Strokemyaxe

Don't let anyone convince you one way or the other by talking "value". It's an imaginary number. Market value fluctuates from transaction to transaction on these cars. It's max "value" is what a willing and able buyer is paying for it that day.

(Just my opinion. I come from a realty background. Possibly the biggest "value" volatile market)

Strokemyaxe

People love a good head turner.

golfboy

7T1vette, I gather from reading all the posts in this thread that a numbers matching engine is not that important to MOST corvette owners or prospective owners, but what about a numbers matching engine in a 1978 Indy Pace Car which I have. The engine has been modified to produce more than 300 horsepower but it is the same engine that came in the car from the factory with matching numbers on the block. Wouldn't this collectable Corvette be worth much less if it did not have a numbers matching engine? If it were a Plain Jane 78 Corvette I could understand why the value of the car would not be affected that much if the engine were not original but I would think that the opposite should be true in the case of a 78 Pace Car. Would you agree or not? Also, curious what others think about this particular case.

The13Bats

My opinion which is weird and worth zero,

A purist who insists on numbers matching engine that has been rebuilt or hopped up so no longer actually orginal in a way is a hypocrite,

I love pace cars but if yours was sitting next to one exact condition only difference is your has respectable hp
And the other is anemic stock i personally wouldnt even consider the stock one...

BBCorv70

Depends upon why the numbers are deemed important.

Excluding restamps, it only means this particular engine block was installed in this car at time of manufacture. For some that's enough. One of only a few parts which can be proven to be the original.

Odd how a non matching number frame isn't considered to be much of an issue to many. Major component which can be tied to a particular vehicle.

L-46man

Many years ago I was a Corvette appraiser.
My rule is simple....if you can un-bolt it AND you disclose and give that part to the new customer (entire tired engine) NO FOUL!

Smog pumps and alternators and engines and tranmissions etc all fall under this rule.

Wanna CRY....Dealership got a 63 Splitty in...Wrong color (okay-ish)
HUGE FENDERFLARES bondo'd and bolted on....MEGA FAIL!
HOLE cut in hood....more mega fail.
I priced it at HALF of what a down-trodden splitty would've brought.

Cant unbolt that abortion.

unckahal

LT1M21Vette

Good luck with that with an old Chevy.

The13Bats

Half of what a crappy c2 would fetch?,
All c2s fetch good money these days some less than others but zero bargains,
From the way it sounds
You gave away a modded c2 because of mostly some personal biases,
Someone was thrilled on that split score for cheap....

bfit

Consider a BB 502 or 496 crate , put the old engine in storage.
Bfit

Strokemyaxe

I think it has value for a very small market. So you would need a ready, willing, able buyer that happens to find that specific quality of high value. Not many of those in the real world unfortunately.

Value is in the eye of the beholder. (And no. Not the Beholder in Dungeons and Dragons)

-Stroke

Nowhere Man

that block is a great core. build it up and keep the stamp pad intact. and give those heads to a fisherman for a new anchor

Highlander1732

So I guess the market determines value after all? Apparently, there were just over 6500 ‘78 pace cars and many are likely still left as they were special edition cars and were coveted as collectible at the time. In my case, I have a ‘75 convertible which is one of just over 4600 produced but is not regarded as too collectible because of the anemic L48 and were probably treated as such leaving who knows how many. My car has the original engine, trans, carb, distributor, is the first year for HEI and the last year for a c3 convertible and astrovent. Also 4 speed, power windows, tilt/tele, map light and manual brakes. Lots of possible double digit option production combinationscombinations? At the end of the day, the very nicest ‘75 convertibles ask 20K-ish, but they sit unsold where collector editions and any chrome bumper small block c3, even in poor condition at higher production numbers are highly sought after. I love my car and bought it on the cheap not knowing anything about production numbers (at the time) but knowing what I know now, the corvette world and who considers what valuable still eludes me as there does not seem to be any direct correlation between market value and number of available units. Not a gripe, just an observation on how screwy our collective community is. I’ll leave the floodgates open.

LuckySeventySeven

Well the car has been sitting, the motor on the stand and I had not touched it for quite a while. Today I finally finished cleaning the gunk and threads off all the bolts that came off the motor. The engine compartment scrubbed on to the point that I just cannot get to the left over nooks without removing the body. I spun the crank around and see cast # 3932442 and has "NF" on the second to last journal.

Isn't this what you call a "Nodular Forged" crank? Looks cast to me. Surely it would not mean "Not Forged"