Trying to Decide Value of my 1969 Z/28

[njsteve]

The problem you describe is exactly what just occurred with a friend of mine's 1970 Challenger R/T 440. It turned out that there was a crack in the intake manifold on the valley side that was invisible to anyone outside the engine. When the car warmed up, it ran like crap. After swapping carbs multiple times, he finally pulled the engine and that's when they discovered the crack on the underside of the intake. It caused a major internal vacuum leak that sucked the oil from inside the lifter valley into the lower runners of the intake.

Before letting go of the car I'd swap intakes out and see if that fixes it.

Otherwise my 14 year old and I would be happy to rebuild that engine. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

[danachevroletfor1967]

Thanks for your input guys. You've made me think twice about my first plans and think more about keeping her. I know I would probably feel bad and kick myself if I did sell her. I do have another question; it may sound stupid to more mechanically inclined guys than myself but I honestly don't know the answer. How do you know when or if your car needs an engine rebuild? Mine does not use any oil where I have to add any between changes. It doesn't produce blue exhaust, black or gray, yes, but no blue. It runs great and is not down on power that I can notice. It just wants to die every time I slow down to a stop. Are there different levels of engine rebuild, such as just needing new rings, or a new cam and lifters, and not always needing complete machine work such as reboring, decking, etc.? I read that the compression in a 302 should be 190 per cylinder. Mine has between 160-170 in each one. Good or bad? No problem or too low for such a high compression engine? Thanks again for your input.