balthazar

Cleaned the exterior of the transmission off, took off the pan and thoroughly cleaned & primed it. Fluid looked excellent/clean, no metallic particles found in fluid/pan. Have a new filter, gasket and new front/rear seals to go in once pan is painted. Weather for painting slipping away- low 50s for the highs currently, but can always spray in the basement. Exhaust ordered, but turnaround time is 8-12 weeks. That's still works.

The one posted here at $3900 is 281 HP

Yea; they are separate & irrelevant issues.... to my example. You do not have to repaint a car when you are replacing the powertrain. And with the popularity of 'patina' cars, in some cases it's a strong potential for a money loser. It's like working on your home- you have to know where & when to invest money in your location/market. You don't put a $80K kitchen in a $200K house and expect to make your house worth $280K.

One can go buy a 460-HP crate Coyote from Ford for $9500 and drop it in a '70 Mustang coupe. Add the transmission, change the crossmember & driveshaft and you're on the road. $12,500, and the 445-lb motor weighs less than the original 302 that came out of it. Value unquestionably increased. OR.... I can spend $35,000-$50,000 and put a 281-HP Ford electric motor / controller, transformer, wiring, batteries, etc.... add 1500-lbs to the car, and be forced to re-engineer/replace steering, brakes, tires, etc due to the massive weight increase. Again, my question: what's the value in the 2nd scenario?

I was making a straight-up comparison of powertrain costs & the effects on value. 'Mandatory steering upgrades' (???) and paint costs are a completely separate & irrelevant issue... and BTW- they would be equal on the same vehicle.

Correct. And don't discount the labor for those not mechanically/electrically inclined. It's about a 50 grand total bill. The question I have is : if you take a -say- $7500 car, and spend $50,000 converting it to electric, what's it then worth to someone else? Certainly not $57K. And... if you take a -say- $100K Jaguar E-Type, and spend $50K converting it to electric. Is that $150K car even worth $50K, considering the money most owners are looking at to convert it back to its original and valuable configuration?

My brother’s Pontiac motor puts down 1170 HP- all naturally-aspirated. I have to ask him again what the displacement is, might be in the low 600s CI.

^ Not off-hand. '20s aren't my forte'. If more was seen, I could likely ID it. It's not a major U.S. brand, tho there were so many '2nd tier' brands then, it'd be a challenge to ID it.

Industry's first composite plastic automotive grille, '66 Pontiac ~

Circa '67 ~

Pontiac experimenting with composite wheels in the '80s :

Wild! :

Valve covers got glass-beaded and primed. Exhaust manifolds got blasted & painted. Valley pan is painted.

^ Wonder what the actual backstory is there; no obvious accident or rust damage visible…

^ I already posted this. But I don't put other brand engines in cars, so; no.

Nice '64 LeMans on eBay, claimed 16K miles. Bid up to $21,600 as I type this : https://www.ebay.com/itm/185126167421?mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5337851298&customid=485727&toolid=10001&mkevt=1

No doubt it’s more complex, but the frame itself isn’t electrically connected; the vast bulk stays with the body, it’s basically ABS and the Mag shocks that simply get detached at the factory connections. But like it’s been stated; if one’s local shop is an unknown; it’s a major gamble.

Class-action obviously requires some significant volume to move forward. Has anyone heard anything about this being a repeated problem (I have not). I wouldn’t worry about the frame replacement; if I really liked the truck and my dealer was known to be competent, it’s a static piece and it’s replacement is straightforward. I took the body off the frame on my ‘59 in my own garage (and without a lift). Wife’s Malibu had it’s pistons replaced, I wasn’t worried about that; we’ve kept the car, that was I think 2 years ago; doesn’t burn oil and the MPG is significantly higher. But our local dealer is very highly rated.