I talk to a lot of people who have sometimes spent a great deal of money on a car that some schyster cobbled-up in his garage. They ask my opinion of the car, and when I give it to them, their usually aghast, and say "Gee, I wish I'd met you before I bought this piece of shit". Almost everybody knows somebody who's a gearhead that lives and breathes cars, and can tell you what's right or wrong about a certain model. If you don't, most reputable restoration shops will charge you an hour's labor-usually $90-120-to check out a car. That's money well spent to avoid spending thousands on something that's not what the seller says it is, or worse yet, is junk. Here's some horror stories that are absolutely true. Victim # 1. Paid top dollar for a 1970 LT-1 Corvette. Except it wasn't. It had LT-1 emblems on the hood, and the vin number said it was an LT-1 car, but I knew the engine was wrong the second the guy opened the hood. "That is not an LT-1 engine." I said. "You know that by looking at it for 2 seconds?" the guy said arrogantly. "Yes." I said "1st off-GM didn't start using HEI distributors until 1975." "LT-1s had a #3310 780 cfm Holley carb on an aluminum intake." "This thing has a Quadrajet on an iron intake, and an EGR valve, which they didn't get until 1973". "And the heads don't have the "Camel Hump" casting mark., and it doesn't have the "Ram's Horn" exhaust manifolds. " "Some asshole stole the LT-1 and put a generic L48 350, probably out of a '75 or later pickup in this thing." "So you got royally fucked." His arrogance instantly turned to despair and disgust. "What can I do about it?" he asked. "If you bought it from a liscenced dealer, maybe sue the guy and try to get some or all of your money back." "But he'll probably claim he had no Idea the engine wasn't the correct one." "Unless you can prove that he purposely deceived you, you'll probably lose in court." "If it's an individual-your really fucked, because he has no business liscence to lose, and again he can claim ignorance, that he's not a mechanic and had no idea the engine was the wrong one." "Will you go to court and tell the judge what you just told me?" "I could, but I don't think it would do you any good as far as trying to get your money back." "Any small-claims court judge is going to say you should have had someone like me verify it BEFORE you bought it." "That's why they say "Buyer Beware". "Sorry." He was devastated. He eventually found a correct LT-1 engine, but it cost him a pretty penny, and he never got any restitution from the person that sold him the car. Victim # 2. Bought a 1964 Olds 442. It was a for real 442, but it too had the wrong engine in it. As soon as the guy opened the hood, I said-"That's a '75 or later 350, not a 330." "How can you tell?" "Well, GM didn't use HEI distributors until 1975, and it has a Quadrajet carb, and an EGR valve on the intake." "GM didn't use Quadrajets until 1967, and didn't get EGR valves until 1973. " "And there's the numbers "350" cast into the side of the block." "Oh." "What can I do?" "Drive it." "Put an Edelbrock Performer intake and matching cam on it and some headers." "Have fun with it." "Or swap in a 455 and make it really badass." "The chance of you finding a 330 Olds V8 with 1964 date codes is almost nil." "You have a better chance of getting struck by lightning on the golf course." Victim # 3. Bought a 1977 Pontiac Trans-Am. I noticed the "Shaker" hood scoop didn't fit right. It sat too low. I opened the hood and said "Oh shit." without thinking. "What?" the owner asked anxiously. Sitting there in the engine bay was not a 400 Pontiac or a 403 Olds, which were the two engine choices that year. No-this 'Bird had a 350 Buick in it!! With two broken plug wires!! When I explained this, the guy began swearing, and then griping. "I knew something was wrong" "I thought T/A's were supposed to be fast!" "This thing wouldn't even smoke the tires!" "So don't buy it." I said "There's tons of '77-78 T/A's with either a 400 Pontiac or a 403 Olds in them." "I already bought it." "Why would you do that?" "The price was too good to be true." "Except now it isn't" "Shit." I felt sorry for the guy, but he should have had a mechanic check it before he pony'd up the dough. Victim # 4. Paid top dollar for a 1968 GTO Convertible. Except it wasn't a for-real GTO, it was a LeMans with a GTO front clip on it. And instead of a 400 Pontiac backed by a 3 or 4-speed stick or a TH400, it had a 350 Chevy engine in it, backed by a Powerglide!! He was really distraught. Especially when I explained that besides needing a 400 Pontiac, he'd need all the accessories-fuel pump,water pump, power steering pump, all the brackets etc. And since Chevys have a different bellhousing bolt-pattern than BOP engines, he'd also need a new transmission, even if he went with a TH350 ( which is the same length and uses the same driveshaft yoke and rear trans mount as a Powerglide ) he'd still have a cobbled-up LeMans convertible, not a numbers-matching GTO! He was inconsolable. He eventually put a TH350 behind the Chevy engine, and then sold it to someone else. I don't know how much money he lost, but he was furious for a long time. But he had no one to blame but himself. I mean if you can't tell a Chevy engine from a Pontiac, you shouldn't be looking for a musclecar without a knowledgeable friend along!! Victim # 5. Bought a 1974 Dodge Challenger with a 383 and a 4-speed. Except the only two engines available in 1974 were a 318 and a 360. And it didn't run very good. It had a flat cam. It popped and missed above 3,000 rpm. And above 60 mph-you couldn't hold it in the road. I mean the front end was shot. When I explained all this the guy had a fit. Of course the beater lot he bought it from sold it "As Is" and refused to fix anything. "Why would you buy this?" "Didn't you test-drive it?" "No." "Why would you buy any car without test-driving it?" The guy had my shop put a new cam in it and rebuild the front end. After that it was a nice enough car to drive, but it cost him another $1,400 in parts and labor over and above the purchase price to make it drivable. So if you don't know, ask someone who does before you part with your hard-earned cash. Mastermind
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