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My good friend has a nice 73 automatic coupe with a sick 350, the original engine.The car is in decent shape. The paint is nice but its not original. The engine is going bad and he is stuck on the option; crate motor or rebuild. I say "350/290 GM Crate". He'll get lots more power, better breathing heads, 4 bolt main and a warranty. Going rebuild the only advantage is that the car remains "numbers matching". The engine anyway. While numbers matching can determine sales price of a special car this one is a run of the mill, base motor L48 GM 3 speed auto coupe. Cost is comparable for a full rebuild. What say you, the forum?
I would say go with the crate motor and just keep the original engine in case he ever wants to sell it. Not much value in a base L48 engine, but saying "numbers matching engine included" would always help with resale value.
Obviously you'll get opinions on both sides for this one, and a good argument for each one as well.
Pretty hard to find many early C3s that still have original paint so I wouldn't let that be a deciding factor in this case.
I am in the camp of rebuilding the original engine and keeping the car numbers right. Might not matter this week but eventually it will. Early C3's are up and coming in value and they aren't making any more of them.
I can remember when the C2's could be had easily for under $10K and nobody cared about keeping the original engines.
Now they're worth a small fortune and they all seem to "match".
Good luck to your friend what ever he decides.
Greg
I would say go with the crate motor and just keep the original engine in case he ever wants to sell it. Not much value in a base L48 engine, but saying "numbers matching engine included" would always help with resale value.
I agree, that's what I did. When I sold the car, the original engine went with it. Only problem is, you'll have to store it.
We rebuilt the original base 350 & auto in our 71 coupe because of the matching numbers on both engine & trans. If the trans was not numbers matching, the engine may not have mattered so much to us. But that`s strictly personal preference.And we re-painted back to the original color as well. IF we were to go with a crate engine, we`d DEFINATELY keep the original block IF the trans matches too, as others have mentioned.
I am in the rebuild camp but the advice I would offer hinges on the availability of a qualified trustworthy machine shop. If you have a good shop nearby, and want to do the work then just do it. Otherwise you would want to go crate.
when available, I prefer to use original block, and all new guts on the inside.
Looks stock, but it is Not . so the vehicle and motor is actually numbers matching.
whats the point of matching numbers if your gonna let it sit in your garage, and take up space.
If the original engine block is not damaged and only needs to be re-bored to clean up the cylinder walls, rebuilding the engine the way the owner wants it to be would be the right way to go....
IF there is a qualified (and reasonably affordable) shop nearby. If rebuilding the original engine costs more than the crate engine (once it's ready to drop in the car), I'd go with the crate engine.
I would say go with the crate motor and just keep the original engine in case he ever wants to sell it. Not much value in a base L48 engine, but saying "numbers matching engine included" would always help with resale value.
Yes....put the old motor in the new crate after soaking it in WD-40 or equivalent and go with god!
Yes....put the old motor in the new crate after soaking it in WD-40 or equivalent and go with god!
73's are coming up!
unka
oiling a stored motor is a must do. a generous misting of oil and some dessicant wrapped tightly, however if you use rice or similar dessicant be sure to add a few mothballs in a old crown royal bag wrapped into the plastic as well. mice love stored parts as a prefab home.
My opinion on this particular car would be to go the crate engine route, save the original engine as the others have suggested & look into the Chevrolet small blocks available. You can buy a brand new 350 small block with 300-350 hp for 4 to 5k with a warranty. Put some fun back in that old Vette!
people want matching numbers and will pay for it.. its the magic of corvettes. people also don't want your parts tubs or extra engines to take with them when they buy, especially if they buy from across country.
it ups their acquisition costs and lowers the price they will pay to you. plus the labor and cost associated with making the car more correct after the purchase..
you would be limiting your buyer market by introducing a crate motor into the equation.
rebuild your old one... make sure they don't wipe the pad when they try to sell you the decking service.
if you can keep it original, do so.
If you have a good machine shop that you trust, rebuild. You can get a balanced, blueprinted engine that will run better than the mass assembled “crate” GM motor. The quality of components you get to spec doesn’t cost a lot more than the standard stuff in the crate motor. I pay the extra for the machine shop to break in the motor. It I nsures any start up problems get corrected before I install the engine.
If you can’t find a good matching shop in your area, go crate.
11-15-2018, 12:41 PM
Numbers Matdching Advice
