Krambo Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 (edited) Well after tearing down my father's pride and joy and doing a complete valvejob with new springs,..a compression test and hard starting confirmed the 427 needed to be re-ringed. My father and I tore apart his 67 numbers matching 427 (435HP tri power) with the intent of doing a valvejob to cure some smokey starts. After sending the heads out for new seats, valves, springs, machining and paint we installed them, buttoned up the intake and had a bear of a time keeping the motor running. We ran a compression test and saw a scary 60-65psi across all bores. Thinking that the valves are not fully seated, we let it run a bit and took it out for a spin. It was WAYYYY down on power. We shot about a tablespoon of 40 weight oil in each cylinder and the compression increased about 40psi. So long story short, the rings are leaky and the motor needs a rebuild. Since this car has a numbers matching block, every effort will be taken to keep the original motor. We shipped it off to County Corvette to let the pros work their magic. A very professional shop IMO specializing in C1-C3 Corvette restorations. We have a link to a garage webcam to keep an eye on the car at all times and they even set-up a personal webpage where they post up status pictures of what is going on with car. Here is the link for those interested: County Corvette Rambo 427 '67 Vette Rebuild Link And the shop link: County Corvette Take the tour and look at some of the cars they have in there. And if you are curious as to what a 67 numbers matching 427 / 435 tri-power coupe is going for and why it is critical to keep the numbers matching, look at stock number Stk # 12369 in this link: County Corvette for sale Edited January 29, 2009 by Krambo (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hankg42 Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Hope the rebuild turns out as desired, Kevin. Your dad's Corvette is a beauty! Here's another link to museum quality Corvettes, and what they're worth: http://www.proteam-corvette.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnss Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 wow thats really neat that they do that for there customers. that would ease the pain alittle bit of letting my classic car go to somebody elses shop. knowing that i could check up on it at all times. hows your new motor doing by the way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddieo818 Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Wow kickass you get to watch the progress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fireman31 Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Hope the rebuild turns out as desired, Kevin. Your dad's Corvette is a beauty! I couldn't help but when I saw it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krambo Posted January 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Hope the rebuild turns out as desired, Kevin. Your dad's Corvette is a beauty! Here's another link to museum quality Corvettes, and what they're worth: http://www.proteam-corvette.com/ Funny you should post ProTeam as that is the place where this one came from several years ago. My father picked it up from them for just under 60k back in the day after he sold his 68 BB SS/RS Camaro. It had the wrong color paint so he stripped it down and had it re-sprayed Marina blue instead of the Lindel Blue. After putting back on some original parts (tranny and such), it has since doubled in value and then some. 2 years ago at the Carslile vette show Pro-Team offered 100K on the spot to buy it back. Not a bad investment however it was deffinately a low-balled offer IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss04Flores Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Good luck with the rebuilt Bruce!! Hope everything goes well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black2003SS Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Thats really cool. I couldnt believe shops did things like this until I had a fender bender in the SSS right after buying it. Very minor damage to the drivers door, the guy was going less than 10mph when he hit me and it was a glancing blow. Anyways, the preferred body shop Progressive sent me to did a similar thing. I couldnt see it live time on a webcam, but they took photos throughout the repair process and posted them online for me to see the progress at every stage. Made me feel very comfortable. And they even invited me to come by whenever I felt the need, they didnt hide anything. Top notch service. Wish more body and repair shops were like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hot rod truck Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Very nice Corvette, Kevin Does Dad let you take it out every now and again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detjoe Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 it todays economy I would sell it, but understand him not having it for an investment but as a toy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaymz Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Good luck, gorgeous car ! do alot of ppl wear latix gloves while pulling motors now ? I personally can't stand anything on my hands while wrenching... then again; maybe thats why they look like I punch buckets full of broken glass every weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slammedbowtie Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 well sad to hear it needs to be rebuilt but hopefully it will run better than ever, sounds like a great place to have your dads baby. keep us updated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krambo Posted January 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 Does Dad let you take it out every now and again? Yea right. He'll let me take it out for a spin when I let him take my truck out for a spin. Maybe the car is in the will Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 (edited) Nice Car. I see where you get your performance bug from. Two comments - first of all, buy yourself a leakdown tester, it would have told you exactly where the mechanical issues in the motor were and you would have diagnosed right away the motor needed a re-ring job; a compression tester IMO is a worthless tool. And, a re-ring was inevitable, in my early years of wrenching I helped a few friends try to resuccitate high-mileage motors that had major valve issues, and every time when the rebuilt heads were installed the car would run like a champ for about 3-4 months then the rings would go out; it was predictable. I got to the point of saying if the valve seats/guides were gone, it also needed rings. I can't explain why, whether the rings were already gone or what but when good running compression was returned to the chamber the rings just would not take it; I've only had one exception, a 1972 Ford 390 I did the top-end on and drive the piss out of that truck another 5+ years, but that has been the only instance. Mr. P. Edited January 30, 2009 by Mr. P. (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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