[63pig]

Well, what better excuse to rebuild an engine than to blow a head gasket in the middle of summer. I could easily have pulled the heads and replaced the gaskets, but what the hey...I've got nothing better to do, so I pulled the engine on my daily driver 69 GTO this morning in less than 3 hours. What a grand opportunity to have a really hard look at my engine once it was pulled, and to check all the numbers...only to find the VIN stamped on the face of the block next to the water pump! Pontiac has done a great job of marking its engines with numbers and date codes...now, she's off to the machine shop to get a new lease on life, and maybe come out as a 455 dressed up as a 400...

[EvilStu]

63pig,

Sorry about the head gasket. You're not the only one missing the good driving weather. I just got the decklid fit right on mine, soon soon. Let us know how the build goes, are you building a 455 or is it a stroker 400? I know of a couple of 400 cores if you're looking, and if you turn up an extra 455 I'm always interested. If I can help you out with the reinstall let me know.

Stu

[63pig]

Stu:

I've got good news and bad news...the good news is that my crank is in great shape...the bad news is a small crack in between the cylinders by the frost plugs. The block is original, and did not leak prestone from the crack, so the rebuilder is going to repair the crack. It looks like I'm going .030 over, with new bearings and pistons, and I'll replace the cam and have the heads planed and ported and a valve job. The scary part will likely be the price. The infamous Allyn Armstrong of Kingston is the rebuilder, and he's likely the best builder in Eastern Canada. Right now he's gone to the States to race his Opel GT, and when he gets back, he'll be giving me the details of the rebuild. I hope to get 400 bhp out of the YS block, but with oversized pistons and porting, that will be a stretch for a 350 HP motor with original exhaust manifolds...my original intent was to install a 455 crank, and build her from there, but, I'm going to stick with the 400 crank and see what happens. I'll give you the dyno numbers when she comes in. No worries...she'll be back on the road by 15 July...I may be broke by then, but she'll be on the road!

[63pig]

Here's a photo of my GTO taken a few weeks ago when she had her engine in her...