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should i keep it or sell it?


oldfigure8er

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This might be a long post, but I think you guy's will find it interesting! I have owned for 20 some odd years a rare find! I have a chevy small block built by smokey yunick, this is a cast iron 350 dual over head cam motor, it was built as an indy prototype, but the weight factors killed it real quick! I've taken this motor, even built a glass case for it and had it in my living room i as a coffee table/ conversation piece! but it was in my living room at my house in galveston and when we had to evacuate for hurricane Ike, i had to go rent an engine hoist and dollys to get it out, which i'm glad i did or it would have been lost at sea! thought about doing the e bay thing, but i would have to deal with a bunch of yahoos! just wondering if some of you guys might know someone who might be interested in this, i really hate to get rid of it, but i just got married and the wife dont want a car engine in the house! and i dont want to just put it in a shed somewhere, since i did have it insured for a while but over the last ten years i dont want to think how much i spent. i really hate to part with it, if you know anyone who might want something like this to add to a collection or what ever, pm me, i can send pics, but i will say it will take a minimum of about 8 grand to own it!

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I agree with Cutting Edge, put it on some of the free sites but put a huge price on it. Some one could fing it on a google search that way. Good luck.

 

P.S. If you could put a pic up of it. I for one would just like to see it.

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i wood not sell it. she knew you had it when she met you and with out a douth she seen it in the living room. plus it has squaters right in the house after it was there for so long.

i would not let it go .you had it for so long and i would bet you would wished you had not of sold it ..unless you need the money or really dont want it anymore .id say to her .sorry but it isnt going anywhere .. with all due respect ofcourse .......fix it up and find another room to keep it in ..

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thanks for the input guys, i dont want to let it go, no telling what it'll be worth later, i just needed someone to put the fire under my rear end and make me realize the hard facts, guess i'll surprise her this weekend and put it in my game room! it's amazing the conversations this thing gets going, i think thats one of her issues with it, once we talk about the motor, then it goes to the racing days past and present so she feel left out! :angry:

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no sir, this motor as what i have been told by my uncle who actually gave it to me this was built around 73 or 74, supposably back then i think indy was trying to run a tub car? dont quote me on that might be wrong, but they were doing r&d on this motor but it just didnt perform as well as what they had hoped. like i said i inherited the motor and my uncle has since passed.

i remember when they had the callaway corvette, which had a twin turbo 350 with a 7 speed tranny

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i'd see if i could find some kind of car museum close by and see if they would like to display it for you.you would still own it and have a place to store it all in one.and if the marriage happen to not work out down the road,your old friend could always come back home with more value than before.

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no way sending it to anoughter place is like sending you kids from a prior marrage to boarding school. if she gets reid of the motor whats next the tool box.like i said before she knew it was there,my exwife became and ex over my bike yrs ago it sit in the living room in the winter made on heck of a christmas tree.

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i'd see if i could find some kind of car museum close by and see if they would like to display it for you.you would still own it and have a place to store it all in one.and if the marriage happen to not work out down the road,your old friend could always come back home with more value than before.

 

see, now here is wisdom talking... Tommy has an excellent idea. We have been to Peterson Musuem which is in L.A. several times. No way am I saying send it out of state. But it would be cool it have it out for the world to see... Peterson gives full credit to the owners and even says " on loan from the collection of " somewhere visible on the display... Many movie stars, band members and racing families have allowed their things to be shown...

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I haven't heard much about the engine you have, but it is possible it was going to replace the 207 inch turbocharged small blocks Smokey was building for Indy in the early 70's, I think until '75. Besides Smokey, I believe Micky Thompson also played around with the SBC.

 

DOHC engines were not new to Smokey, He tuned and maintained the DOHC chevy engines in the 1956 SR2 Corvette roadracer. He took bored and stroked 283's out to 336 CID. I know little about the DOHC head itself.

 

And in the late 60's, when Bunkie Knudson left GM to join Ford, he tasked Smokey to develop a stock block pushrod ford engine for Indy. Smokey did not have enough time to develop the engine; instead, he stuck a turbocharged DOHC engine in a Gurney Chassis with Joe Leonard as the driver in the 1969 Indy 500. The same form of the engine carried Mario Andretti to his only win in that race in the Granatelli STP special.

That particular engine was known for overheating at high speeds. It routinely ran oil temps that would scare most engine tuners. Teams installed extra coolers and, in the case of Mario's car, Chief Mechanic Clint Brawner even installed an extra radiator behind the roll bar. In the case of the Yunick/Leonard, it blew a radiator hose while running in second, ended up 7th.

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I haven't heard much about the engine you have, but it is possible it was going to replace the 207 inch turbocharged small blocks Smokey was building for Indy in the early 70's, I think until '75. Besides Smokey, I believe Micky Thompson also played around with the SBC.

 

DOHC engines were not new to Smokey, He tuned and maintained the DOHC chevy engines in the 1956 SR2 Corvette roadracer. He took bored and stroked 283's out to 336 CID. I know little about the DOHC head itself.

 

And in the late 60's, when Bunkie Knudson left GM to join Ford, he tasked Smokey to develop a stock block pushrod ford engine for Indy. Smokey did not have enough time to develop the engine; instead, he stuck a turbocharged DOHC engine in a Gurney Chassis with Joe Leonard as the driver in the 1969 Indy 500. The same form of the engine carried Mario Andretti to his only win in that race in the Granatelli STP special.

That particular engine was known for overheating at high speeds. It routinely ran oil temps that would scare most engine tuners. Teams installed extra coolers and, in the case of Mario's car, Chief Mechanic Clint Brawner even installed an extra radiator behind the roll bar. In the case of the Yunick/Leonard, it blew a radiator hose while running in second, ended up 7th.

I was counting to see how long it would take the human racing encyclopedia to show up. :lol: Come on Tom, Im sure you can dig up more than that. ;)

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I was counting to see how long it would take the human racing encyclopedia to show up. :lol: Come on Tom, Im sure you can dig up more than that. ;)
TOMS HARD drive may need to be upgraded ..... you stack all that info from living aslong as he has .and takes alittle while to scroll back to where he has it stored ...i hear eating carrots will help with that ..but it hasnt helped me ..
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There is a book out there about Smokey Y that you have to read. It is expensive but so is racing. I believe it is called " The Best Damn Garage " or somethin like that. I had a copy but someone drove off with it and did not bring it back. It is full of Smokey stories and NASCAR and his multiple interpritations of the rules.

 

Wish I still had mine. I would read it again. It will make you laugh until you cry.

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The paperback copy of Smokey's book which is about 650 pages, is $25 at Smokey's website.

The 3 volume "Racers Version" is $95.

I have compared my paperback copy with the 3 volume set I bought my Dad, and most of the same info is there, only a picture here or there is missing in the paperback version.

 

Check them out, and other stuff, at: Smokey

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  • 4 weeks later...

If you do decide to sell. Ebay is actually a very good place. Collectors from all over the world buy and sell on Ebay and because of feedback ratings you can get a better idea who you are dealing with. Sounds to me like you could use a wider audience if you are going to sell.....a nice stack of money eases the pain of saying goodbye. Good luck either way you decide.

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  • 2 months later...

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