Technical The next cheapest engine

Anybody who's been in the hobby long knows that the cheapest engine to but in your Hot Rod is a 350 Chevy but they have been done to death simply that reason and for the fact that they fit quite well into most old cars. I'm sure this topic has been covered before but it doesn't bother to repeat once in a while. So what's the current 2nd cheapest engine? Big block Ford? 500 caddy?

 

Cheap to build or cheap to buy? I have seen some pretty cheap running nalheads in the past but I wouldn't want to build one on my budget.

360 MOPARS ( late model) are pretty cheap.

 

SBF??

 

i agree with porknbeaner on the dodge magnum (318-360). they were in probably millions of trucks over the years, but need help making them run good. i had a 2000 dodge with 318 and it was slow and a gas hog. a buddy opted for a v-10 in his work truck because it got about the same mileage as a 360. from what i hear, the proper cam goes a long way toward solving problems.

 

The nice thing about the late 360 is that it uses plasma molley rings from the factory and that equates to minimal bore wear. Most of the time a good scuffing and a set of rings and you are golden. Some of them have heads that are almost identical to 340 heads ( I don't recall the numbers) so really a cam shaft and a little bit of compression and you got a mild street motor.

Hot rod magazine did a how too article on them a few years back and it made me think that maybe I should rethink my motor policy.

 

Some of the late 60's and early 70's Pontiac put out good factory numbers off the stock GM 2-jet carb. The '70 2 barrel Pontiac 350 going in my hardtop is rated at 265hp...

 

Not easy to find but I had an olds 350 that was pretty stout once and it was factory stock. I'll bet if you found one it wouldn't cost much to bring home.

 

Round here you can pick up an old motor home for less than 800 bux. BB MOPAR usually 440.
most of em low miles.
Carb, headers, and cam change, not many engines respond better to these 3 things, and I'm a chevy guy.

 

When I worked in the used auto parts bidness, we had 318 mopar motors stacked on shelves in the warehouse. Reason? They didn't sell because they never broke or wore out! We couldn't give 'em away! Hell, we even replaced the worn out flathead 6 in our big forklift with a 318 just to make room in the warehouse.. With a little compression, some cam and carburetion and you have a hot little engine for little $$$$$$.
The Pontiacs are easy to find and cheap to buy but parts are getting pricey. I got luck. I found mine [a 57 pontiac engine] at a "going outta business" sale at the local machine shop...was left there after a .125" bore, new Jahns pistons and a new MacCellar #6 cam install. Original owner never picked it up....got it for $100

 

Yep, I just did that. Found a 31 foot motor home. Got a 440 HP and a 727 with 68,000 miles pulled by the seller and loaded into the back of my pickup for a $1000. I'm thinking of going back and getting the rear.

 

Well it'll be a helluva rear for something.

Down side to a lot of the motorhome motors is that they have peanut port heads. That is easy to rectify but it is something to watch out for.

 

To buy beaner. you could rebuild a sbc for what a hemi or flathead core might cost.

 

Cheap instead of cheap and good.

 

big block chevy. Cheap to buy if you are patient. Lots of hot rod parts for them, some are pretty affordable too. Easy to make decent power. Not so easy to pay for gas, or fit into some chassis.

 

300 Ford straight six

 

I still gotta go with a SBC 265 or early 283.....inexpensive to buy and build and pretty darn traditional!

 

Depends how much power you want and how much you can afford. Chrysler motors are cheap to buy, don't require a lot of special parts to make reasonable power, and come with one of the best transmissions (Torqueflite).

While we are at it the slant six has surprised a lot of people, it has great potential for a small six, mainly because of the head design but also because of its basic durability.

There are a lot of great late model V8s and V6s that produce good power in stock form, and come with fuel injection, overhead cams, etc. The problem in a lot of cases, is adapting them to a rear wheel drive power train.

 

And we have a winner. Lots of deals to be found on Craigslist if you look. Like squirrel said, you've just got to be patient to get the best bargains.

 

Not hamb friendly but a 4.8 out of a silverado is about as dirt cheap as you can get. They run forever, swap to a carb will send the money up.

305's and 307's are about free if you can find one running well and not beat up.

Just depends on what you can find,
What's the project you need it for, depends on what will fit, when considering swap dollars.

 

I just checked St Cloud craigslist, 383 chryslers are going pretty cheap, makes sense everyone's looking for 440's.

Ford 351M and 400M's always seem to go cheap, there was a hot rod engine build on them a few years back, needs pistons to make it work.
http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/engine/hrdp-9809-ford-406-engine-build/

 

Not HAMB friendly, but the best dollar per horsepower deal today is the Lima series Ford. Ford produced them for 30 years ('68 to '97), there is a ton of them holding the ground down in junk yards, and 460 smoggers can be picked up for their scrap weight in iron, and non-smog motors are only slightly more expensive. There is a ton of cheap aftermarket support to make big power out of a motor with a ton of cubic inch potential. Main downside, BIG and Heavy with all cast iron components. They don't fit well in model A's.

On the HAMB age appropriate side of things, the cost to rebuild FE Ford's has dropped dramatically in the last 5 to 10 years as the aftermarket support has poured in. Still not Windsor V8 cheap, but getting better. Y-Blocks, Lincoln Y's, MEL's, and Flattys are still awful expensive.

 

The "current" cheapest engine, is the LS series Chevrolet engine, or shortly will be. I still can't wrap my head around one yet just the same. For ease of swapping and parts availability, I would go with the SBF, after the SBC; small and light, distributor in the front to clear the firewall, and they sound good, the only drawback being front sump (so use a rear sump Broco pan or aftermarket. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

SBF because of aftermarket and ho mustangs they are close to SBC in build price.

 

I just picked up a 472 Cadillac mill for my 61 Cadillac Town Sedan project. Cores and heads seem pretty plentiful. The guy I got it from already started dropping speed parts into it. The guy threw in a TH400 and late model torque converter too with a higher stall just to get it out of his way.

I have a dodge 360 and 727 from a 79 motor home I was going to build just to get the 61 on the road but now am trying to get rid of it so I can buy parts to button up the 472 and get it stabbed into the car.

 

LOL I can remember when you couldn't give a Y block away and chebbys were expensive. I got the 312 that I raced when I was a kid for hauling it off. They used to say, "friends don't let friends drive Fords."

Some engines are cheap to buy and expensive to build. A few years back I had a 331 caddy that someone gave me. I like 'em real well for a hot rod motor. I couldn't afford to build it so I gave it to someone who could.

In the world just outside of ours the LS is the most affordable, a 5.3 like the wife has in her pickup can be had for less than a grand in most wrecking yards and driven and driven hard. When it is used up you just get another.

LOL if I had an old caddy and lacked liquid assets (like I do) the 472/500 caddy would be my engine of choice. They usually go dirt cheap and you can pull stumps with 'em. They are a little on the bulky side but with a big shoehorn they'll fit almost anything. I have not seen them becoming popular for some reason though.

 

Engines seem to be easy and cheap around here. Most people can't give away 350 Olds or Pontiac, Buicks also. 351's from vans and peekups,and even 305 chevies, no used market for them at all.

 

My neighbour just gave a complete 322 core away last summer.

 

not around here...we have more useable old car bodies, then engines. Something about the lack of humidity and road salt?

 

Ok George I am going to have to report your post. I was planning to sell mine.

 

Well, really, doesn't the name say it all?? Nailhead?? Who in the hell wants THAT?? I want an engine that is nicknamed "manhole cover head"...