427 Side Oiler, good price?

[millhouse77]

Originally Posted by Danr55

Let's see if I understand this correctly: A guy you know has a motor that has been sitting for 20 to30 years, he says it's a 427 side oiler that was raced hard in a roadster before it was dumped. He's asking $6500 for it as is, sight unseen? Is that about right? You have no way of knowing if the block and/or the heads are cracked, if one or more of the cylinder skirts is chipped or broken, a bearing spun, or any number of other failures that were typical of these engines when they were pushed too hard. Sounds like a gamble. Can you afford to lose the $6500 if you're wrong? Oh, I ran into a guy a few months ago who had a 427 that had a cracked block that was "stitched" back together. I had to investigate the process before turning that one down.

Ha, sounds close to right. I can have somone look at it for me, inspect the outside, take some pictures, verify numbers etc. That's about it though. He might (MIGHT) be able to get the oil pan off to look at the bottom of the cyl's, but that's assuming the guy will let him....and that there is room to do it. The most assurance I was given was that it was running when pulled (I know, don't say it) and that it turns smoothly by hand.

If the block turned out to be garbage, how much salvageable $$$ would it be worth?

[King- cobra]

Millhouse,
Dan is correct in these motors when run hard get damaged all the time. The heads crack and blocks get broken. Keep in mind drag racers do not care about that stuff. The crank might be cut a whole lot and chances are it has pop up pistons in it which are no good on the street. The other thing that comes to mind if the car rotted down what does the inside of the motor look like. If the man is so sure it is good he should let you tear it down. imho.

[docf]

I have just completed a restoration of my original 427 FE side oiler after having issues with exhaust valves and low oil pressure. I got rid of the original heads, original cam etc and went with an Eldenbrook package, roller rockers etc. The package with assembly was approx. 10,000. It runs better than ever, sounds great and runs stronger than prior. The engine is quite rare. If the fellow would allow a mechanic to look at it and esp give you a refund if block issues are present it could be a go for 6500. Original heads were great in their day, but by todays standards are heavy with fair flow. When we first built this engine in 95 originality was my dream, but no longer. Est. 525 hp conservatively now, but haven't dynoed yet.