I own a '67 small block convertable. It 'Top Flighted' in 1988 under ownership of a prior owner, and has remained original through my current ownership. It is my first Corvette. I've owned it since '02. I had the motor rebuilt in '04. Recently decided to try for another top flight @ NJ Regional this May and have just discovered that the shop that rebuilt the motor, "decked" the head?! I'm told now (discovering this news today) that this has permanently ruined the authenticity of the car, and quite likely will preclude the possibility of ever recieving another top flight for this car, inot to mention the damage it does to the car's resale value. Is this as gloomy a predicament as I've been told it is? Is there anything I can do to restore validity. Is the casting number the only number on the block that has the car's VIN number?
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Re: C-2 Authenticity
You can get it restamped. There are companies that will do this and pass NCRS judging. Many famous cars have restamped engines and have attained NCRS Top Flight and Bloomington Gold awards.
The authenticity of your car is not lost. -
Re: C-2 Authenticity
I should add that even with a milled stamp pad your car can achieve an NCRS Top Flight award. You should only lose about 88 points for the milled pad.Comment
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Re: C-2 Authenticity
You're going to get a lot of different opinions on this.
First, if you have the car Flight judged today you would loose 82 points (about 2 percent of the total 4500 or so) for the stamp pad being obliterated, which includes the original tooling marks ("broach marks") and the information stamped by the Flint engine plant and St. Louis assembly plant. This would not necessarily keep the car from receiving a Top Flight award (which requires a total score of 94 percent, minimum) depending on the amount of other deductions. The stamp pad contains the Flint data, which on a '67 SB would look something like V------, which includes a four-digt date code and two-letter engine code. An additional "VIN derivative" was stamped at the St. Louis plant, which includes the sequence number from the VIN.
If the block is an "870" casting and the casting date code is 1-4 weeks prior to the approximate car assembly date this is relatively good evidence that the block is original. NCRS allows up to six months, though I am sometimes suspicious of block date codes several months prior unless it is a low volume engine option. Inventory management or major rework did allow some base or popular engine options to have casting dates several months prior to the vehicle assembly date. It happens, but it's not common.
If you have the judging sheets from '88 that show no deduction for the stamp pad, this is additional evidence that the engine is original as far as market value is concerned, but it will have zero effect on the point loss, today, because the car is judged as is, where is.
Many engines have been "rebroached" and "restamped" due to decking of the OE block or installation of a replacement block, but this "reproduction" is often detectable by judges and will receive the full 82 point deduction. In some minds it may also cast a doubt on the "authenticity" of the entire car because someone is trying to "fake" an orignal engine. Opinions on this issue are passionate across the spectrum!
My recommendation is to just live with it. Don't pull and disassemble the engine to recreate "broach marks" and restamp the pad. It's not worth it, and it's not the end of the world.
As far as how much this reduces the value of the car, the range is probably $100 to $10,000 depending on who you talk to. You will find out if you ever try to sell the car.
On a base engine car the relative value loss would probaby be less than on a BB engine car, especially a L-71, which are going for $200K and more, but it's no secret that a lot of these cars probably did not start life as L-71s, but were "reconstructed" as such including the installation of a "correct" block and stamping it to appear as if it was an original St. Louis built car.
At the rate base engine cars are being recontructed as "numbers matching" big blocks the base engine cars may end up becoming very rare.
DukeComment
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I would contact the owner who had it judged
AND Roy Sinor, the National Judging Chairman, to see if either has a copy of the previous judging sheets which just MIGHT have the stamping on the pad recorded on the sheets themselves. If it does, you'll have to decide whether to restamp or just use those forms to buttress your contention that the motor is original
I'm assuming that your statement that the guy decked "the head" is in error and he really decked the block. In any case, let the guys in your area KNOW who this bozo is...........Comment
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Re: I would contact the owner who had it judged
Roy will not have the judging sheets. All he has are the Judging Summary Sheets.Dick WhittingtonComment
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Re: C-2 Authenticity
I agree with Duke on this. Leave the pad as-is and take the deduction during judging (88 points). Most judges will be quite sympathetic about a decked block because they have seen it happen before and they know how easily it can happen during a routine rebuild.
There is no value in using old judging sheets to "prove" that the block is original because the judging standard simply evaluates the casting number, casting date, and the pad, with very specific point allocations assigned to each item. Get a copy of the Judging Reference Manual (not the same as the Technical Information Manual and Judging Guide), and read the section on "Standard Deductions."
There is no room for subjective assessments on the casting number and the casting date, which are presumably correct on your block (although you should confirm this). All the subjectivity tends to get focused on the 88 points assigned to the characteristics of the pad, which in this case is moot.
You can still Top Flight the car with a blank pad, but you will have less margin for deductions in other areas. Just use the money that you would otherwise spend on a restamp to upgrade other aspects of the car to meet the judging standard.
By the way, if your pad was only lightly decked and the original stampings are still legible, some judges will credit you the 50 points for the stampings and only deduct the 38 points for the missing broach marks of the original factory finish.Comment
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Correction - 88 points as others have stated *NM*
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