What would you do?? Advice Please!!
 

My 69 t top has 65thou on it and a tired leaking engine that misses even tho it's got new about everything--usual oil leaks ,needs a repaint- would you rebuild the engine or zz4 it -i'm leaning towards the zz4 for the extra 55 horses - the rest of the car is a 10 footer- will keep the car for the forseeable future and just drive it summers to and from shows tho i'm not interested in showing it- 350/300 with the 400 trans 308 posi rear--Thanks for any and all input-- I'm wondering what you would do in my shoes---Glenn :auto:

Re: What would you do?? Advice Please!! (Glenn's orange 69)
 

A few questions ... is your original motor #'s matching, and .. do you care?

If yes and yes, I'd say yank it and play with substitute power BUT, don't automatically think ZZ4, there are a few folks in here that have built or bought engines that (in thier opinion) are of better quality or better performing with equal or less money. Something to think about.

Re: What would you do?? Advice Please!! (Glenn's orange 69)
 

You were in the same shape I was last year, I went with the ZZ4, it was a nice choice. Another good choice is the 350/HO which uses the Vortec heads and produces 330hp.
You'll need couple of things to make your install easier, it comes with a long water pump, you'll need a short one, the intake is tapped for either a spreadbore Q-Jet or a square bore Holley or Demon. Your stock choke won't work since there is no exhaust crossover or a place to install the choke spring. So, an electric choked carb is necessary. The Barry Grant Crate Demon is perfect for the ZZ4. You'll have to get a new flexplate for your transmission, the one supplied won't work with the TH400 tranny. Or you could opt to do what I did and buy a new 2200 stall convertor that will work with the supplied Torque convertor. You'll need a different starter since the new flexplate requires a starter with the straight across bolt pattern instead of the offset bolt pattern on the 69 350.
Your stock exhaust manifolds will work, but you should really look into some Dynomax ceramic coated headers. Your accessories brackets should work without any problem.
Everything else is pretty straight forward.
Good luck with your choice.
Also check the Corvette Faq for more information Theandies has a pretty good description of what's necessary to do the swap.
http://www.corvettefaq.com

Re: What would you do?? Advice Please!! (Glenn's orange 69)
 

Glenn,

My thoughts would be to look at what you want and then go from there. Odds are if you start making major changes you will never be satisfied and it will just be and endless money pit. If your '69(Monacco Orange I presume) is matching #'s and you want to update it and make it more desirable to yourself rebuild it to the 350HP specs of that year and repaint it. Sooner or later that thrill of the extra horses never matches the money that was put into it, so I'd keep it as original as possible.