I recently bought a rust-free, totally original (down to the paint), but long dead CS. It had sat in a carport in southern Oregon for 23 years with the engine "partially" disassembled--carburetor and distributor off, radiator removed from car, and the sparkplugs removed (ouch!). I instilled Marvel Mystery oil into the cylinders thru the sparkplug holes repeatedly over a three-week period and then finally tried to manually turn the engine yesterday with a socket on the harmonic balancer bolt. Big surprise--it won't budge.

As a person with too many cars, all needing money spent on them, I've come up with 3 options: (1) rebuild the original engine (estimate from my engine guy ballpark $2000); (2) buy a crate long block 302--found one for $2,000 with 320hp; or (3) buy a '68 cougar I found for cheap with it's original fairly recently rebuilt 302, drop the engine in, and part the rest of the car to help offset expenses for the swap?

Opinions? Advice?

TIA...

If I were were you I'd go for the option that will get the car back on the road with the least amount of total effort and cash because of your other projects.
You did not say what direction you wanted to take the car in so its tough for me to give my opinion on which motor to go with.
Good luck with whatever you decide on :)

Deadstang,
I would buy the cougar engine and drop it in, so you can get on the road. 8) However, I would keep the original engine so sometime in the future if you plan on making the car an all matching number car you (or someone else if you decide to sell it) can. I promise you the car will be worth more when it comes time to sell it if you still have the original engine, even if it doesn't run. :) And a final note, if you need parts for your CS, the 68 cougar has many parts that will interchange. ;D

A J code special is a rare. As '68s go J codes are generally desireable. I would look at the back of the block to see if it has a VIN stamp(behind the intake, there is a flat boss, you may have to scrape off some dirt etc). original cars are always worth more than modifyed. Not to say you could not pump up the engine

The Cougar sold for more than I wanted to pay. The crate is still tempting, but I guess I've decided to spend that money on a rebuild of the original and try to have some patience and wait while that gets done. I have the engine almost ready to pull--it'll come out as a unit with the tranny since it would be difficult to separate them as it no longer turns. I think it would be prudent to also have the tranny rebuilt while it's out. Hope to have her back on the road within the next 6 months at the latest.