This question interests me. The question as I see it is an economic one. With that in mind one would have to ask the question: what is the value of the final end products.

I really don't know but I can't imagine a Rolls engine needing rebuilding during the high value period of its existance.

I have worked on numerous RR, I have only seen a few purchased, but I do happen to know the birth to present adventure of one car, a 1979 silver something edition of the Silver Shadow. I have worked on the owners MBs since 1974 and this one RR. It was sold 4 years ago with 30K miles for 30k dollars.

So... If it does cost 25k to rebuild an engine the car is about worthless without one (most cars aren't going to have the value of a 30k one owner car).

I would say that the car with the chevy motor would be about worthless also (resale value does have something to do with sellability). It seems a wash to me. If the chevy conversion cost half and the car is worth half or less when finished neither solution is economical.

The economical solution is a transplant, from a dismantler (junk yard). In this case you also will reduce the cost by 50% or more and the final value will be uneffected. I don't see the finished used car having any more value with a "rebuilt" motor than the used (there is no point in noting it as one would have to wonder about the rest of the car if the original owner treated it so poorly that the motor needed such repair)

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Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician