Well I'm finally going to swap the engine in my '84 this weekend barring any rain.

I found an '86 350, 4 bolt main engine that was purchased as a 'remanufactured engine', although no one seems to know what year it was bought. The engine was only run about 6 months to a year in a Chevy Caprice, which I am assuming, is an 86.
It is now in a car that belonged to a buddy of mine. He lost the title to the car and decided to give up on it.

I bought the complete RUNNING car for $200.00. And '84 Monte Carlo that was originally a V6.

The engine block casting is 14093638 and has the same heads as the Vette (462624) which I have been reading are not very desirable. But I figured, what the heck, they were good enough for the Vette, so they'll be good enough for me. For now!


I started tearing down the vette and found some things that weren't totally surprising, considering this car spent time under water.

Here's what the engine and the Throttle Bodies look like...


Close up of the TB's..


Surprisingly, under the valve covers is totally clean. No sludge, gunk or sand (dirt).

And here is a picture of the engine I'm going to be putting in. It's been sitting about 5 years. (it's a lot better than it looks)



Once I clean it up and swap all the parts from the vette it will look a LOT better.

I'm going to run the 4 barrel for now while I work on restoring the Crossfire and TB's. I also plan on keeping this engine considering it's an upgrade from 2 bolt main to 4 bolt main. And the Crossfire should fit with no mods necessary.


Oh yeah... Here's the 'donor' car...



I'm hoping he finds the title for the car because I still have the 305 (that was supposed to be a 350) that I bought a few weeks ago and I'd like to put it in this car for my daughter.

But, the VETTE comes first!

Now if only the weather will cooperate!

 

Looks like you have quite a job ahead of you! Best of luck.

 

Yeah. I do. Thanks.

One step at a time!

 

You for sure have alot of work ahead of you, keep photos coming for us all to see.

 

Good luck on the engine swap....It will be nice once its done. Another vette back on the road soon!!

Did you say the vette was under water? I would like to hear that story

 

I plan on documenting this thing every step of the way!

Well, as much as I can remember too!

 

Yep. Bought it from Mississippi. Katrina flood victim.

Was told it was a fresh water flood, not salt water. I haven't really seen any salt deposits anywhere, but what I have seen looks worse than it is. Most of it cleans up pretty easily.

The inside is pretty dirty thought. I plan on removing the entire dash to clean everything and strip the interior out and power wash it. Seats and all.

Once the engine is in place I can get a better idea of what will have to be replaced.

So far, the parking lights work. Flashers work. Shifter moves (although rusty) with no problem. Even the seats (manual) move ok.

The biggest thing I see are going to be, headlight motors, power windows ,rear hatch solenoid and door lock solenoids.

I already cleaned up the wiper motor and heater fan. Both work fine.

There is surprisingly little corrosion on the electrical connectors. I've cleaned most of the them and tested them already. Most of what you see on the TB's wipes right off.


Once the engine is out I can concentrate on cleaning out the bay before the new engine goes in.

 

You're a very brave man

 

Wow...good story. Keep us posted, I'm certainly curious what will work and what won't after the flood. Quite a project...I'm impressed.

 

On the subject of getting a new title, it should not be that hard, though every state is different. All I needed was a bill of sale and a notarized paper from the DMV with the sellers signature and I got plates and a title mailed that day. If he doesn't want to sign the affidavit, then I'd question the vehicles past...

 

He had the title when he bought it but the original owner moved out of state and my friend has no idea where he moved too.

He never got around to registering the car because it didn't have an engine in it when he bought it.

It's been in the 'process' of being put back together for about 6 years.

When he lost the title, he just gave up on it.

There was probably $1000 invested so far, but it was never completed.

But it does run and move.

I should have mentioned that the DMV in New York will not issue a new title without the original title AND a bill of sale from the previous owner. My friend can't find either one. It's in the 'lost document' corner of his house 'somewhere'!

I suspect 'kremlins'!!

 

file a lean on it and the dmv will give you a new title

 

I'll have to look into that.

I did exactly that, in California,for a 1974 Datsun pickup truck that was given to me in 1988.

To file the lean though, you needed the original owners name. I'm not sure NYS will give this information out. They won't in California anymore. I'll see if my friend remembers his name or not, but knowing him, he probably doesn't.