I have recently had to come to terms with the fact that I have 5 engines and 4 transmissions that are not installed in cars. Not to mention shelves of parts that will probably one day crush me in a freak earthquake.
This is a condition that comes on without warning no matter how many years you went without it. Four years ago I had exactly zero unaffiliated engines and zero unaffiliated transmissions. Each one is justifiable by itself, but before you know it, you’re standing in the middle of the shop wondering first, how it all went wrong, and second, how are you ever going to put it all back together again.
First was the Buick 364 nailhead. It starts very innocently. This engine is rebuilt and running. The paint shop wanted it out for paint, so no problem there.
Next came the transmission for the 1949 Ford F1 truck. It needed a rebuild but they were having trouble locating parts. Then a complete rebuilt replacement pops up, so in the truck it goes. Meanwhile, they found the parts. So now I have a rebuilt spare that I’ll probably never need.
Then the Jaguar 3.4 inline 6 and four speed overdrive transmission. This came out of a 1958 MK I that was given to my dad and turned out to be a total loss. Out came the long block.
And the Mercedes-Benz 450SLC. This car is in beautiful condition except for the seized engine, but a replacement engine is included. How could I say no?
And the LeBaron convertible. This car came out of the junkyard in running condition but a little rough and with a lot of noise from under hood. So when a wrecked LeBaron with a good convertible top and low mileage engine pops up for sale, we just had to have it.
The final count:
Buick 364
Jaguar 3.4
(2) Mercedes-Benz M117 4.5 V8
Chrysler 3.0 V6
Ford 3 speed manual
Jaguar four speed overdrive
Mercedes-Benz 3 speed automatic
Chrysler automatic
