Your thoughts on value...engine replacement

[ATB042]

Gone are the days when engines, transmissions, diffs and chassis were all tied together and documented on a build sheet. Values of those cars from the 60's and early 70's as we know are very closly tied to that originality.

I am looking at a GT350R that has had an engine replacement, under warranty, by the dealer of origin.

My question for those in the know:

Are these motors tied to the chassis on their build sheets and if so, what do we think the effect on long term value retention is without the 'original engine'.

Thanks!

Andy

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[Stang 19]

IF you are a purist and will hold the car for decades you may see a return on your purchase. Otherwise, just drive and enjoy. If not tracking the car, look at a gt350 (non r) and save some bucks.

 

[ATB042]

IF you are a purist and will hold the car for decades you may see a return on your purchase. Otherwise, just drive and enjoy. If not tracking the car, look at a gt350 (non r) and save some bucks.

Any thoughts on the question?

 

[Austinj427]

I believe the original engine will have the VIN on it, and a replacement won't.

Either way, I wouldn't let it turn me away.

 

[ATB042]

Thanks. Can anyone verify that their cars have a notoation to the VIN on the engine?

 

[ssteve]

So from what I gathered off a few videos of guys getting replacement motors, Ford said the motor wasn’t serialized to the chassis. However when people pulled motors they found that to not be true and the vin was on the motor.

As a buyer I won’t touch a GT350/r with a replacement motor. Not due to it not being “numbers matching” but because I personally feel the car is then tainted. I don’t know the true history of the car and while it could be due to a freak occurrence it could also be due to a million other reasons. A bad spot in the wiring harness that cause a lean occursence while under heavy load things like that. Outside of the potential cause issues there’s other issues such as metal being left in a oil line and causing premature wear.

It’s one thing if you owned the car while the motor went, there’s ways to mitigate those issues but I don’t have the confidence in other people to take those additional steps, so a small price break doesn’t make it worth my time.

 

[ssteve]

Search “Shelby exotics” on YouTube. He has a bunch of videos following him fighting with ford on it and in one of them he shows where the vin is. He has a few gt350’s And 350r’s and goes into some of the shortcomings of the voodoo motor for a track motor and has gotten to the point where he will be replacing one of them with a coyote or LSx.

 

[DCShelby]

My 350 got a 350 R motor as a replacement motor. So let’s add that factor in.

 

[Hack]

The change in value of the car that has a replacement engine will depend on how much it's used and potentially how rare it is plus how long you keep it. Even future auto tech will change the future value of our cars. If you had a 2015 GT350R, the numbers on the engine assembly will matter for the value of the car. Maybe not a lot but it will matter.

IMO most GT350s and GT350Rs will never be collectible - even if you wait 20 years and we are all still allowed to drive cars with internal combustion engines. If you think politicians are going to ban V8s, they may also ban their future use. If other people are in office - then V8s will not go away and the V8s from 5-10 years from now could make the Voodoo and the current GT350/R look like a tinker toy.

If you drive the car - use it like a car, go to the track, etc. the value may be slightly higher with a replacement engine because the engine has fewer miles on it. For instance, if I were buying a GT350 with 60k miles on it, I'd much rather have one where the engine was replaced at 55,000 miles than one with the full mileage on it. If the engine was replaced in a car with low miles, the opposite is true.

I think you would need a crystal ball to really predict what will happen in the future. Assume the car will depreciate in value and if it has a replacement engine and low miles you should get a serious discount due to the engine being replaced. That's my opinion.

 

[s2ms]

Thanks. Can anyone verify that their cars have a notoation to the VIN on the engine?

Yes, original engines are stamped with the partial VIN on the driver's side of the block, on the lower rear. Plainly visible when looking underneath the car from behind the front wheel.

 

[DCShelby]

Actually, in my case......you would never know I got a new long block....nothing leaks or rattles, nothing missing and no paint or scratch damage. So don't generalize.

 

[ssteve]

Actually, in my case......you would never know I got a new long block....nothing leaks or rattles, nothing missing and no paint or scratch damage. So don't generalize.

I would caution you on the same cause you can’t see inside the motor. After seeing many motors out of cars I can tell you first hand that there’s a lot of potential for premature wear due to a very small amount of things left inside from a previous motor, the tech not being meticulous about cleanliness etc. it’s a machine, anytime you pull it apart and put it back together you add a ton of risk of future issues.

 

[DCShelby]

I'm not paranoid about things that may lurk in the motor that I can't see or monsters under the bed or in the closet, but at times I see a single drape move at night, and I think its the ghost of my cat climbing onto the window sill. The motor was installed, it runs well, its got 1500 miles on it and it does not use oil.......if it blows up I will get another one and another one.....next....

 

[ssteve]

I'm not paranoid about things that may lurk in the motor that I can't see or monsters under the bed or in the closet, but at times I see a single drape move at night, and I think its the ghost of my cat climbing onto the window sill. The motor was installed, it runs well, its got 1500 miles on it and it does not use oil.......if it blows up I will get another one and another one.....next....

You were the one saying not to generalize. Just saying.

 

[Zitrosounds]

Yes! the original engines have the vin stamped on the block. I had an engine replacement on my first GT350. The replacement blocks do not have a vin stamped. MY R has original engine with vin stamped. A search on this forum should garner many block pictures. This has been discussed previously.

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