To: Alpine List, Inet
On Tue, 20 Feb 96 he wrote
Would you all please help me by giving me your knowledgable
opinions regarding my potential purchase? The series IV has sat
outside here in a storage lot, and as many of you know, Nevada
is a virtually rust free state (sorry all you wet weather folks)
and as far as I can tell after close inspection this car is
structurally very sound. My questions are these:
Should I try and buy the Series V engine and if so how much is
reasonable? What does the leaking freeze plug on the Series IV
mean? How much does it cost to have an overdrive tranny rebuilt
professionally and how much are kits? Should I bother with the
original engines at all, ie would putting in a higher
performance, non stock engine be better? My thoughts on this are
Buick Grand National V-6 Turbo, Street ported Mazda Rotary,
Aluminum Block V-8 (such as out of a Buick Wildcat).
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sounds like one of the great finds of the decade when it comes to
old Series IVs. Congrats.
You ask a lot of "should I" questions, and as I am sure you
already know, the answer to each is "it depends."
Do you want originality? Do you want better performance? Do you
want to enhance resale value? Do you want a daily driver? Do you
want perfection in all aspects? IMHO, I like the idea of keeping
it pretty stock - by which I mean go ahead and put the Series V
motor in it and drop the other motors from your list. The Series
V motor is pretty good performance wise, and besides, where are
you going to drive the thing -- at Talladega or Darlington? The
leaking freeze plug is not usually a big deal (note I said
"usually"). Freeze plugs can come loose and leak from time to
time. Jam in a new one and the problem will be solved in most
cases. I am in the middle of a Spitfire restoration project and
I grappled with the same issues you did (albeit to a lesser extent
-- it's kind of hard to fit a Buick alum. V8 or turbo V6 under
its bonnet). I decided to go "mostly" original, meaning I will
tweak the stock motor a little with some head work and bottom end
work, free flow exhaust, and better shocks, springs, tire, etc.
Nothing major. It should be fun to drive and still "look" almost
original.
Final thoughts -- what is it about the car that draws you to it in
the first place? Is it the fact that it is a LBC that is damned
attractive with the top down and is probably somewhat fun to drive
in stock form? If so, then I'd stay closer to original than the
other options. If your first thought was "Wow, I can't wait to
blow the doors off of some unsuspecting Porsche or Z28 owner after
I drop in a mega-horsepower motor" -- hmmmm. Well, okay, it's
your car, but maybe there are better "sleepers" out there for you.
My 2 cents worth. Enjoy.
Ross D. Vincenti
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