Which engine. Original or a plain engine ?

Big deal. If you want an original, unmolested Avanti, you have to step up and pay the freight. If having the original engine meant so much to you, you shoud have made the deal to buy the car CONTINGENT on the seller being able to provide the original engine.

Even then, you might never know for certain if the "original engine" you get is the one that sat between the frame rails as it rolled down the line, or if in fact it is a service replacement block that was stamped with the original number as per factory policy. Too much water under the bridge, too many years have gone by.

Put your time and effort into getting the body and interior as nice as possible. Drive with a 259 if you have to. You'll still be able to enjoy the car. When you get the opportunity to pick up a good R2 engine, buy it, stamp it with the right number, and swap it into the car. Might take a day to do the swap, if you've already detailed the engine bay. And the car will then be 100% authentic as far as SDC judging is concerned. After all, that R2 engine that came OUT of your car won't be RIGHT in any other Stude, will it? So if your car has JTS-xxx in it, and that's the number on the production order, the car is authentic. If somebody else has JTS-xxx in, say, a GT Hawk, they can never make the claim that the car was built that way.

Once the engine is divorced from the car it came in, it's just a hunk of iron. And if a hunk of iron is re-stamped with the correct number for the car it's in, and is otherwise correct, then it's an authentic engine as far as I'm concerned. And as far as I know, that's basically SDC practice, too. We simply are not as anal about that sort of thing as the GM and Mopar crowds.

If I were you, I'd just walk away from the seller of the car. Maybe, he'll come looking for you, if he tries to get big bucks for that R2, and has no takers. Keep hounding him about it, and he'll try to squeeze you for top dollar.

Gord Richmond

That's not even totally accurate on 64's. The engines are date stamped and several engines will share the same number. i.e. JTSK322. If the serial matches the VIN, and the build sheet you're done even if the engine was just built on the same day.

Gord> So if your car has JTS-xxx in it, and that's the number on the production order, the car

My, what a good memory you have!