POWER TRANSMISSION

I have a restored 69 corvette with 427/390 and auto trans. and the car has run well for about a year but I'm having trouble now with power loss. Was thinking about going to a new big-block crate engine and new transmission. The engine and transmission I have were run very hard by previous owners. Any thoughts?

|UPDATED|3/24/2004 5:50:01 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

You might first determine the cause for the power loss before going to the expense of a crate engine, though that is an option. It might be a less major problem than you think.

Are the engine and transmission original to the car? If they are, and they need rebuilding, that's an obvious route. You could always pull them and install a crate engine and new overdrive transmission, saving the original ones and maybe rebuilding them at a later point. That way the car could always be made correct again. If your present engine isn't original, then it really doesn't matter which way you go regarding originality and value.

In the end, as in most things, it comes down to how much you're willing to afford.

I agree. I would take a look at the reason for the power loss. You might find something very simple. This could be as easy as a clogged fuel filter or bad pump, or an ignition condenser. It's worth having a good wrench check it out.

You can drive hard without abusing a car, or you can not drive hard and abuse the heck out of it. The two do not necessarly go hand in hand. The car was built to drive hard, but nothing will handle abuse.

Ken Styer