearance, you can probably achieve that for almost the same cost, but with some extra work in hunting down the proper parts and getting them rebuilt.
Any '63-'67 327 block will have all the visible characteristics of an original '63 327, such as the rear crankcase vent and the driver side dipstick. There is even a warranty replacement block (casting number 3959512) that was used up through the 1970s that has these features.
Since there were literally millions of these 327 engines built, it's not hard to find a good rebuildable 327 block (or even an entire engine) for $500 or less.
If you are patient and willing to look for a while, you can find a '63 327 block that has the right casting number and a casting date that meets the NCRS judging guidelines for your car. Since the same casting number was used in both Corvettes and passenger cars, a suitable block is not hard to find.
The reason that you might want to hold out for an "NCRS correct" 327 block is the way that the NCRS assigns judging points to the block. The block is assigned 350 points, and if the casting number is not correct for your car you lose all 350 points.
However, if both the casting number and casting date meet the judging guidelines and the only problem is that the engine assembly stamping shows that the block actually came out of an Impala, the NCRS deducts only 50 points. This is true despite the fact that the engine is clearly not original to the car.
Since you can only lose a maximum of 270 points (out of 4500 for the whole car) to get a Top Flight, the casting number and casting date are a deal-killer if they don't meet the judging guidelines, but the 50-point deduction for a non-matching assembly stamping still leaves plenty of room to achieve a Top Flight.
In summary, if you don't mind having a few minor visual deviations from original appearance, you can buy a crate motor and dress it as a Corvette engine, with a total budget of about $5000.
If you don't care at all about matching numbers and NCRS judging, you can use any '63-'67 327 block it will look 100% original to anyone who doesn't check the numbers. Suitable blocks are widely available, and this type of engine build can also be accomplished for about $5000 total.
Or, if you are willing to invest the extra effort (or extra money, but not both) to hunt down a '63 block with the right casting number and casting date, either you or a future owner will have the option of pursuing an NCRS Top Flight award.
BTW, I wrote an article in the Fall 2015 NCRS Restorer about building a 383 from a "correct" 1967 block. The '63 block is a bit harder to stroke to 383, but 350 is easy to achieve. The article discusses the pros and cons of using a vintage block that has the correct casting number and casting date. My 383 was based on a 327 Camaro block that I bought for $300.
And DZAuto has written extensively about those later (67-70s???) 3959512 CE/Replacment blocks that have the large journals, screw on oil canister, and the draft/vent hole drilled.
These are the easiest(?) to build a original appearing motor, that is a hidden stroker.
If you search 3959512 on this forum, you should get some good info.
327 small block chevy, L79 clone engine using an original CE (crate engine, factory stamped on the pad) block 3959512, 3844461 intake manifold, 3890462 double hump cylinder heads, 3827369 thermostat housing, 3834947 and 3840912 exhaust manifolds, correct chrome air cleaner housing and rocker arm covers, new Edelbrock carb hidden under air cleaner housing, correct AC fuel pump, correct AC fuel filter, and correct fuel lines, short water pump and pulleys included, stock distributor with Pertonix electronic conversion. I am selling a complete and running engine shown in the photos, no bait and switch here. The engine was rebuilt less than 5000 miles ago. It was put in a 1965 Chevelle show car. It was bored 0.030" over, new pistons, new cam/lifters, timing chain, valve springs, valves, ARP rod bolts in resized rods, oil pump, etc, etc. Everything was replaced, thousands of dollars spent on the rebuild and collecting all the correct parts to make it look correct. Cam is larger than the stock L79 cam and has excellent power. Engine is still in the car and you can drive it to see just how well it runs. My car has a 700R4 transmission and 3.55 rear end gears. no checks 283 305 327 350 383 400 406
All I really knew is that Tony Avdesidian quoted me about $18k for a essentially 100% correct, absolutely spotless January '63 327 block built up, installed, and tested.
03-18-2017, 05:11 PM
