Thinking of buying a Chevelle '70 SS454

[genki]

Hi, I live in Japan, formerly from the UK, and have seen a Chevy Chevelle 1970 SS454 that I am thinking of buying.

I'm a novice to muscle cars (although I did own an Olds Cutlass Supreme and a Pontiac Parisienne before, but, ahem, ended up scrapping them both) and I'm not particularly mechanically able.

The car has a 'new' engine and is 'complete'. Can the engine really be new, or is it reconditioned ? Also, since all the fuel in Japan is unleaded, does that mean that the engine has been tinkered about with to take the right fuel ?

What should I look out for in buying one of these - what known faults are there to look for, etc etc ?

(also, I don't suppose anyone knows what modifications are necessary when importing these to the UK when I eventually go home, do they ?)

Cheers, S

[black02WS6]

im from the U.S. so i know nothing about the fuel, or importing requirements. however, i know very much about the car. you say it has a new motor? meaning it is not an original ls6 454 chevelle. how much are you looking at paying for this car. if it's not the original ls6, then it wont be worth it. but if it is and you can pick it up for less then 40k depending on overall condition, i would jump all over it

[genki]

The engine is a new CAT454 engine with aluminium vale cover, aluminium air cleaner cover, MSD ignition system and some other stuff I can't translate from the Japanese.

Cost is about $27k in USD equiv.

Why do you say it won't be worth it if it's not the original engine - won't I be getting more reliability for the same power from a new engine ?

Incidentally, a friend reckoned that the reason there is a new engine for the same spec is that it is a monster truck engine - does that sound right ?

Thanks for your help

[genki]

So I test drove this car today, and it seemed to be in very good nick - only a few minor faults that I could spot.

However, my big concern is that the previous owner imported and fitted a new SS454 engine into the car - the car itself was an SS396. This started me thinking whether the chassis, suspension, brakes etc were up to the extra power and weight in the car, and whether the engine mountings would be adequate. Does anyone have any experience of this kind of adaptation ?

Another minor concern is that there seems to be a complete lack of documentation prior to the car's import to Japan 6 years ago, although for a car this age, I would imagine it's quite common for the docs to go missing. Should I expect to see original docs for this kind of car, or is that a luxury ?
Appreciate your help - in a quandary...

[68chevelle]

well as for the engine swap, its not a big deal. basicaly the only thing is you lost a little bit of value because its not a numbers matching car now. the 454 wont way much if any more than the 396. everything should be fine with the 454 being swaped unless its a built engine and then you would have just the usual thinsg to worry about wether it was a big block or not.

for the documentation, if you have any kind of papers for the car other than a pink slip or what ever kind of ownership title they have over there your lucky. you might be able to find the build sheet somewhere on the car though because they are usualy put in places that are not regularly disturbed, sutch as behind the back seat, on top of the gas tank, on the inside of the door pannels, and im sure there are other places. but other than that its uncommen to get anything else.

was that 27k in us money that you said. im just being clear but if it is that seems rather hight to me. it would have to be absolutly perfect with nothing wrong and all documentation for it to be that much over here. but it could be if they dont have alot of cars like that over there who knows.

[genki]

actually it works out as about US$29,500 on the road.
here it is:
http://www.marcelo.co.jp/stocklist/d...php?stockID=53

[68chevelle]

wow someone put some work into that thing. i like the gauges. they look good. humm i dunno. it looks great but that price seems a little hight still but like i said it could be because of the lack of chevelles over there or something. are there alot over there or are the really rare? but it does look good thats for sure.

[JLad10687]

I was actually looking at them myself. If I were you I would definetley get one.

[BullDog71ss]

The fact that the chevelle is a such a rare car in japan which i'm pretty positive it is would be, would drive the price up at least a few thousand in japan. Imagine a streetable Skyline over here.