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Originally posted by bill h:

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Originally posted by Bill N.Y.:

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Originally posted by bill h:
Yeah, it's easy to get the terms mixed. GM played it fast and loose... I think they even confused themselves now and then.

P32 or P30???

HAH!.......Not only did GM confuse themselves on that one, they confused me and a lot of others, as well.

I had the 6.5L TD in mine replaced with a built-to-order AMG 6.5L TD (which now owns the 6.5L TD) for less than was quoted. Tranny is a 4L80E.

$12K for a new engine installed? My understanding of the older technology 454 with carburetors and distributors is such that a job like that will be about half the price. But, if you are at a GM dealership, the hope is that you will have a "turn-key" solution, and you won't have to worry about problems with computer and sensor calibrations. The dealership probably is pricing this at the same rate that warranty work is done when billed to corporate.

It really matters what the scope of the work is. Is this priced such that they assume your exhaust system is junk (there are lots of stories of manifold problems), and they will replace it?

The more info that can be garnered about the nature of the problem will assist with any advice given here, by me, and by the guys here that know more than me. Did the oil run low, and give you wrecked crank bearings? Did a valve drop and bust up a piston? Is there a connecting rod through the side of the block? Did the timing chain jump a tooth on the gears? Cam lobes wear down?

It looks like a crate engine, if you have the L29, goes for around $3K from a dealership. http://www.jrgmparts.com/GM_Pe...9_gm_parts_crat.html

Good luck!
Matt

I have a friend that bought a 28 PA for 13,000, blew it up the first time out, paid 7,000 for a 454,[don't know] and sold it for 3,500 never having spent a night in it! At least with a Barth that shouldn't happen to you.

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Originally posted by BarthBluesmobile:
if you have the L29,........................

Just......... can't......... resist......... any......... longer:




1929 Cord L29

Now that's a crate all right, but it ain't no crate engine. At least a crate is what we called it, & anything else of that vintage when I was a kid and the only thing cooler than a Ford V-8 was the later model coffin-nose Cord. Now I can barely afford to look at any of that old iron, let alone thinking of owning one.

A guy that worked with my dad at Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance, had a '39 Rolls, open top. I rode in it when I was about six or seven, around 1944. That old story about starting it with a dime on the radiator cap--it's true. I watched him do it. Those old cars were works of art. No wonder that we all love 'em so much, and cars in general. That really was the 'Golden Age' of the automobile.
Jim

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Originally posted by Jim and Tere:
That old story about starting it with a dime on the radiator cap--it's true. I watched him do it. Those old cars were works of art.

Ok... I'll bite.

What he is referring to Bill, is that a Rolls Royce engine ran so smoothly that you could put a coin on the radiator cap and it would stay there. I think they said you could stand a silver dollar on edge.

Now we know what all have suspected--our beloved moderator is just a babe in the woods--very accomplished, but still just a babe in the woods.
Jim

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He has owned it since new... he is trying to justify investing another 12k into his coach.

How many more years do you want to own this rig?

A couple thoughts on the "investment" aspect...
When do you want to run the rig again? If you are a 'gold bug', is buying 12K of gold, waiting a year for a potential gain, and then getting the job done an option?

What are your state emissions and equipment laws? Is reverting to a carb/distributor engine an option if you want to save a few dollars? Or finding a low mileage used engine from a Suburban or something?

good luck!
Matt

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Originally posted by Shadow man:
What he is referring to Bill, is that a Rolls Royce engine ran so smoothly that you could put a coin on the radiator cap and it would stay there. I think they said you could stand a silver dollar on edge.

Never saw it done with a dime or a dollar, but my Dad's 51 Packard straight-eight would do it with a new nickel.



It didn't have an external radiator cap, but he knew just where to put the nickel. A flat spot on the hood ornament. He actually removed it, filed (or shimmed) the mount points, and remounted it to be level enough for the trick.

It was a nickel on the RR too.

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Originally posted by Jim and Tere:
Now we know what all have suspected--our beloved moderator is just a babe in the woods--very accomplished, but still just a babe in the woods.

You might want to read the chronological history of the BBC-big block chevy. You might just have a Generation V engine which had its fair share of problems which was supposedly fixed with the Generation VI.