That GM will make a numbers matching block for your car. Has anyone heard truth to this or is this one of those urban car legends that someone is lying to me about?

Rumor i heard:
That someone got a numbers matching GM corvette block for like 8k.


If this is true... what does it do to the value of a car that has one of these installed that has a nonoriginal motor?

Thanks as always for the inputs and hope i dont get anyones hopes up if this is false lol

 

Total BS,

Even when these cars were new under warranty replacement blocks were blank were the serial is located. The tech that replaced the block was to stamp the serial into the block as the core would be destroyed. So if you have or see an engine with no serial it would be a warranty replacement block. The lazy *** tech did not stamp the replacement. This is the case with the block in my 68 a blank pad.

 

How do you make an original old something later?
A numbers matching engine can only be the one that it had to begin with.
That would be a clone or tribute to the original engine, and probably illegal too.

I had a service replacement block in a '68 GTO, had SR then a serial number stamped on the engine pad.

 

Heck, I'LL make you a numbers matching block for a lot less than $8K...

I've got metal stamps.


Kinda reminds me of the old joke about prostitutes going to the Virgin Islands...

 

You have to be Ferrari:

"Every individual component of a Ferrari is designed and constructed with an uncompromising focus on outstanding performance. Detailed information on each of these components, from every Ferrari ever built, is stored in the company’s extensive archive. All assembly sheets, plus all the original designs, dating back to 1947 are also stored. And because Ferrari Classiche has access to the in-house foundry and the very same tooling machines used to make the original parts, the department’s team of experts is able to restore any Ferrari to its pristine, original condition."

So long as you pay the dumptruck-full-of-hundreds price they require to "certify" your car as being the actual (and only) car on their books they will create (from scratch) a numbers-matching "original" engine block and whatever other major new/old pieces you need.

All it takes is cash. Lots and LOTS of cash...

Drew

 

given the value of some of these muscle cars, there are fake and restamped everything phoney documents, and stories made up. That is why with an olds documentation is everything.

My recently auctioned 1972 442 w-30 4 speed that was sold to a guy in Newport Beach CA then went into the Miton Robson Collection was just auctioned this year at a RM auction. When I read the story on the car I almost didn't think it was my old car. The new buyer bought an original California car that I have pictures when I bought it with Pennsylvania plates. It was a good story though.......Lee

 

Wayal- mebbe they can do that with a Chevy block, but Oldsmobile 455 haven't been made since the late 70s and when the service blocks were used up, that's all they is, they ain't no more. Same situation with the 350 after mid-80s.

I really don't think documentation is as critical with an Olds as it is with a GTO or especially a Chevy. The original #s engine got blown up, stuff a service engine in if it blew under warranty. Otherwise you ended up with a junkyard engine of always questionable provenance. And since Chevy and Pontiac engines all look alike to the untrained eye, what you thought was a good find was probably a turd.

 

I have the original Ax that George Washington used to chop down the Cherry tree. The Ax head has been replaced twice and the handle three times but other than that it's all original.

 

lol i like that. dont shoot the messenger i just checking with what i heard was all. Thought maybe GM gave documentation with it or something to say this is a new numbers matching type of thing or what not.... seemed to make sense to me TBH

 

[quote=auto_editor;260438]You have to be Ferrari:

"Every individual component of a Ferrari is designed and constructed with an uncompromising focus on outstanding performance. Detailed information on each of these components, from every Ferrari ever built, is stored in the company’s extensive archive. All assembly sheets, plus all the original designs, dating back to 1947 are also stored. And because Ferrari Classiche has access to the in-house foundry and the very same tooling machines used to make the original parts, the department’s team of experts is able to restore any Ferrari to its pristine, original condition."

/quote]
Rolls Royce used to keep samples of upholstery leather of each car as well, all the radiators were signed off by the individual who made them.
Of course these are essentially very low production hand built cars with price tags to match.
I remember watching a tv programme about Lamborghini, one thing that made me smile was that after the space frame chassis had been welded together it would be measured then a burly Italian would beat it into correct alignment with a 28lb hammer!.

 

Ok, It's not my cup of tea to rant, but I'll make an exception.

First off, thanks for posting that, Drew. VERY interesting and way cool.

If only GM had the kind of pride in it's products as Ferrari. We all know one is far more exclusive, but GM seems to be destroy-happy of a lot of its own intellectual property (e.g. tooling). I can think of a few examples.

I apologize for hijacking the topic and ranting. I'll add something relevant and agree with what else has been said; GM does not do that. No custom blocks. Seems like they could have made a lucrative niche business out of that and garner some positive PR among car enthusiasts.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

 

GM could have done a lot of things. Like not basing its entire business model on making huge numbers of large and heavily marked-up trucks when what Americans REALLY wanted was BIG CARS. Sure, because of Federal emissions and mileage regulations, making "trucks" instead of "cars" was the easy way out, but with a bit of effort and ingenuity, they could have made what the people really wanted and been a raging success instead of bankrupt. Imagine a 2011 full-size, 19 foot long Olds 98...

- Eric

 

I know guys in the high-end restoration business and we were having a discussion about how GM can supply you with just about every sheet metal component for a '69 Camaro, though you had to tweak the "new" panels as they wouldn't fit properly on your original car right out of the box.

A Ferrari restorer chimed in with the fact that even on series-built (relatively) high-production-number Enzo-era Ferraris not only could you not bolt panels from another "identical" car onto the car you're restoring, but every single panel on that particular car can ONLY fit with the others it was built with.

It's common to find, say, a right front fender that is TWO INCHES LONGER than the one on the left. That means the door skin is narrower, and EVERY other panel is similarly "unique" thanks to the space-age metal-forming technology Ferrari used (hand-hammering on wooden jigs).

I saw a statistic a while back that said that Ford produces more vehicles in one week than Ferrari has ever built, period. But even with its use of dinosaur-age technology, Ferrari must be doing something right as the VALUE of all of those "wonky" cars could buy thousands upon THOUSANDS of Fords...

 

ROTFLMAO!!