Is this a copo camaro motor?

[Supercar_Kid]

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The thing in this picture that everybody is missing is using correct dated parts on a clone is using up the supply of parts for the REAL cars. I not saying any thing against clones but why use them when anything would work JMO

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But as far as a clone car goes, I wouldn't spend big $$$ looking for properly coded and dated parts, so long as visually they appear correct. Here a CE block or one from a passenger car seem equally appropriate to me, since neither should be passed off as the original engine in a clone, and both would be equally as easy to dress up like the MN that it isn't. I wouldn't worry about stampings or codes on a clone, I'd make sure it was a solid lifter 69 era 427 and go from there.

[/ QUOTE ] This is what I'm saying...

[Unreal]

I think if I were trying to pass off the car as real, or the motor as original, I would not be calling myself "Unreal" and especially would not posting the questions in the way I have been.

You are correct, Kim when you say "using up the available parts on a clone is making them less available for the real cars."
That would hold true for anything from engines to bumper bolts. You know what they say about what talks and what walks.
If someone were to make me an offer I couldn't refuse, the motor is theirs. Otherwise, I guess I'll "preserve" it in my Tribute Car, until someone wants it bad enough.

Did not mean for this to turn into another "clone" debate.

[Jeff H]

Personally, I don't see what difference it makes if someone who can't afford the real thing goes to the trouble to build a "tribute" car or clone as accurately as possible. Yes, the parts are getting harder to find, but nobody has exclusive rights to them. This is a hobby to a lot of people and to some, restoring a tribute car as accurately as possible is the closest they will come to owning the real thing. If I were building a COPO clone, I would go with the CE engine over the big car engine.

[Supercar_Kid]

Don't get me wrong, I can see this argument from both sides of the fence. I just thought the original question was about finding a more correct block for a real car, and its adding value, which I think it would a lot more in a real car than the same engine would in a clone/tribute, as they appeal to two entirely different types of buyers with entirely different intentions for their cars. This is a very complex debate, and sometimes leads to lengthy posts above. I personally wouldn't shell out the market value for some of these dated parts for a clone, since I don't think they're integral to the overall purpose of a clone/tribute car's being built. For a real car, sure, the rare parts are worth the big $$$ to have a "more complete" real car in the end, which is what we're all after right?

Jeff makes a valid point too, no one is owed these rare parts because they happen to have a real car. Market value is determined by all the people that want them, for whatever the intended purpose. There are lots of people who have real supercar parts but no real supercars, myself included, and I don't see anyone lining up to give us a deal on a real car. I guess that's the rub of the free market society, but that's the good ol' US of A.

[WILMASBOYL78]

Maybe all clone engines should have the block decked. No more letters, no more numbers, no more problem!

Tom Williams

[Mark_C]

Then there would be no "real" parts to go with the "real" cars.

[Unreal]

who said it was a problem?

[Belair62]

Yeah but..if a tree falls in the forest and there is no one around to hear it fall...does it really make any noise ?