What would you do?

[N96cuda]

I bought my 70 6-pack Cuda from a guy that owned a LOT of Mopars all through the 70's and 80's in Texas. I bought it around 1985. At some point (remember it was when no one cared about matching numbers and these cars were not worth very much) the motor from another 70 6-pack Cuda ended up in mine. No one knows what happened to the motor from my car. Weird thing is, in the early 90's some guy calls me up out of the blue (after tracking down the guy I got the car from) and asks if I have block # xxx. Yes, it was freshly rebuilt and in my car. He offers to bring me another block to swap as he owns the car my motor belongs to. He offers NO cash, just promises to bring me a good motor. I politely decline, I know nothing about this guy. He is from Los Angeles and calls a couple more times and sends me pictures of his concours restored Cuda, but offers only to pay for my time to pull the motor and have it ready for him to come pick up. He said he is having financial problems and may sell the car. I sure didn't have the money to buy it. So, I again politely decline and tell him that he is welcome to give any new owner my phone number. Never heard from him or anyone else.
The motor will be out of my car soon in the process of a complete restoration. Should I pursue finding the car that "my" engine belongs in? Just curious, what would you do?

[A383Cuda]

It would be the right thing to do. Perhaps someone will contact you sometime about yours. At least you would hope that they would.

[Killer_Mopar]

It would be nice to reunite the engine to its' rightful car. However, if I were in your shoes....I wouldnt do it unless I knew I was getting an engine that is of equal or more value. It would have to be another HP 440 from 69-71. It would also have to be in at least the exact same shape as your current engine.

[Alaskan_TA]

PM or email with your VIN if you like and I will check my files to see if I know where your engine is if you like? Every so often, it happens...

T/Ake care,
Barry

[Carlwalski]

I would reunite the engine with it's vehicle. 
You may loose out but if it were vice-versa I'm sure you would want the same.

Things like this in our hobby are a very rare thing. Build sheets, sometimes, engines....hardly ever.
Since the engine in your car isn't a numbers matching you don't loose anything except a good engine.

 

[torredcuda]

I would try and reunite the block to the car but would need to be compensated some $ as you will need to have a replacement block checked and possibly machined to match your components and then torn apart and rebiult.You are also making someone elses car worth a lot more money. 

[Bondavi]

I agree that he should compensate you for the added benefit of having a numbers matching car, that can be anywhere between $10-20K, so you do the math here.

If he can't afford it, you can do the trade, and one day the karma will come around.

I, too am faced with the same situation with my car. I have two date coded correct HP/HP2 blocks, one complete in the car, but I'd give them both up if I could get the numbers matching block. I even came up with the idea of having a website similar to Barry T/A's but only to list 340-up blocks so that the blocks can go back to their rightful cars, but at this point I suppose a supplement to T/A's website is the best way to go. 

Barry T/A, you said earlier last year you had info on my car from 1983, hmm? I'd love to get ahold of that information.

[whitesatinmopar]

Tough call, it's an emotional "I know this motor should be back in that car" versus, "But what am I getting in return?" Personally, yes I'd swap motors, but the guy ought to be willing to pay for the exchange motor to be rebuilt, installed, and tweeked after in  your car and running. If I were him this would not be too much to ask for in return getting the matching engine for my car. Makes you wonder why the engine was removed from that car to begin with, can he verify his vin matches the block you have? Maybe he just knows you have a desireable engine he'd like to have for his car? A lot of questions here, but perhaps you already know the full true story. 

[miketyler]

 

Truly, any value add is to be realized by the orphaned vehicles owner and they stand to benefit the most. Doing the right thing is admirable but money is money. In your position you really have nothing much to gain here and a considerable amount to lose. They should make this a serious win-win deal for you both.

Since the engine in question happens to be in your car with all your installation time and money invested, they should offer those expenses to start. If your plans are to pull it and restore anyway, this could be an opportunity to off-set some of those restoration costs.

I would say go for it but keep your best interests first. They may be an esteemed member of the Mopar brotherhood (to which we ALL belong) but their underlying motivation is to increase their investment value as cheaply as possible.   

[hemi71]

If a car gets it's matching #'s engine back, that car just rose a minimum of 10-15%. If we are talking 70-71 E-body, you know what that means. Thats a lot of work and hassle to go thru, and you know what you have. Getting a new motor can be a real crapshoot, so you'd better be made whole for that.

 It's one thing to be a good guy and reunite a motor with it's car, but to have it cost you $$ and time without compensation is not right. The person who gets his car back to #'s matching is going to profit from it, so why shouldn't you? I'm not saying to rake em over the coals here, but just to recieve FAIR compensation.

 

[N96cuda]

First, let me recap some things. No one has contacted me in something like 12 years. This motor is a correct date coded block verified out of another 6-pack Cuda with all of the correct internals and is only being removed to detail the engine compartment and then go over the motor since it has not been started in many years.

Another question. How much, if any will it hurt the desirability or value of my car if it only had a 70 440 block and not one from an actual 6-pack Cuda?

[hemi71]

In my opinion, once your car is not matching #'s, it does not matter much what motor is in it, as long as it appears to be original.  So if your motor is a 440 4 bbl motor block, as long as you have a six bbl on it, no harm there. You could build up a nice stroker combo, with six bbl induction on it, and have a nice setup there.

The alternative to using the motor you have is to build up a motor, and keep that one in the hopes that someday you'll find the car it belongs to. Pretty much a needle in a haystack proposition. And one more thing you might not have thought of....maybe the car your motor came from now has a matching #'s block. I've seen that happen a few times...if you got the stamps and a hammer, find a warranty block with a blank VIN pad (or own a grinder)....TA DA....matching #'s block!

 

[N96cuda]

In my opinion, once your car is not matching #'s, it does not matter much what motor is in it, as long as it appears to be original.  So if your motor is a 440 4 bbl motor block, as long as you have a six bbl on it, no harm there. You could build up a nice stroker combo, with six bbl induction on it, and have a nice setup there.

The alternative to using the motor you have is to build up a motor, and keep that one in the hopes that someday you'll find the car it belongs to. Pretty much a needle in a haystack proposition. And one more thing you might not have thought of....maybe the car your motor came from now has a matching #'s block. I've seen that happen a few times...if you got the stamps and a hammer, find a warranty block with a blank VIN pad (or own a grinder)....TA DA....matching #'s block!

 

  Yes, that is entirely possible, that car may have TWO numbers matching blocks  . Hemi, you have brought up some interesting points. I honestly thought my car would be worth less w/o the 6 pack motor  . The stroker buildup is interesting, I have a race car so really hadn't thought too much about that. Would be fun though! Thanks for complicating my life more than it already is.  j/k

[Bondavi]

I would think that having a non-numbers matching but correct date coded HP/HP2 block would raise the value somewhat, as opposed to a generic 440 block out of a 1978 van with a six pack intake. Something like between the value of a numbers matching car to a car with a truck 440 block in it.

[MAXcuda]

The car would be slightly more desirable to some people having a "HP" 6-pak 440 engine in it, however most people know that all the blocks were cast at the same place using the same process and they just got stamped on the assembly line based on what was inside them "HP" if they went in a muscle car, "T" if they went in a truck.. etc.  To me, your car would be no less valuable if you took that motor out and put in a block out of the aforementioned 78 van with a 6-pak intake.  Non matching numbers is non matching numbers.