mikey dragster

i got a 69 camaro is a base car. with a ZL-1 427 engine in it.

my grand dad bought a zl-1 and raced it along with a 69 hurst s/s amx .

well a few years ago he raced a 71 amx with a 401(the smog dog engine),and he was going for the gold.

well at the 3/4 piont of the 1/4mile he lost 4th gear he ground it in to 3rd and held his foot in it.

and the 71 amx with the 401 dsog engine beat him by.10 second.
he was pissed he said if it had been a real amx like a 68 or 69 with a 390 crossram it wouldn't of bothered him but a 71 with a 401 tiked him off.

so anyway he went to the bar got trashed.
my old man pulled the 427 out and put it on the engine stand. pulled tranny set it on the bench and started pulling it apart found out 4th gear was gone and third wasn't to far behind it. so he went home.

well after bar closed arouind 2:30am grand dad came home still pissed and jump in his wrecker and hualed the zl-1 camaro the junk yard.
well the nexted day dad came into the shop and found out what had happend he got pissed but went to work rebuilding the engine and tranny.
well my uncle went out to find a new race car.
well my uncle found a 69camaro with a 250 inline six for 1,200buck's.
so he bought it and brought car home.
well a few day's and some mycgyvering the tranny was ready to race engine rebuilt. so in the 69 base camaro it went. they raced it for a few more years,then retired the poor oldcar parked oit a feild for 2 years.
then i got it given to me, a gallon of gas and a good batteryand it fired it right up but she started tapping not a fulblowen knock but just a tap tap, if you reved it up alot it would hammer good so it is a rod bearing that spun i'm sure of it.
is this car worth rebuilding even tho engine's and car's were switched.?????????????

Jim85IROC

To somebody that has a ZL1 car and needs a motor, I'm sure it would be worth a bloody fortune to them. If for some reason you could find the car that the ZL1 originally came with, it would be worth even more.

To rebuild and use, it's worth no more than any other big block that needs a rebuild.

mikey dragster

so it's worth about what an 83 z-28 is 50 buck's and a stick of gum.or some 454 in beatup dually with 350,000 miles on it.so it's basicly onl;y prolly worth rebuilding if i was going to just keep it as fun little hot rod.

jms

I don't know you from Adam, but I hope you are not yanking our chains.

The ZL-1 is the Holy Grail of Camaro engines.

All aluminum block and heads. Plus the goodies inside it.

Is it worth rebuilding?

If it was mine and truly a ZL-1, it would be on ebay so fast you couldn't believe it.

If it is truly a ZL-1 engine, with the correct numbers, I would set the reserve at $15,000 to $20,000 and go from there.

The 1969 Camaros equipped with the 427 ZL-1 are bringing WAYYYY over $150,000 now-a-days. They only made about 69 of 'em!!!

And what makes them so special? The ENGINE.

Sell the engine (if it truly is a ZL-1) and go buy a crate 502 (or bigger) and have plenty of money to get other goodies.

Just my opinion.
jms

Damon

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This has got to be a put-on. Anyone who can fog a mirror knows a ZL-1 motor is worth about 4 billion dollars to a collector/restorer of old Camaros.

mikey dragster

yeah i know what the engine is worth but it's in the wrong car or dosn't that matter the engine is still the engine.
i like to keep it as a beat around hot rod. but what will it cost to rebuild the lower end on it??????????????????
it's slowly started knocking worse and worse to i quit starting it.
i normally started it once a month. but now that it's starting to get louder i quit starting it so i think it all done for. it's going to need a crank and rod's,bearings ect.
so you think it would be cheaper just to throw a 502 in it. then rebuild the lower end of the ZL-1 427.?
i figured maybe 800 buck's to 1,200 buck's maybe????????

kjlvilla

Everyone is right. Your grandfather threw away a fortune if he junked the car. It would be worth well over a 100 grand even with a blown engine. The only comparable car GM ever made was one of the few ZL-1 Vettes. If you still know where the car is then I would get it also. The body plates that show it was an original are worth restoring the chassis, a numbers matching engine are the icing on the cake. I've been to quite a few big car shows and have only seen one ZL-1 Camaro. If you don't want it, post the location of engine and car and someone will ****** it up. It would be a waste to let this car disappear.

jms

If the main bearings haven't spun, the bottom end can probably be rebuilt for somewhere around $500 (counting rings, bearings, gaskets and turning the crank). If rod work needed, added about another $500.

Doesn't change the story. ANY big block Chevy, properly built, will make your base '69 Camaro a screamer.

The ZL-1 will make you a lot of money. Money buys parts. ZL-1 money will buy you A LOT of parts.

Most of the original ZL-1 cars are accounted for.

Not all of them have the original engine.

Perhaps someone has the car that was taken to the salvage yard and needs YOUR particular engine to make their car 100% original.

That makes YOUR engine worth A LOT of money.

Check out some of the 1st-gen boards, especially concerning ZL-1s.

Start a thread like this...I have a factory original 1969 ZL-1 engine, Anyone want it?

See where that goes.
jms

mikey dragster

i really didn't consider selling i was thinking more of rebuilding engine. and hot roding for this summer.
but i think i prolly could trac down the car.
if you think it's worth finding the origenal car but i think it will be plenty of fun tho. just to rod it around in the car it's in now.

Damon

This is definitely a put-on. You're just gonna rebuild an original ZL-1 motor for hotrodding around for the summer? Riiiiiiiiight. Sure. And I'm going to start delivering newspapers in my Ferrari.

Nobody who just wants to go fast for fun would ever risk blowing up an original ZL-1. Time for the BS flag.

mikey dragster

DUDE WITH OUT THR ORIGINALE CAR THE ENGINE IS WORTH LESS. MAY AS WELL HAVE FUN WITH IT.

mikey dragster

YA SEE I CRUISE EAST WASH. AND THAT CAR WOULD BE FUN ON EAST WASH,RACE RTUPID HIGH SCHOOL KID'S. DOING BURN OUT'S.
DOUBLEING THE SPEED LIMIT.
I MOSTLY RUN 30 DOWN THE WASH WHICH IS A 35 ZONE BUT WHEN I HIT THE THROTTLE WE RUN UP TO ABOUT 70.
FROM 0- - 70 THAT CAR WOULD BE FUN.
**** I USED TO RACE UP THERE WITH A 1969 HURST S/S AMX UNTILL I GOT CAUGHT AT 138IN A 35 ZONE SO THEY CLAIM.
YA SEE TO ME THERE ALL JUST OLD,FAST CAR'S AND NOTHING WRONG WITH DRIVING THEM HOW THEY SHOULD BE DRIVEN.WELL TO ME. I GUESS I DON'T SEE THE VALUE IN AN OUT OF DATE CAMARO WITH THE WRONG ENGINE OR IN THIS CASE THE WRONG CAR. SOME ONESHOULD PROLLY HAVE THE CAR FROM WHICH THE ENGINE CAME. IT WAS DUMPED AT CHIEF'S.
I GOT PIC OF THE 69 CAMARO AND THE 69 AMX.

mikey dragster

IF YOU WANT PIC'S. E-MAIL ME AT HURSTSSAXM69@YAHOO.COM
OR IM ME AT HURSTSSAMX69 OR HURSTSSAMX WITH YAHOO IM OR HURSTSSAMX1969 AT AOL IM.I CAN E-MAIL AND FILE SEND.

Jim85IROC

Are you nuts? That motor is so rare that anybody building a ZL-1 will pay through his nose for the motor. Like others have said... if one of the ZL-1s out there is the car this motor originally came out of, you can get obscene amounts of money for it. I saw a ZL-1 go for somewhere around $20k on ebay a few months ago. What moron would take a $20k motor and rebuild it just to drop into any old Camaro, when he could take that $20k, pocket 2/3 of it, and still build a better motor?

mikey dragster

cause the year was 1973 and he was a racer.
so they had to use what ever chassie they could find.
in 1973 i dought and 69 was worth that much. not no 20 grand.
4500 at most.