Try a leak down test. That will tell the condition of the valves and rings.

Don't gut the cats.

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Regards

Warren

Currently 1965 220Sb, 2002 FORD Crown Vic Police Interceptor

Had 1965 220SEb, 1967 230S, 280SE 4.5, 300SE (W126), 420SEL

ENTER > = (HP RPN)

Not part of the in-crowd since 1952.

Get your engine running nicely because you have already put a lot of money into it, and bore it out to 6.0 Liters.

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Current Stable:
1994 S500 v140, 210k miles, white with grey.

Former Mercedes in the Stable:
1983 300CD Turbo diesel 515k mi sold (rumor has it, that it has 750k miles on it now)
1984 300CD Turbo Diesel 150 k mi sold
1982 300D Turbo Diesel 225 sold
1987 300D Turbo Diesel 255k mi sold
1988 300 CE AMG Hammer 15k mi sold
1986 "300E" Amg Hammer 88k mi sold (it was really a 200, not even an E (124.020)
1992 500E 156k mi sold
etc.

When I was looking at E420's everyone said that the caps and rotors should be changed every 60k. You will notice a performance loss if they get dirty. The contacts inside the caps get carboned up over time.

Now onto oil timeing chain wear depends on how often the oil was changed. If it wasn't then their will be more wear. Also a few techs on this site has shown that Mobil 1 will more or less eleminta timeing chain wear or get it down to less then 1 degree per 100k miles.

Frankly their is no reason your car should not run as good, or be as fast as when it came out of the factory. If you want to make it faster then a 5.0 is one way to go but call a few tuners first. You might be able to get more power for less money by playing with your current engine.

btw getting rid of the cats a new car is a wast of time. They don't restrict exhuast much and you will probably lose some power down low. Not to mention your check engine light will always be on.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200