Quote:
Originally Posted by BRENT in 10-uh-C
Wow, this is not what I would think most people will say.
Engines rebuilt during that time used inferior pistons in comparison by today's standards. Stainless valves were rarely used, one-piece guides were not an item yet (-most used Argentina-manufactured two-piece guides), good camshafts were almost non-existent and nothing then compared with a Stipe cam of today.
Then, often times cast bearing material had Lead in it, and/or it was old material re-smelted and re-used which causes reliability issues. Machine shop technology and the machinery used has improved vastly in the past 50 years too? The reason many people only drive their Model-A around 40mph is because they have a 1960's rebuilds!!   Think about what Jeff is saying. A $75 engine back then adjusted to 2021 prices would be how much? |
I don’t know if your right or wrong. I do know however growing up in the sixties that there were a lot of people driving Model A’s as daily drivers. Our high school lot had six or eight all the time.
The people who were rebuilding those engines were also like a mechanic today working on a 1990 car. Old but not that old. The junk yards were full of parts that you might need.
Our 1929 with the Sears rebuilt drives very nicely at well over 50 MPH. I just don’t like pushing it. It has given us 42 years of service, engine has been in the car over 50 years. Compare that to a rebuilt of today lasting 1,000 to 3,000 miles. How many times have we heard that complaint.
Poor quality today and in 1960. It happens. But just because it was rebuilt in the 60’s does not mean it is poor quality.
Sears short block 1963 price $199.95. What would that be today? $2,500.00 to $3,000.00.