[68gtoMN]

VIN stamp from 68 engine I have. Original engine. Matches VIN. Engine never removed.

[70FormulaRAIII]

Originally Posted by 70RAlll

Chris-

I never knew this story of yours. The check you sent me for restoring the carb and distributor...I am refunding 100% of that. I WILL NOT accept your money,. ...

Bill, I appreciate the sentiment and love your patriotism, but I can't accept this gift. I've been a Sodier for nearly 18 yrs now, most of it in Special Forces, almost half of it on one leg and I have never once felt that I was making a sacrifice or serving some greater purpose or higher calling. I guess at some point we are all heroes in our own way to someone. Right now all of you are heroes to me. You've taken time out of your day to help a stranger for no reason. That's pretty cool stuff. So keep you money, Bill. I don't want you cussing me later when you get of vacation and back to that crusty distributor of mine. lol

[70RAlll]

Originally Posted by 70FormulaRAIII

Bill, I appreciate the sentiment and love your patriotism, but I can't accept this gift. I've been a Sodier for nearly 18 yrs now, most of it in Special Forces, almost half of it on one leg and I have never once felt that I was making a sacrifice or serving some greater purpose or higher calling. I guess at some point we are all heroes in our own way to someone. Right now all of you are heroes to me. You've taken time out of your day to help a stranger for no reason. That's pretty cool stuff. So keep you money, Bill. I don't want you cussing me later when you get of vacation and back to that crusty distributor of mine. lol

Chris, not negotiable.. sorry.. I knew you would downplay what you have done for our country. There is something about our soldiers... you guys have a certian humility concerning what you do, it is so admirable..So no... I will not take your money... end of discussion..

[weranc55]

Chris,

Thats a bummer. That does not look like any factory stamp I have ever seen. Also doubt its a SR block. I read his ad and he states its a numbers matching car. I hate to say this but he did not claim its the original engine and he is correct that is a numbers matching car with a crappy restamp. I dont know what you could do legally. Before you go and pull the ac unit out to check to see if its the original body post some pics of the door jams and the inside of the trunk. Its probable just a bad motor stamp. The only thing you could sue him for is fraud which is a civil suit. Yes it sucks but at least you did not pay a ton for the car. If you would have paid mid to high 20's for the car than that would have been a different story. See if you can get some money back from him.

[70RAlll]

Originally Posted by weranc55

Chris,

Thats a bummer. That does not look like any factory stamp I have ever seen. Also doubt its a SR block. I read his ad and he states its a numbers matching car. I hate to say this but he did not claim its the original engine and he is correct that is a numbers matching car with a crappy restamp. I dont know what you could do legally. Before you go and pull the ac unit out to check to see if its the original body post some pics of the door jams and the inside of the trunk. Its probable just a bad motor stamp. The only thing you could sue him for is fraud which is a civil suit. Yes it sucks but at least you did not pay a ton for the car. If you would have paid mid to high 20's for the car than that would have been a different story. See if you can get some money back from him.

Weranc55- Chris sent me pictures, the door jambs are correct, but what is worrisome is this: The seller sent a stack of restoration pictures. The early resto pictures clearly show a gold colored hood, gold colored door, gold inside door jambs, gold lower outside sill plate etc etc.. Yes, that car was either gold at some point, and was completely painted gold, or someone rebodied it with another 1970 car. The body and truck are correct. Plus, if you had seen the guys around this car in the resto pictures(trying not to comment on their appearance,lest I might offend someone) you would agree there is a chance this is a chop shop type resto.. How long has it been that you have seen a long(I mean LONG) mullet?? Yes, these guys don't quite look like your average professional muscle car restoration shop.. And all the gold paint... YES...he needs to get to the hidden vin number before too much time goes by. I am sure there is a statute of limitations, and the longer he waits.. time insinuates everything is ok on the buyers part. At the very least...Chris needs to send a registered letter TODAY stating his concerns and get this recorded via the registered letter reciepts(get return signature card service) ...Chris, if you are reading this.. do this today. The longer timegoes by, the longer he will say "well if he and his friends knew it was incorrect...why did he wait 2 mopnths etc to get in contact with me. If he is not available on the phone today, you need to send the registered letter, actually even if you talk to him..send the registered letter with bullet points to outline all your objections over the car.

[weranc55]

I want to see a picture of the mullet. I have not seen a good one in a long time. If you think the car is a rebody thats a different story. I have not pulled a ac suitcase out but I'm sure some of the guys on the forum have without removing the fender. You can get in the inner wheel well out without taking off the fender. If its a rebody dont dump any money into the car. Give it back.

[x-bird2]

One place to look for an SR stamp is seen in the pic in the other thread where you can see the rad hose on the left. I've seen them stamped on the corner of the block in the area that looks black in the picture. Again, he should verify what this block is by removing the front accessories and cleaning it followed by careful inspection. if the face milling is "correct" all the way across and there's an SR, at least he knows what he's got. Typically a car with an SR block --or in the chevy world an "acknowledged" restamp--(lol Z-28 guys) is advertised as NOM. Numbers Original Matched/ing iirc on that nomeclature. I've seen "bread and butter" SR blocks --i.e. from catalinas etc. that look like this one stamping-wise on the VIN. I've also seen bare--never installed -- SR RAIVs , 421s and others that are blank --no EUN, no VIN, no letter coding just SR and the block casting dates and numbers---including the reground portion on the RA IV casting numbers. If the original owner blew this one up very early in its life, honestly, i wouldn't be too concerned if it was an SR. The factory ground off and stamped the RA IVs just so the casting numbers matched the original to avoid owner claims. I believe it was oldsmobile that was sued in the late 60s over cylinder head casting numbers not matching published specifications on some of the new cars they sold--GM got very conscious about parts id and performance cars as a result. There's another thread going about ground and restamped heads--despite all that's said there--those may be legit. But i digress--sorry. ;~) The lack of a match with the transmission on the other hand is what really messes up the seller's claim of originality. Also to answer someone else's question above, SRs technically had to be stamped with a VIN on installation for legal reasons--so that it matched the car it went into. Prevention of later fraud or theft claims.

[70RAlll]

Originally Posted by weranc55

I want to see a picture of the mullet. I have not seen a good one in a long time. If you think the car is a rebody thats a different story. I have not pulled a ac suitcase out but I'm sure some of the guys on the forum have without removing the fender. You can get in the inner wheel well out without taking off the fender. If its a rebody dont dump any money into the car. Give it back.

OK.. some redneck is going to fly up to Memphis and kick my old a$$ for posting this picture, but it really is funny.. weranc55, I too had not seen a good mullet in years.,.. here it is:

Also, 2 pictures showing the gold body pictures.. what does everyone think??

[70FormulaRAIII]

I'm waiting on the attorney to call me back and advise me on how to proceed from here. The good news is that the #'s on the rear diff are correct. The bad news is that the guy with this mullet and standard issue can of beer is the likely culprit who stamped my VIN! It is all starting to make sense now

[CaptCrunch]

I do see the screens in the scoops in that first pic.............

[70FormulaRAIII]

Dang Bill, you beat me to it! lol

[weranc55]

I think its a original blue car someone painted gold. Floors look fairly solid. Tail panel looks like it had some work.

[steve v]

Originally Posted by 70RAlll

Also, 2 pictures showing the gold body pictures.. what does everyone think??

It looks like it had a color change from Blue to Gold at some point. Notice how there's still Blue paint under the side window weather strip area & the sill trim. Also in picture #1 the cowl section behind the fenders is still Blue, another indication that was the shell's original color. That area would never get paint on it in a color change unless the front fenders were off. Another area to check would be the trunk hinge area under the filler piece between the rear window & decklid, more likely than not that has Blue under it too.

[70FormulaRAIII]

Some more pics of the body pre-restoration

[weranc55]

Its a blue car so I would not spend my time pulling the ac unit.

[70FormulaRAIII]

Cool, thanks Chuck. Any ideas what this part is? I can't find the part #. 217 could be the trim code and 70 the model year if it's some sort of VIN. I think maybe it's the subframe

[ponderopa66]

Just an observation here: The vin # appears to have some of the (original?) paint. If that part is fake, they went to a lot of trouble to authenticate. Also, factory stampings were done by humans, not machines. You see exceptions to every rule.

[Held for Ransom]

Originally Posted by 70FormulaRAIII

Cool, thanks Chuck. Any ideas what this part is? I can't find the part #. 217 could be the trim code and 70 the model year if it's some sort of VIN. I think maybe it's the subframe

Subframes' assembly date, 2-17-70.

[70FormulaRAIII]

Yep, rear, outer portion on the driver side. Looks like the trans and engine block are the extent of my damages.

can anyone estimate the cost of a YZ block and PQ trans in good rebuilt condition?

[70RAlll]

Originally Posted by 70FormulaRAIII

I'm waiting on the attorney to call me back and advise me on how to proceed from here. The good news is that the #'s on the rear diff are correct. The bad news is that the guy with this mullet and standard issue can of beer is the likely culprit who stamped my VIN! It is all starting to make sense now

Chris-

I just thought of something for you. Each State has a Department if Insurance and Commerce(at least TN they are combined).. Call the Florida Dept of Ins/Commerce and file a complaint. This falls under the commerce definition and they can be quite persuasive if teh seller doesn't work with you. I still say check the hidden VIN..The engine is just so sloppy, I would have to see it before I waould be comfortable-but that is my..I am suspicious by nature... Calling the Dept. of Commerce couldk save you hiring an attorney, who will take betwen 1/3-1/2 of whatever you get(legal crooks...) I used this with an Insurance Company years ago and with in 2 days I had an apology call and my check overnighted.. Just a thought...