so he has the short block assembled. they honed the cylinders and they look really good. the crank and bearings were tip top. now for the head.

we are thinking that the 143k showing is probably about right. a fellow who had worked at j franks when this car was being used as a parts chaser thought it had a lot more miles than what is showing but it looks now like it is probably pretty close based on the condition of the engine.

in looking at the bottom end of this motor i was very impressed with the compactness of it. the rod throws have very little extra room. and it is all so compactly done that a part of the #1 cyl crank throw weighting is removable because it is so compactly built that it cannot be milled enough to be balanced without this weight that bolts on the inside of the throw. to install the rod and piston, you have to have the crank throw all the way up to get the rod in and all the way down to tighten the bolts!

i never would have guessed it would be that compact. especially from looking at the massive head and valve covers all these years.

just a very high quality motor all the way around! no wonder the mercedes mechanics call it bulletproof!

the only thing i have looked at the bottom end of that looks higher quality is a ferrari 250 from 1959. course that is a whole different price category and a motor built to run 24 hour races.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.