scott brown

I have a #s matching 74 L82 4 spd convt vette with 40K miles on it and the engine blew. Not sure yet if block cracked. Should I attempt to keep car #s matching and if so what do I do if block is cracked? Or should I us this as an opportunity to replace engine with a more powerful and reliable engine as a number of mechanics have advised.

Tom73

What is the purpose of the car? If it is a driver then drop in a good crate engine and set the original back for future use. Show car? Then restore the original.

tom...

COMMANDER370

scott brown

The car is for pleasure drives and is extremely clean. I expect less than 3 or 4 thousand miles on it per year. I would like to make sensible fix that keeps car appealing in the event I want to sell a few years from now. (Not that my kids would let me.)

comp

open it up and try to save

joe73vette

what do you men you blew the motor? put a rod thru the side of the block or just a spun bearing? joe

scott brown

Joe, lots of fluid was leaking from car. Friend went underneath car and found hole in oil pan. The fluid was both oil and antifreeze. This is my first vette and mechanically I'm just getting on the learning curve but I believe he said the rod made the hole in the oil pan.

trw

Depending on what you can afford, I would either buy another engine and see if the original can be saved or see if the original can be saved and refreshed first.

Buying another engine, before checking the old block will definitely cost more.

With oil and antifreeze leaking from the pan, it sounds like trouble. But that orginal block will add $$$ to the resale value if it can be saved.

Terry

scott brown

Thanks Terry, I'm currently assuming/planning for the worst and that the block is cracked just so I have a game plan. If the block is shot, do I have any options to keep the car numbers matching if that is the case?

Tom73

Numbers matching is a lot more than just the engine, though the engine is usualy the big one that most talk about. If the block cannot be saved you could do a restamp of another block and create a clone. But if you do, please do not pass it off as the original engine. The is only one original engine, that is the one that the car left the factory with.

To do a clone you would need to find a block with the correct casting number and casting date (usualy from one week to six months before the car build date). Then you would need to find a knowledable person to restamp the stamp pad with the correct numbers in the correct fonts.

tom...

scott brown

Thanks Tom, that's seems to be a good tip if the block can't be saved.

gsfgf

Lots and lots of duct tape

scott brown

Well thats good advice since I have several rolls of duct tape left over from my Y2K stash.