Mostly Agreed! 1-give me a factory engine ANYTIME, miles notwithstanding, over a rebuilt IF maintained. Period! Earlier engines, however, did tire more quickly, later ones were simply 'more durable'. It's called 'evolution' and is predicated on a learning curve (and technological advance). Better raw materials (like better steel) makes better end products. Period. I've seen things with milage that would frighten about anyone off that whip the pants off 'rebuilt'. You are absolutely correct; maintainance IS the key. Couple it with lack of abuse and you've a winner. (example: take a Slant Six. Maintain it well. But when you drive it on the road, be certain you always wind it to the max. Drive it at high speeds thru every gear. See how much difference that maintainence makes then. (Lots; it's going to take that abuse for a longer period of time, but eventually that abuse will terminate that engine. Rings will break. Even pistons may detonate. It'll start to 'blow by' and thus 'blow out' quantities of oil. Oil is quite useful to an engine's longevity. Abuse trumps maintainance and thru reduces an engines lifespan dramatically. So obvious need it even be stated (Yes, of course. Some folks ARE stupid). Synthetic oils. WOW. End of discussion. (No, lets point out that earlier motor oils broke down in use...and that breakdown included an increment in acidity by which its presence alone caused engine damage. Rod, main, and camshaft bearing surfaces died or decremented in untility from the oil BEING there. No cure for beat motor oil except removal and replacement. Newer motor oil formulations are nothing short of magic. The superiority of these is a primary contributor to long life of mechanical components. Couple that to superior 'makins' (steel and alloys, etc) and you are starting to extend that life. Remember you had to trade your used-up car in before 50K...now 50k is almost broke in as opposed to broken! Another contribution is a gift of Dwight D Eisenhower; "The National Defense Interstate Highway System" 40,000 miles of concrete ribbon which take you from NewYork to LA in 36 hours (if you are serious about getting there, and haven't much regard for safety, police, etc)... With this system, you can get 50,000 miles inside of a few months if you worked at it! (I think you could do 1,000 a day 'reasonabley' with extra drivers (60MPH over 24 hours is 1464 miles. Easily attainable) Interstate miles are also quite 'easy' miles. Consider 1,000 interstate miles vs 1,000 NewYorkCity miles. How many potholes for each? How many 'start/stop' cycles? How much braking, acceleration, etc for each? Yup, the Interstate Highway system definitely makes a HUGE difference. So it 'type of use' which affects this (long life) as well. Along with 'type of use', it follows then that DISUSE will affect things as well, and in a dramatic fashion. Take a car off the road for 20 years and you automatically get 'low milage'. You also get nearly the most harmful abuse a vehicle can suffer; Disuseabuse, the ravages of time. Rings tighten up with their sludgey past to become a singularity; ring/piston/sludge = crappy compression on return to life. The oil from above (sludgey acid) is busy eating the bearings. The sludge inside the engine allows it's oiley base to drain with gravity, leaving a dry sludge on the walls of the engine internally. These is a guaranteed death for an engine under certain circumsatances. Dry sludge breaks off in chunks and falls into the oil pan where the pickup on the oil pump compresses it with a kind of sucking force inside the pickup itself. Anything past a certain quantity (known as 'Full') will cause a blockage of the pickup, thus a diminution of flow down to 'zero', and you'll then have a self destructing engine process in full bloom. Zero oil pressure equals seconds of engine life remain (how long does an engine 'last' without oil?? There is NO faster damageing force than lubrication failure, and the damage is irrevocable, irreversible, and fast. Takes the bearings out in seconds, commences crankshaft/camshaft damage quite fast, and will crash in a BAM long before most folks will have the good sense to 'quit'. (Oil pressure loss MUST be followed by ONE action ALL TIMES, and that's shutdown. None other.) You can run 'em hot for a bit, but never EVER without oil. One mile with no oil and you need a new engine. (I've done all these things, by the way. Sometimes with malice aforethought (as in 'its beat anyway, I wonder how long it will take before...') and others when 'push comes to shove' (and you just 'gotta do what you gotta do') I've learned whenever you want that engine for another day...the knocks of failed lubrication must be answered by silence...shutdown. End. Stop. FIN. Jj _______________________________________________ Amc-list mailing list Amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://splatter.wps.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/amc-list