It happens to all of us sooner or later, when a part of one of the things that we love can no longer perform its intended function and even high tech science cannot save it. One of the toughest things in life is knowing when to say goodbye. This may apply to many things, but for the purposes of this article it refers to when a part for our beloved classic car has served its purpose and is just too wheezed-out to use anymore .
That’s right, folks; sometimes, even on our “they don’t build ‘em like they used to” cars, things wear out and can’t be fixed…at least safely or reliably. What do you do when that happens? What do you do if there aren’t any new or used parts left? Or, as my friend Don Ricardo used to say, “there aren’t any of those left in captivity”. Of course, he usually said that when he was holding one behind his back and was getting you primed for the old, “I was going to use it on one of my cars, but I guess I can part with it if you really need it” routine. That was usually followed by a drawn-out sigh that was shaped like a big dollar sign.
The problem is that many parts fail due to fatigue. They’re worn out, used up, tired, over the hill, wheezed out, and some were even just plain ol’ marginal to begin with. We’re not talking body or trim pieces, but mechanical parts: Engine, transmission, brakes, suspension, steering. You know, the things that nobody wants to put any money into because they “hardly ever drive the car” and they don’t sparkle. One thing to remember with old, worn-out parts is that what you replace them with is probably at least as old and may just be a few miles from failure as well. Even some NOS (New Old Stock) parts can be bad out of the box. We all, rightly, want to do whatever we can to save a part, but there are times when even heroic measures aren’t enough.
A good example of when heroic measures to save a part are in vain is an LS6 450 horsepower 454 Chevy engine I just finished overhauling. The customer had purchased a very nice 1970 Chevelle SS. With numbers matching LS6 engines these cars are bringing serious money nowadays. The engine had been rebuilt previously, but was starting to smoke and he wanted it overhauled. I pulled it down and took it to Portland Engine Rebuilders (PER). An LS6 is special because it has a forged steel crank, beefier connecting rods, a fairly radical hydraulic cam, domed pistons coupled with closed-chamber square-port heads that give a compression ratio of 11.25:1, and a dual-plane low-rise aluminum intake manifold with a 750 Holley 4-barrel. A most formidable engine that will definitely pull the hat off your head when you lean on the loud pedal.
A brief explanation of what “Numbers Matching” means:
Most engines, transmissions, differentials and their major components have all sorts of numbers cast or stamped into them. These numbers can include an actual part number, a VIN number matched with the car, a foundry time clock signifying what shift poured the casting, an application number that usually identified the plant it was built at and what car/transmission combination it was intended for, and a date code which tells exactly what month/day/year the part was cast on. Having all those numbers jibe is what makes a “numbers matching car”. Heads, blocks and other components should all have date codes that are within a couple of months of each other (they do a batch of castings and they sit awhile until they’re machined and used) and always before the build date of the car. Numbers matching is as good as “Provenance”, and greatly boosts the value of a vehicle. It’s all part of the “Authenticity Game” that drives the cost of a restoration through the roof.
But I digress.
PER knew this was all numbers matching hardware and reworked the heads (big blocks Chevys are very hard on valve guides), turned the crank, and finish honed the cylinder walls. At that time we noticed that #7 cylinder had been sleeved and that a couple of head bolt holes were shaky. One of those holes was next to #7 and also had 3 cracks radiating about a half inch out from the hole. They Time-Serted those holes and pinned the cracks (a very common, very effective fix). PER was starting to express concern about the worthiness of the block, but I said we’d really like to keep it if we could. They forged ahead. We used a new cam because big-block Chevs are notoriously hard on cams. Since Chevy no longer makes a correct LS6 cam we opted for a Comp Cams brand LS6 comparable cam. We used the same pistons since they were still fairly fresh from the previous rebuild, and new bearings, rings, lifters, etc. I generally don’t do assemblies anymore on “routine” engines like Chevy or Ford V-8s. I prefer to build Packards and Buick straight 8s, and Franklins…engines that I haven’t done a couple of hundred of already. So I had PER do the assembly on this one. That way it’s on their warranty. During assembly they went to torque the head bolts (these have bolts going into the block, all into the water jacket) and one wouldn’t take the torque…the threads pulled. So they took that head back off, installed a Time-Sert in that hole, and reinspected the other holes. They went to torque it again and pulled the threads on another hole. This time they tore it down completely. They said the block was really junk, but, being it’s “numbers matching” (and correctly dated-coded bare blocks are $2000) the only way they’d guarantee the job is if all the head bolt holes were Time-Serted. With that done all the bolts took the torque and the job was finished.
I installed the engine and was heading into the home stretch when another problem arose. I inspected the (numbers matching) intake manifold and saw there were several hairline cracks throughout the passages. While it probably wouldn’t be truly critical on this car for occasional driving, it just wasn’t right. A quick search of e-bay and other marketplaces revealed that these manifolds go for $500+, and that wasn’t for very attractive, unmolested ones. I don’t like glass-beaded aluminum engine parts when the part is supposed to be natural and exposed. The blasting takes away a natural surface “skin” and makes the aluminum very porous, which allows it to get dirty and stained very easily from then on. Ceramic coating perfect, used and even new aluminum parts in dull silver seals the surface and makes it easy to clean, but since our manifold had cracks and the ones for sale looked shaky, we bit the bullet and put on a new high-rise Edelbrock manifold. The original carb had already been replaced with a much later, similar Holley (correct # carbs can go for $1000+). So, the fuel system had its numbers compromised. But nothing was modified, so everything could be made stock again without any problem.
That’s right, folks; sometimes, even on our “they don’t build ‘em like they used to” cars, things wear out and can’t be fixed…at least safely or reliably. What do you do when that happens? What do you do if there aren’t any new or used parts left? Or, as my friend Don Ricardo used to say, “there aren’t any of those left in captivity”. Of course, he usually said that when he was holding one behind his back and was getting you primed for the old, “I was going to use it on one of my cars, but I guess I can part with it if you really need it” routine. That was usually followed by a drawn-out sigh that was shaped like a big dollar sign.
The problem is that many parts fail due to fatigue. They’re worn out, used up, tired, over the hill, wheezed out, and some were even just plain ol’ marginal to begin with. We’re not talking body or trim pieces, but mechanical parts: Engine, transmission, brakes, suspension, steering. You know, the things that nobody wants to put any money into because they “hardly ever drive the car” and they don’t sparkle. One thing to remember with old, worn-out parts is that what you replace them with is probably at least as old and may just be a few miles from failure as well. Even some NOS (New Old Stock) parts can be bad out of the box. We all, rightly, want to do whatever we can to save a part, but there are times when even heroic measures aren’t enough.
A good example of when heroic measures to save a part are in vain is an LS6 450 horsepower 454 Chevy engine I just finished overhauling. The customer had purchased a very nice 1970 Chevelle SS. With numbers matching LS6 engines these cars are bringing serious money nowadays. The engine had been rebuilt previously, but was starting to smoke and he wanted it overhauled. I pulled it down and took it to Portland Engine Rebuilders (PER). An LS6 is special because it has a forged steel crank, beefier connecting rods, a fairly radical hydraulic cam, domed pistons coupled with closed-chamber square-port heads that give a compression ratio of 11.25:1, and a dual-plane low-rise aluminum intake manifold with a 750 Holley 4-barrel. A most formidable engine that will definitely pull the hat off your head when you lean on the loud pedal.
A brief explanation of what “Numbers Matching” means:
Most engines, transmissions, differentials and their major components have all sorts of numbers cast or stamped into them. These numbers can include an actual part number, a VIN number matched with the car, a foundry time clock signifying what shift poured the casting, an application number that usually identified the plant it was built at and what car/transmission combination it was intended for, and a date code which tells exactly what month/day/year the part was cast on. Having all those numbers jibe is what makes a “numbers matching car”. Heads, blocks and other components should all have date codes that are within a couple of months of each other (they do a batch of castings and they sit awhile until they’re machined and used) and always before the build date of the car. Numbers matching is as good as “Provenance”, and greatly boosts the value of a vehicle. It’s all part of the “Authenticity Game” that drives the cost of a restoration through the roof.
But I digress.
PER knew this was all numbers matching hardware and reworked the heads (big blocks Chevys are very hard on valve guides), turned the crank, and finish honed the cylinder walls. At that time we noticed that #7 cylinder had been sleeved and that a couple of head bolt holes were shaky. One of those holes was next to #7 and also had 3 cracks radiating about a half inch out from the hole. They Time-Serted those holes and pinned the cracks (a very common, very effective fix). PER was starting to express concern about the worthiness of the block, but I said we’d really like to keep it if we could. They forged ahead. We used a new cam because big-block Chevs are notoriously hard on cams. Since Chevy no longer makes a correct LS6 cam we opted for a Comp Cams brand LS6 comparable cam. We used the same pistons since they were still fairly fresh from the previous rebuild, and new bearings, rings, lifters, etc. I generally don’t do assemblies anymore on “routine” engines like Chevy or Ford V-8s. I prefer to build Packards and Buick straight 8s, and Franklins…engines that I haven’t done a couple of hundred of already. So I had PER do the assembly on this one. That way it’s on their warranty. During assembly they went to torque the head bolts (these have bolts going into the block, all into the water jacket) and one wouldn’t take the torque…the threads pulled. So they took that head back off, installed a Time-Sert in that hole, and reinspected the other holes. They went to torque it again and pulled the threads on another hole. This time they tore it down completely. They said the block was really junk, but, being it’s “numbers matching” (and correctly dated-coded bare blocks are $2000) the only way they’d guarantee the job is if all the head bolt holes were Time-Serted. With that done all the bolts took the torque and the job was finished.
I installed the engine and was heading into the home stretch when another problem arose. I inspected the (numbers matching) intake manifold and saw there were several hairline cracks throughout the passages. While it probably wouldn’t be truly critical on this car for occasional driving, it just wasn’t right. A quick search of e-bay and other marketplaces revealed that these manifolds go for $500+, and that wasn’t for very attractive, unmolested ones. I don’t like glass-beaded aluminum engine parts when the part is supposed to be natural and exposed. The blasting takes away a natural surface “skin” and makes the aluminum very porous, which allows it to get dirty and stained very easily from then on. Ceramic coating perfect, used and even new aluminum parts in dull silver seals the surface and makes it easy to clean, but since our manifold had cracks and the ones for sale looked shaky, we bit the bullet and put on a new high-rise Edelbrock manifold. The original carb had already been replaced with a much later, similar Holley (correct # carbs can go for $1000+). So, the fuel system had its numbers compromised. But nothing was modified, so everything could be made stock again without any problem.
The engine fired right up, ran strong and went merrily down the road. HOWEVER, the fickle finger of fate would take a poke at the engine a few months later, reminding us of the original intent of this article: “Knowing when it’s time to say goodbye.”
What happened, how it was cured, more examples of when good parts go bad, and how to avoid it will appear in the next installment. Don’t miss a single exciting episode.
What happened, how it was cured, more examples of when good parts go bad, and how to avoid it will appear in the next installment. Don’t miss a single exciting episode.