Should I rebuild the orig engine on my 1964

[Patrick K. Graham]

My 1964 coupe has about 75K on it and I'm currently doing a rolling restoration. I'm working on the engine bay and have everything out of it. I have the engine stripped down to just the long block. The engine runs fine, it doesn't smoke noticably, and has plenty of power. I was thinking of cleaning it, and just repainting it. But now I'm wondering whether I should have it rebuilt. My biggest concern is that it will not wear slowely, but instead it will blow up or throw a rod or something else that might mean the end to my numbers matching engine. The money for the rebuild is not really an issue. I just don't want to rebuild it any sooner than it needs to be done. If I rebuild it now rather than 20,000 mile from now, I'll loose that extra 20,000 miles. When its not under restoration it will be driven about once a week.

What do you guys think?
Thanks,
Patrick

[Roy B.]

Re: Should I rebuild the orig engine on my 1964

75K was considered a lot of miles in the 50 and 60's ,but if it ran OK then why not -now that it's out - do a ring and valve job ONLY just to freshen it up . No reason to set the original engine aside for a new owner that will Owen your car some day. Sure the world may end tomorrow but enjoy your Corvette today, original engine and all. I have 116K miles on my original 55 Corvette engine and getting ready to do the same , no reson the engine cant last another 52 years .

[Jim T.]

Re: Should I rebuild the orig engine on my 1964

With that much mileage, and it being in the good shape, no racing involved, just pleasure driving, I might do a couple things. Replace the 0-ring valve stem seals, new seal in the timing cover if its seeping oil, and a new one piece pan gasket. Going this far I would replace the rear seal with the expensive one sold by GM and FEL-PRO that is/was used by NASCAR because of its greater sealing abilities. All this mainly because the engine is already out of the car and this makes it easier to work on. 75K is not much mileage. I have about 98K on my 68 327/350, it runs great so I am just going to keep on enjoying it.

[James G.]

Re: Should I rebuild the orig engine on my 1964

Patrick,
You did not say what horsepower the engine is. I question as a 365hp or fuel injection 375hp engine with a 4:11 rear has a lot more wear than a 300hp , powerglide with 3:08's.

Still, 44 years is a good long time and the quality of fuel and oil has changed over the years so wear is a factor. You are so close to a complete tear down anyway, it would be a shame to loose the engine at this point.

Last year a good friend with a 65 fuel coupe broke a valve on the freeway and almost lost the block. Car had 66750 miles, 3:70 posi and four owners who babied the car and never drove it hard. Got oil changes even when it did not need it.

He had to sleeve one hole due to damage to the block. No problem, but he could have lost the complete engine as well.

It is all back together now, complete with new paint on the body. Food for thought.

[David K.]

Re: Should I rebuild the orig engine on my 1964

One never knows what the previous owners have done while driving and possibly not maintaining the engine. I have my 51,000 mile '62 original motor at the rebuilders now, getting a full going over. Everything is getting magnafluxed and checked. New Dewitt's rad. and all other componets are getting restored. At my age, it should last at least another 30yrs. and then they can haul my ashes to the cemetery in it.

[Tracy C.]

Re: Should I rebuild the orig engine on my 1964

If you want to continue driving the car with this engine, I would absolutely rebuild the engine and replace the connecting rods. There is a lot of discussion in the archives regarding the unpredictibility of OEM rods in SBC engines to at least the 65 model year.

There was a member who drove his original engine 63 to the National meet this year who threw a rod and trashed his block before he made it.

If you have it rebuilt, find a machinist who will NOT deck your block.

good luck,
tc

[Frank C.]

Re: Should I rebuild the orig engine on my 1964

Patrick

definitely check the archives about the rod issue on especially HP engines. you'll find a couple of posts that'll really grab your attention. IIRC the posts were about a year ago. The crower sportsman rods were the popular solution at the time.

Regards Frank

[Patrick K. Graham]

Re: Should I rebuild the orig engine on my 1964

To answer some of your questions, the engine is 300hp, the owner before me had it since 1974, I don't know too much of its history, but based on what I've seen during my restoration, the 75k looks to be accurate, however the car had been used and neglected. Most of the engine components with the exception of the engine were not original to the car. I am restoring it to be NCRS judged. When it is ultimately completed it will be driven much less and shown more. Then I'll have to get something else for my wife to zip around in (its her car, I have a 1971 vert). I want the car to be reliable, and everything else is getting or will be restored and rebuilt. Your answers run the gamet from leave as is, to a full rebuild, however, your explanation and discussion give me good food for thought. I appreciate it.

[Duke W.]

Re: Should I rebuild the orig engine on my 1964

The best check of internal engine health is a compression or leak down test, which should be done with the engine warm. It's difficult to do a compression test out of the car, but you can do a cold leakdown test. The leakdown will be higher than warm, but if the numbers are consistent across all eight cylinders, the engine is probably healthy.

Higher than new oil consumption or a little oil smoke on startup or overrun can usually be cured with new valve seals.

Likely the engine has at least another 50K miles of useable life before a major refresh is needed. Figure your annual mileage and how many years that will be.

Duke

[Philip C.]

Do the whole 9 and float the pistons *NM*

[Patrick K. Graham]

The answer is..............

for those of you kind enough to have provided your valueable opinion, I thank you. After discussion with my wife (it's her car), we have decided to do a total rebuild on the engine. Reliability and avoiding a major failure are more important to us than getting a few extra miles put of the engine. The engine builder we are going to use has done a previous engine rebuild (454) and did not deck the engine pad (as requested). I of course will be vocal and persistent about not decking this engine pad as well. That would be my only concern.

Any suggestions about replacement parts???
Go all GM parts, or upgrade to some racing components? The car will not be raced. looking for reliability and longeviety.

Thanks again. Patrick

[Richard M.]

Re: The answer is..............

Patrick,

Interesting thread as I'm wondering now about our 67k mile 327/300 in the 63 we just got earlier this month. I promised my wifeI wouldn't take the car apart yet.

Back in 95 when I rebuilt the 283/270 in my '59 after a knocking which turned out to be a cracked piston skirt, I decided to go with SealPower(sp?) forged domed pistons, replacing the TRW domed cast pistons in the car then. Cost substantially more but decided stronger is better, even for casual use.....and for that occasional fun of getting on it on the highway on-ramps!:-)

Rich

[Gary Schisler]

Re: Should I rebuild the orig engine on my 1964

You know this answer is coming - if it ain't broke, don't fix it. At the rate you are driving, you should get a significant number of years of driving out of it.

[Duke W.]

Re: The answer is..............

You need to give us the year and specific engine option.

GM no longer makes internal engine parts for these old engines. They buy them from the big automotive parts suppliers like Federal Mogul and Dana Corp, and these same parts can be purchased from various other sources - usually cheaper than the GM price, even with a discount.

With a few exceptions (like 327 connecting rods) I recommend all OE "equivalent" replacement parts like Sealed Power and Felpro, which are F-M brands and Clevite and Victor Reinz, which are Dana brands that can be purchased at any NAPA outlet.

If you want "more power" the best single modication to achieve this end is massaging the heads, which has been extensively discussed on this forum.

Otherwise, use all OE equivalent parts unless there is a specific known weakness in any OE part like the 327 rods.

Duke

[Verle R.]

Re: The answer is..............

Patric,

Just to be paranoid about the machining, I suggest you put in writing what you want done and more importantly, what you don't want done, give a copy to the machinist and ask them to sign a copy that you keep.

That way, there is no misunderstanding what is to be done.

A friend took the original engine out of a Corvette to a machine shop, told them not do deck the block. They did anyway and blew him off when he complained; "they didn't remember the conversation".

Verle