Bad news for my '59

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Wow! I would say that is high. I've spent more rebuilding an older Ford FE motor. But most was for the high cost of the basic external parts such as intakes, exhaust manifolds, carb, et. These old Ford High Performance parts are getting scare resulting in the high cost. A pr of shorty cast headers are now around $800.00-1200.00 alone. But the basic engine rebuild kit can be had for just a few hundred dollars plus say a few hundred for a good machine shop to prep the block and heads. Say $250.00 to assemble the engine back together(if you don't do it yourself), and a few hours of labor to pay for R&R. Maybe $1500-2500.00. I would look around for several quotes from places you might like. Check for example Summit Racing, Northern Auto Parts, or Performance Automotive Warehouse for the price of a complete engine rebuild kit. Hope this helps.

----- Original Message -----

From: Imperial59crown@xxxxxxx

To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sent: Friday, October 24, 2003 8:23 PM

Subject: IML: Bad news for my '59

Today I received the bad news from my mechanic that my '59 Imperial has very poor combustion from two cylinders now, and a leak in the brake booster, which would account for its lack of power lately, and poor braking. Now I am faced with the decision to either rebuild the engine, and brake booster, which will cost anywhere in the area of $5,000.00 for the engine alone, or store the car for a while until I have some time to shop around, and accumulate the funds for this undertaking. I am going towards storing the car, since it is becoming difficult to keep driving, having to put it in neutral at each stop light so the engine does not die out. My question is does 5 grand sound like a lot to rebuild an engine, and that is most likely the minimum with this mechanic?

 

Bill '59 Crown