I've got the chance to pick up the drivetrain from a 50 shoebox for 400 bucks. The motor is supposedly locked up its complete aside from a crank pulley. I've read as many thread I could about what to look for as for as a good builder but I'm wondering if I should take the chance and buy it? thoughts and opinions welcome, Thanks Stan Lee
if it was me i wouldnt spend 400 on a locked up engine unless you could pull it apart before the cash exchanges hands to inspect whats actually wrong with it
Its said to be locked up the guy who has it never tried to see if it was or not just pulled it in favor of a sbc swap I planned on checking it out the best I could before exchanging money 3 speed
I wouldnt pay much more than scrap price for any unknown motor/trans that way if its junk (likely) youre not out much and if not you got a good deal.
I got my whole 1952 ford with 8BA and 3 speed for $400. All it needed was a radiator and fuel pump besides the standard old car stuff (brakes, tires, battery, tuneup). So from my point of view $400 for just the motor/trans when it is possibly locked seems a bit high.
I got my "unknown state" 8BA off of C's List for $250. I didn't get the tranny, which I didn't need anyways. I figured even if it is toast, at least it was cheap enough not to hurt that bad, and I might recover the cost in the other parts off of the motor. Even if the parts become wall art for my shop, it won't put that big of a dent in my pocket.
Bought my locked up flatty for $50. But it wasn't a 8BA. It was local, so I jumped right on it... They question is, how much do you think you can get out of it, if it is junk. Then ask yourself if you can live with that! The least I would do is take the heads off and look for obvious cracks before you buy it, if you can.
Planning to take the heads off and the oil pan to look for cracks and see if in fact that it's locked up or not and what should I look for with the trans to make sure it's worth my time
400 is a bit steep. I paid 400 for the 8BA I bought last year and it runs and the cooling system was full of antifreeze before I pulled it out of the rig it was in. I bought an early 40's flathead with what appears to be a cracked block but it is complete with all the stuff on it and the starter, generator and flywheel ought to be worth more than I paid for it if the block is no good. I paid 100 for that one off craigslist.
I agree it's a lil high but they don't come up often in my area my buddy in Az can find them all day long for 250 but shipping would kill me
There was a complete 4 door early 50's Ford here you could have driven home for $600. I almost bought it, but I don't need more junk.
I can get em off the west coast all day long but shipping would kill me and I've got a 390 FE but looking for something smaller
where? stan lee thats pretty high i picked up 1 almost complete minus the carb and gen for 250, just wait for the right one to fall in your lap. just my 2 cents
Sounds a little steep. I picked up a running (barely) flathead from a '49 truck. Got the radiator, center cross member/pedals and transmission (a useless truck 4 speed) for about $350. Yeah, pull the heads for a look-see. Good luck!