Technical How to buy an engine?

I've never bought one before. I want to get an sbc for my T bucket. Something simple and relatively inexpensive, 200-250 hp. I was looking at some remanufactured engines. ATK looked good but then I read some reviews and there were a lot of bad ones. It's hard to tell if these companies are trustworthy.
Right now I'm leaning towards just getting a bottom of the line Goodwrench crate engine. They are more than I want to spend, but I can afford one and I figure it'll be no fuss, no muss.
I also thought of taking a chance on a $500 used Craigslist engine, but I'd also hate to go through all the trouble of installing it just to find out it's junk and then have to start back at square one.
What have you guys done?

 

GM crate is hard to beat,,,,,for what you are looking at .
The power level,,,,,and it is new and you have a warranty with it .
Since you have never done this,,,,,,you might feel more comfortable with it .

Tommy

 

x2 for the crate engine.

 

If it’s on Craig’s list for $500 , there was a reason someone took it out of their car.... unless you plan on going through a used motor prior to install (sounds like u don’t) get the Gm one. You’ll spend twice as much at the machine shop when you find out the used one that was a “deal” is telling knock knock jokes


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The GM crate engine sounds to me like a good plan.

Then again, you could build an interesting engine, and learn an awful lot about engines in the process. And have a more interesting car, when you're done. I guess it depends on what you find interesting, and what you want the car to be when it's done. Only you can decide things like that.

 

For you application you can't go wrong with a crate motor. For a light "T" bucket with a four barrel and headers on the engine you will have plenty of power, gas milage and reliability. A junkyard motor is always a crap shoot.

 

Watch the jegs and summit crate motors. Some in the fine print will say built from a seasoned block. Not all of them are listed as remanufactured. I’ve bought two off eBay. Cheaper shipped to my garage than form the local dealer. These were from a GM dealer. Both new GM crate motors

 

About 35 years ago, I bought a "ran-when-parked" Chevy small block out of a school bus. Removed it with the help of a couple of friends. Got it home and the compression was bad. Took the heads off and found welded-up cracks in the combustion chambers. Managed to salvage the flywheel and starter.

New GM crate motor sounds good to me

 

The only usable engine I've ever purchased was from a machine shop. They rebuilt it for a customer who ran out of money and were selling it for what he owed on the project. Every other, no mater how it was advertised, (ran when parked, recently rebuilt, low mileage wreck, etc.) needed major work to run.

 

Watch for a 'gotta sell' project, where the owner lists all the new parts as part of the deal. Usually get the new motor, tranny, rear end, ect, for about half of the going rate.
Stay away from the 'special, traditional, trendy or interesting' motors. Those are designed to empty your bank account.

 

That's merely the price of admission, to have a special, traditional, or interesting car.

 

Best to be able to see and hear a used engine run before purchasing. If you can't, and decide to take a chance, at least hopefully do a compression check. In any case, running it on a stand before installing in the car can help to avoid wasted time and effort.

 

Problem is , you wont learn a thing , but that may not be important to you ?

 

You could also look at a good running driving older car/truck and get both an engine and trans for a decent price. Drive it for a while to be sure and then pull it. Easy to pull the modern stuff and add a nice intake, carb, and distributor. There are still older Caprices and TBI trucks out there.

 

True. But the OP seems to want 'general admission', rather than 'ringside'.

 

" plenty of power " is kind of a subjective thing , eh ?

 

The crate motors are much less costly than a complete rebuild on a pre-65 "traditional" motor. I spent probably twice the cost of one rebuilding a 65 dated 327. But I wanted the car to be period correct. It's also HAMB friendly. Not sure about crate motors but I think they get a pass.

 

Blueprint crates are hard to beat, warranty and customer service on top of a good price and a motor that performs well. Ive got 2 of them now.

Order directly from them, skip the magazine/summit/speedway stuff and save a few hundred clams too

 

Are those GM Crate Motors or an aftermarket? Do they offer small journals from the 60's?

 

I watched a guy go through some issues buying a new engine ... I do not know who sold it.
It was a complete sbc with cam, headers chrome valve covers etc ... just add oil & gas.
It seemed to be heavily built, it was no slouch.

My friend who owns a shop installed it for him, it just never did run right.
Of course the seller did start it & break in the cam before boxing it up and shipped it.
The owner had it in a truck and drove it, it had hesitation issues or driveabilty issues.
The mechanic went through the fuel system ... problem was a Brand new carburetor that was junk and could not adjust.
The builder of course tested the engine before it left on a engine stand, they swore it was good.
The owner spent thousands of dollars for the engine, then a lot of money to mechanic to work on it.
eventually buy a new carb for it. Who knows if that was the last problem or just the first.

The gm crate engines look pretty good

 

I prefer to take that $5k crate engine money and shop around for a good running car/truck with the engine I'm looking for. That way you get engine, trans, driveshaft and ton of misc. trinkets that you can use. Although V8 cars are getting harder to find, but they're still out there. In the last 5 years, I've bought;
1991 Crown Vic,302/AOD lo-miles $1800
1996 Mustang 5.0/5spd, lo-mile, light hit in rear $2500
1961 Falcon (rusty, forgotten project) fresh 351/C4, 9"rear. $3000.

 

Yeah, buying a good running car or truck for the drivetrain and other useful parts can work. Or a motorhome, like I did.
That air conditioner's gonna be a b**** to install...

 

For someone wanting to get involved but having little current experience, the GM crate engine will be your best choice. After you "hang out with the guys" for a while you will gain more knowledge and experience, and next time you may decide to go a different route because you know more about things. My suggestion is that you don't go with the bottom dollar choice from Goodwrench, but spend a few more dollars for a little more powerful Goodwrench. Get a 350.........It will be a good all around engine for most hot rods. Most times when you move up some on the HP scale, you get a lot more for what you spend. The cheapest one available is usually not the best choice.

 

It looks like today's going price for a 19420194 350 265 HP GM performance crate motor Is right at 2878.05 from any vendor.
Best thing price wise is if you have a buddy who works in the parts department of a Chevy dealership that can get a buddy deal or a buddy who has a shop account with a dealership that gets a decent discount who will get it for you. There used to be a used car dealer in Waco Tx that got a bottle of pretty good bourbon from the dealer I worked for every year because he had a cash only account with a good discount that he paid the sales tax on because he didn't have to keep track of it that way and if I paid cash to the parts man for parts I bought rather than putting them on my account I got his 30% discount rather than my 10% employee discount. On paper he bought a lot of parts over the year.

That with an aluminum intake and 650 Four barrel would push a T bucket faster than anyone with a will to live would want to ride in it.
That you have probably figured out.
In Today's world it is hard to have even SBC completely rebuilt with the block bored, crank turned, rods freshened up, Complete valve job including new guides and valve springs and a new cam and lifters in a reputable machine shop for that 2900. Just to get it to that level let alone starting to put the trick parts in it.

I'd agree with who ever said that those "way cool HAMB friendly" engines can be way too spendy if a guy doesn't have deep pockets. The buy in is high for a rebuilder and the parts are more expensive yet. The Ebay complete engine kit for the 330 Desoto Hemi that I have sitting in the shed is 1899.99 plus shipping and then you add machine shop work plus all the very spendy additional items that are hard to find. By the time It is done as a mild 4 barrel engine that one can eat 4K real quick.

 

My approach was to buy a running, driving car. I purchased a 65 Buick Electra for $800.00. It was rough, but ran and drove and I purchased it from the original owner. The engine ran good, didn't smoke and only had a slight lifter tick on cold starts. As I pulled the engine down to check the lifters, I found it clean inside, but slap worn out. About $5500.00 later I had a "new" engine. If I hadn't wanted a nailhead I would have bought a crate engine.

 

@Oilguy they do some reman, and make some of their own blocks. Cant speak for small journals.

www.blueprintengines.com you can check them out, even call the tech line. super helpful

 

Thanks. I will take a look at it.

 

@Greasyman does your T have an engine in it now? Or are you starting from scratch?

 

I would stay away from any used engine unless you intend on rebuilding it. Consider it junk unless you can open it up and inspect it.

Sounds like your best bet is a crate engine from a good vendor (Summit, Jegs, GM, etc) so that you get a warranty and customer service. I would stay away from eBay for those reasons. Order direct from a vendor with a long track record.

Like Squirrel mentioned, you could learn a lot by building an engine as well. I've built a number of small block Chevys using a bare block from Summit and assembling it myself, no machine work necessary. Great learning experience and more flexible than most crate options. FWIW

Here's a link for the first installment of such a build. All five parts are on my page. Good luck!

https://clampdowncomp.com/tech/small-block-chevy-build-part-i/

 

I dunno. I have had great luck buying cars with great running engines, but some other major problem, like no brakes or a bad transmission. The best deal ever made was a '54 New Yorker with no brakes and a great running 4 BBL 331 hemi for $28. I paid the kids that worked for the guy selling it $50 to pull it. I ran that engine in my dirt modified for at least 5 years before I finally spun a bearing (my fault). As long as you can run it for a reasonable length of time and check for obvious problems, it's the way to go.

AND, it's traditional! No crate engines in the fifties.