[DML] Re: Take my engine...please!

[Marc A Levy <malevy@xxxx>]

Gus Schlachter wrote:
> 
> It finally happened: my dripping water pump turned into a spraying
> water pump. I'd been avoiding this particular chore of replacing the
> pump because of the complexity, and I was planning to get PRV-Plus
> engine from the nice folks down in Houston anyway. But the engine swap
> is about another month away, so I was hoping for everyone's informed
> (or even uneducated) opinions on To Fix or Not To Fix.
> 
> The obvious answer is to wait, except that after next month I will have
> an extra PRV that I don't need. I'd like to sell it to someone that
> needs a better engine, or has none at all. I'm thinking it's worth far
> more in good running condition. Unless, of course, somebody wants to
> part it out, but I think that unlikely.

I dont see how replacing the water pump now make the engine more
desirable for re-sale after your swap... The only reason you should
replace the water pump now is if you want to drive the car now, and not
wait for the new motor.. 

> The best situation I can think of is to have someone here buy it and
> let USADMC put their new mods on it to bump up the HP while it's in
> Houston. Then it could be shipped and quickly swapped with almost no
> down time. And then the hand-me-down cycle could continue!

If Stephen is willing to modify your older motor, then why replace it
all all? Why not just mod yours?

I guess there is no "core" value to the old motor, Stephen has plenty I
am sure :)

<SNIP>

> 
> I have no idea what to sell it for...new engines from DMC are close to
> $5k, but I know this one is well broken-in. Can it go another 100k
> miles? I bet DMC Joe thinks so. :-) The original owner was an
> officer in the local DMC club and treated the car well, the second
> owner mostly stored it, and I think I've taken good care of it; in
> fact, until I bought it it lived in Houston and got all it's service
> from Stephen Wynne (and still does).

I can relate that you want to sell your older motor to recoup some of
the cost of the swap, plus you may be offering another owner the
opportunity to repair their car for less. From what I understand it is
not cheap to rebuild the PRV-6 here, In europe it may be less expensive
because the engine is more common.

I have no idea what the value of the motor is now but with rumor of
Renault returning to the US market with some new cars powered by modern
PRV-6 motors, I would expect the cost of rebuilt motors will drop
because the parts needed will be less expensive. I hope the rumors are
true!

Let us know how you do, because I too am interested in the new DMC
Houston motor but I am waiting for some more details on what is actually
modified. I have called Stephen a few times, but keep missing him. My
car is currently turbocharged (and probably has a cracked ring) so it am
not a candidate for modification in it's current state.

Marc