1750 Engine Rebuild: thanks a million

[Frank <alfa@domain.elided>]

Hello:

Thanks so much to all that replied to my GTV rebuild cost query.  I've been off the digest for about two years and it's nice to know a lot of the regulars are still here and as helpful as ever - I was afraid I would find a whole new crowd with no sense of the issues and debates and occassional cat-fights that made the digest such a fun place to hang out.  It's good to be back.

Here's the story with my '69 GTV: it sat in a garage in Vermont for the past 3.5 years, next to a '71 that was there 2 years prior.  I just gave the '71 away to a pal that until now only had eyes for older porsches; he is so happy he can't stop calling me.  Speaking of porsches, is Tess still around?

Anyway, I've decided to restore the '69 for vintage racing and grocery shopping.  Good engine with maybe some enhancement to performance as long as it does not compromise reliability or driveability.  The body will need some panel replacement but I won't bother much with interior trim as I plan to bolt racing seats in place of the flying buttress job it has, and no back seat.  My primary goal is to end up with a strong, reliable, inferno-sounding (I'll settle for nice-sounding), no rust, decent paint GTV with no aspirations to win a garage queen contest.

I had a mechanic in Vermont (Lance at Woodstock Motorsports) pull the engine (but not the tranny - he doesn't want to do that) and I will be bringing the rest of the car to Cape Cod, Mass. so I can strip it myself in an attempt to save some money before handing it over to someone that actually knows what they are doing.  After the body is done and the engine done I'll figure out how to get the two parts to speak again.

The engine mechanic gave me a list of what he plans to do and it sounds like pretty much everything although the SPICA pump isn't mentioned.  My thought is to use dual webers and performance cams but keep everything else stock.  The $4.2k quoted does not include the webers or performance cams.  Should I make the performance changes or stay bone stock?  I don't mind making changes to the motor as long as there are gains enough to be had in relation to cost, ease of modification and ease of use.

Whatever happened to the chap with a GTV named Turner?  You had a website that described your restoration process but it seems my bookmark of it is out of date.  I really will like to read your journal again.

-Frank
Cape Cod, MA
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