Original motor vs. replacement

[njsteve]

I almost got pulled into one of those stories. I contacted he 2d owner of my Hemi Charger back in 2002 (this was the same guy who assembled the replacement engine while drunk and put the pistons in backwards). He told me he had the original block from my Charger in his dad's garage. When I told him I'd pay him his price for the block he said he'd get back to me. After chasing him for months I finally get a hold of him and he says that his dad got tired of it in the garage and threw it out just the other day. Well, his dad is 85 years old and a hemi block weighs about 500 pounds so I knew he was full of excrement. In addition, I knew the orginal owner literally grenaded the original block at 150 mph (with 4.10 gears, so you can imagine the schrapnel that caused).

Through a bizarre fluke of fate in 1989 I ended up with the engine block from the next hemi car built right after mine. It happened to be in a Hemi Daytona I bought to restore. Both my 70 Charger and the 69 Daytona had the perfect date coded block for the opposite car. I switched them and never looked at the VINs til years later. It turned out the block I now have in the car was from the same assembly line, same day only 21 cars later than my car. According to Galen Govier (the Ed Cuneen of Mopars) there were no hemi cars built between those two serial numbers: I stumbled into the next hemi built after my motor on the same day. Very Scary!

[NCGuy68]

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I guess it would be difficult to know if an engine was the ACTUAL one installed in the original conversion....

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And that statement brings up my next question. How DO owners of dealer converted cars determine if they have "The" motor that was dropped in? Obviously, this doesn't apply to the COPOs

[rpoz11]

You dont! Unless that dealer kept records of it; Consider all the Dana changeovers...All mostly were VN cars. How many Camaros,etc did they change? What Chevrolet dealer in all of the US didnt have part #s or ordering capabilities to any engine available from GM! Why couldnt I have walked in, slapped down a payment on a base X44 car at that time and pay that dealership(dealership willing) the extra money and fees to R&R any motor and install any L88 available at that time?

[Belair62]

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Ah Bob, You are hurting my feelings

[/ QUOTE ] Sorry Sam...I forgot that was your brudderinlaw !!! And where the hell is my Philly Cheese Steak sangwich ???

[SamLBInj]

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Ah Bob, You are hurting my feelings

[/ QUOTE ] Sorry Sam...I forgot that was your brudderinlaw !!! And where the hell is my Philly Cheese Steak sangwich ???

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Ole Vinny Bagadouhnuts from Joysee, Fuhgetabout it

[NCGuy68]

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You dont! Unless that dealer kept records of it;

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I'll buy that, but I'd like to hear from actual owners of 67-8 dealer converted cars. Again, is there a way to determine if "The" motor is in your car.

OK you guys.......fess-up!

[427TJ]

It seems to me that the value of a dealer conversion car is dependant on its paperwork and/or verifiable history verifying it as such. A dealer conversion with a correct replacement engine (not the engine put in by the dealer/conversion shop), or no engine at all, is still worth a pile of money if it can be verified. A '67 Nickey 427 Camaro with all the right original paperwork but with a '69 427 engine is still extremely valuable because it can be verified as an original Nickey 427 conversion. (Same for Yenko, Motion, Dana, etc.) JMO.

[John]

Did the green Yenko in this auction have "The original motor"?...or was it a "Matching number replacement motor"?
.....taken from a previous post about the Yenko sold at Mecum Auction....
...."A '69 Rally Green Yenko Camaro sold a few weeks ago in a Houston Auction for $247,500 + buyers fee. I think the buyer's fee is around 8% putting the selling price around $267,300 WOW! "
.....I thought someone said it was a "Matching Number Motor"....which is not always the original motor!
....