260 really worth it?

[62Cometman]

Hey guys this weekend i finally received the 260 and early c4?, i had bought from the OE out of a 64 falcon 4 door, it looked liked he had a rough timing getting it out cause he had broken the distributor cap. Well upon receiving it i found it in much worse condition that i had expected the trans was fine minus the missing torque converter the motor however came without any front drive components missing EVERYTHING from the block forward! He never mentioned this to me in the few times we had talked and the picture he had sent me did not show the very front of the engine so i assumed it was all still there. Now on top of that he had removed the valve cover bolts for whatever reason and never put them back in and i popped off the valve covers and noticed immediately that the pass rear most push rod was bent badly and the rocker arm showed signs of damage like it had be hit with something like export brace maybe. It also looks like he had left the valve covers off for a while as they were pretty grimey looking also the intake was not bolted on and the bolts were also missing, the intake had also been left off for a while as the valley also looked grimey which worries me more than the valve covers, lastly the intake isnt even the original to the car it and the matching 2 barrel carb is from a 78 ford pickup, it had a egr plate which let me know that it wasnt the original to begin with. All of this so far has really gotten on my nerves but then i think i should pull the heads and see was the inside is like so off come the heads and most clyinder look good except one the valve hadnt shut all the way and the intake beind off water had gotten into that clyinder and rusted the upper side of the clyinder wall somewhat bad to make matter worse that particluar intake valve is nigh on seized in the valve guide. At this point in time i think ive given up all hope on this motor i dont have my cherry picker handy at the moment to get in on the jack stand to look at the bottom end so i have no idea what kind of condition thats in.... the only saving grace is i paid 200 bucks for the motor and trans but is there really any point in trying to save this motor? i sat down and crunched numbers and id be looking at spending close to 2000 to get a completed motor in running condition if the bottom end is flawless by some miracle. And i just dont see this as being worth the money for what i would get out performance wise, i could just as easily spend that money on rebuilding a 302 and be much further ahead for performance than the 260, what do you guys think?

[Groover]

Well, I'll start (as the owner of a 260). Unless you really "love you some 260" or want it to remain original, I'd move on to a 302. Looks pretty much the same in the engine bay, but lots more options, everything else is better and easier to come by. Keep in mind, c4 is a 5 bolt housing, you'll need to swap the housing as there are no 5 bolt 302 blocks. Not a big deal, but you will have to adapt it.

[bmmaurer]

I'd be interested in the 5 bolt C-4.

Comet Bruce

[Lip Ripper]

Bruce, are you going to Daytona? Lookin like Saturday will be the day.

Stacey

[bmmaurer]

Bruce, are you going to Daytona? Lookin like Saturday will be the day.

Stacey

Unfortunately I'll be out of town...

Next year

[Rocket989]

‘62 - not worth it IMO...move on to more cubes & more options!!!

[loman]

It sounds like you already have made your decision to move on to a 302, and that is what I would do also. In my opinion, unless you are deadset on keeping it original, I would go with whatever makes the most sense money wise, which most likely will be the 302.