Hey Guys, About to look at a 68 vert. Triple black in real nice condition. Asking price of $17,500.00 neg. All orig. with the usual replacement parts... brakes, top, ect. However, the engine is worked 30 over. I asked the owner what that means and he said that he bought it that way. I think He's not sure either. Does performance engine work affect the originality of a Vette? What other if any obvious engine part replacements should I look for. Any help would help. Thanks in advance, L8TER, Paul.

 

Means that the block cylinder size has been "bored" 30 thousandths "larger" than stock, which is OK. Main thing here is "did they deck" the original block, which would have erased the "matching numbers" on the pad just upper right of the water pump??? This too could seriously affect the car's value. Matching numbers can go as far as starter, alternator, carb, heads, intake, water pump, fuel pump, brake master cylinder, shocks, wheels, transmission..... Depends on "how much" numbers matching means to you. Are you going to drive the car and enjoy it for what it is OR are you buying it instead of playing the stock market for "future investment"??? If you are really concerned about this, you may want to see if someone can "look" the car over for you before you purchase it and get other opinions.

 

Paul, Thanks for the education on the engine work issue! What do you mean by "erase the matching #'s"? Do you mean that by boring out a piston it would remove the # pad?? Also, whats also important is that if I'm going to lay out that kind of loot, I would at least like to have engine and tranny #'s match. :yesnod:

 

If he doesn't know what worked 30 over means than I might not trust him whether the engine is original. Is this a BB or SB car? If you are not sure how to read the numbers on the engine...we will help. The most important is the stamped ID number...it is located on the block itself, passenger side, in front of the pass cylinder head. If the car is A/C equipped it might be hard to look for. Take you a flashlight, mineral spirits or degreaser and some rags to wipe it off and get a good look at it. I can help decipher if youneed help. Second, make sure the VIN is kosher, and third, get the number on the trim plate located in driver side door jamb (should be aluminum piece riveted to bulk head).

If you are worried about originality, the most important thing is that the engine is the original piece...we are working on that. Engine work on the inside of the block, ie boring of cylinders, honing, head work etc, the NCRS is not that concerned about b/c it really can't be judged and more than likely will not affect resale, unless you start to get into the high CR race motor that Bubba got a hold of. Keep in mind, any pieces of the motor that have been tampered with on top, such as valve covers, air cleaners, other accessories are important to resale and NCRS 'originality'.

When looking at the stamp ID you will see a number similar to this:

78S400001 V0224HP

Interpretation: the 8 is for '68, the S is for St Louis, and than the following number should be the VIN matching the VIN on the driver side windshield post. The '4' is benign...don't worry about it. The V represents what plant the engine was built at. The 0224 is the date the motor was built in this case Feb 24. The HP is the engine code telling us what it is. In this case HP is the designate for the 350hp/327. There is so much more, but let us know if you need more help.

BTW...I would buy a triple black '68 vert original engine or not. :yesnod:

 

Boring a cylinder doesn't effect the "number pad" on the passengers front of the block, but decking the block does. Decking is a process where the surface of the block is "ground" in an attempt to make the angle of the deck 90 degrees to the angle of the crank. When you "deck" a block, the number pad is erased too, as an equal amount of metal is removed from both cylinder head "decks" on the block. Chuck