Tell me Doc, how long do I have?
 

Thanks in advance for your opinions on this..........

I've been enjoying driving my recent purchase ('77 Targa) and so far it's been trouble free. Maybe a slight puff of smoke at start up every once in a while, but otherwise a very strong runner with great oil pressure, no leaks and no weird noises.

BUT it still is a 2.7 with 118K miles and any mid-year owner who reads this forum for any length of time develops stud paranoia combined with a strange desire to drop your engine as some sort of expensive Porsche rite of passage.

I THINK I'm in pretty good shape thanks to the original owner who sank over 10,000 1986 Dollars into an extensive rebuild. The shop was Autothority of Fairfax, VA (anyone have experience there?) and they gave him the full deal: Top and bottom end overhaul, new pistons, cylinders, SC Cams and fuel distributor. Helicored the case, all new Dilavar studs, Carrera tensioners, pop-off, etc, etc.

This happened at 63K miles so for the past 20 years it's gone another easy 55K miles with, SSI's no smog equipment and a few caring owners.

So, is there any consensus on how long a properly upgraded stock 2.7 should last (pleasue driving only) assuming that I continue to take good care of it? I have no desire - believe me - to reopen the great Dilavar debate but since that's what I have, should I be more worried about them getting loose or breaking, or, hopefully, none of the above.

Thanks for any thoughts you want to share.

Ron

Ron,
Sounds like you've done some reading...Continue to read up on your car, drive it, enjoy it; just be mindful, and employ a watchful eye. Preventitive maintenence goes a long way.

I gotta say this
 

At 35 K miles my 74 2.7 was leaking enough oil to do some work. This was in 1978. Bob Grigsby of Garrettson Enterprises fame had just opened his own shop , RMG or as we fondly call it, the REAL MEAN GARAGE. (www.REAL MEAN GARAGE.com. He did only the top end (nikasil barrels and pistons) and the oil fed tensioners. I corner balanced it and ran Yoko A001Rs and Konis up and down a road that according to Bike WOrld was the third best road racing route in the world---the finish line was Alice's Restaurant where all the bikers including Malcom Forbes would gather on the weekends. As my kids got too big to squeeze into the back seat I sold it in 1994 with the odo showing 12k miles which was in fact 212k miles.
My current 74 is more trick but just as steady and pulls hard to 6800rpm but it has hotter cams and triple weber.
Keep valves adjusted, fuel/air correct, a little to the rich side and timing not too far advanced and you can expect 200k like I did. BTW, my currrent 2.7 has about 150k on its build.
Hope this helps.

Dont believe the hype I drove my 77 500 miles round trip to a DE last weekend raced it for two days and drove it home at 90 mph it ran perfect and ran cool.

I personally think the bad reputation came from cars out west that had the thermo reactors five blade fans and a/c and where stuck in traffic for an hour with the a/c on most people give the 2.7 alot of crap but alot of people think the 2.7RS is the cats meow.

Just my .02

Sounds like you've got a good motor, and the 2.7 is a fun motor to drive. My 76 had a fairly leaky 2.7 with SSIs and it pulled like crazy, right up until the day I sold it. You have to comply with smog in CA, so SSIs are a risk, but I will tell you that my 76 passed smog with them installed.

You should talk to Alex (PRE-H20), he just retired his 2.7 at 291k on the engine. He must of done something right.