Yes, it is the engine that dropped a valve.

The heads were repaired and new pistons ready to go in. Fixing the engine should be fairly easy. Hope I am not hitting the eight ball saying that.

If I had a later A-body this would be a breeze. But, no the headers are in the frame rail. So I am going to have to start that over. My tranny needs to move up due to a pan clearance issue with the rack. This is not a huge problem but I needed to raise the tranny anyway. So this means redoing the transmission tunnel and raising it up. My engine compartment is much smaller. The frame rails are two inches narrower and the radiater sits four inches closer to the firewall. So mounting the drysump tank is a little difficult and using any of the old plumbing is going to be a real stretch.

Like anything you do there is always issues. The reason this particular engine was so appealing was the heads are larger than any I have seen. A custom oil pan, and headers that fit. Not to mention Bob had done a lot of homework on making the engine more drag race freindly. But, that is part of what killed the valvesprings and broke the valve. Bob fixed the small valve stem issue and now all it needs is a valve spring that can do the job.

A 358 NA screamer was the last thing I had on my dream list to put in my car. But, I just could not afford to start from scratch right now. I really would like a 440 cube shortblock ready for tons of spray. I acquired a nice fogger and plate setup in the deal but there is no way in He.. this engine can take a regular dose of spray. Not saying it will never happen but highly unlikely as a 5.90 index only requires about 700 HP and this little engine can make a lot more than that NA.

But, you never know both Bob and Josh want me to run in the heads up Mopar deal. I took a butter knife to a gunfight for years and competed in KOS. I took a single shot saturday night pistol in the later years and won a lot of races. I have not forgot how to win. It takes money and/or a lot of work. I have a lot on my plate and no where near as much energy as in the old days. We will just have to see how this goes.

If my kids can get more familiar with what goes on and can help more we could be a very hard competitor. That just take time and pateince. I have little of both these days.

Leon