My dad got his Chevelle worked on at a shop and the guy underquoted the price. So he felt bad and gave me an original '66 "special" engine with cobra valve covers and 4bbl carb/manifold for free. He said the engine came from a GT and it had the original 57k miles on it.

I took my car to a shop and the guy said that my newly bought rebuilt distributor was bad! That thing is going straight back to autozone. I figure I can run my current engine into the ground basically and then replace it with this other motor when the time comes. I'm happy!

 

You lucky snot. Congratulations on being at the right place at the right time.

 

Wow,that doesn't happen very often. Most shops would say that's what it cost regardless what they quoted and keep the car until it's paid. It's nice to hear about someone who is still honest and makes their mistakes right.

 

what does the "special" mean? Is that what they called the engine in 66 Mustang Gt's?

 

Everytime I get underquoted all I get is silence, followed by laughter, followed by a bill larger than what I had expected[:@]

 

The final bill was two times the quoted price! The options were to buy a new engine/transmission (quoted as about $14k) or rebuild the existing engine/transmission (quoted at about $7k). My dad said buying a new one was too much so he opted for the rebuild. Well he went to pay and it came to $14k for the work!! My dad's jaw hit the floor. It's one thing if you budget for a certain price but when it comes out twice what you expected, it's hard to swallow. So I guess the guy felt a little bad and checked out my current engine for free (said the new dizzy was bad and the carb needs rebuilding). He had a '66 vert in the garage a couple weeks ago and so he took us back and gave me the engine and stuff....I thanked my dad for basically buying me that engine

I plan on tinkering on the new engine this winter, not rebuilding, just replacing seals and painting and stuff. Then when the time comes to replace my existing motor with it. So people get ready for a bunch of questions from me!

 

By the roughest of numbers, there were about 170,000 'A' and 'K' code Mustangs made in 1965 and 1966. Again, by the roughest of numbers, there were about 84,000 GT Mustangs in that same period of time. This is out of over 1,150,000 1965 and 1966 Mustangs, no 1964 included. About half of the 'A' and 'K' codes were GT equipped but overall this represents about 7 percent of production. I didnotfigure in (or out) the early65 non GT 'A' and 'K' code cars. If someone claims a 1965 or 1966'GT' engine, figure it was an 'A' code - and smile.
Jim

 

It wouldn't make much difference to me either way. A little more power and a less worn engine is good to me whether people call it a "Special" or just an A-code. Thanks for setting me straight though!

 

I understand that sometimes things go over a quoted price, but at what point was this guy gonna call and tell you that the ticket was 7 g's over the quote?? I think I woulda been super pissed if I was your dad.

 

No, he really was. We were there for about an hour just talking about everything that was done. I haven't personally looked at the receipt but I was listening to what he was saying. I could not believe that a starter motor and distributor would cost $1000 total. But then again, a shop will charge double what they paid for a part and I'm sure they don't always shop around for the best deals. I'm thankful they gave me a motor, but I will never go back there. Their motto is "Quality service at a reasonable price". Maybe he was too soft on them and should have done somethign more, but I don't know if a person has any leverage when all the work has been done. He was out of town while they were working on it too. That didn't help. Anyway, today was bittersweet. I just hope it doesn't always sour his feelings of his car in his mind.