Technical The next cheapest engine

455 Buick '72, $200.00 w/400 trans. Tire meltage.

 

I'd rather find a 262 and drop it in a '57 big rear window custom cab short box, but that's just me. These days any engine that is HAMB friendly isn't going to be cheep. Used to be I'd never pay more than $200 for a rebuildable core, not these days. Not without careful shopping, friends and luck. The LS engine has been mentioned above, but it is like the GM HEI distributor both suffer from the fuglies. Not that they don't work well, they just aren't pretty to the eye. Affordable? maybe a Briggs & Stratton? I don't know.
-Dave

 

aka.........."diminishing returns"...........where the last 20% of improvement requires 80% of the labor/money.

A cousin to the Murphys' Law corollary "anything used to it's full potential will break"

Ray

 

Yeah, sort of.
Depends on the target range right.
Just some #s out of my ass
Say a bump to 330 hp is so cheap and easy to get with some silly mods but 350 hp is the target. That extra 20 HP could cost a bucket-o-bucks. Now since that mod came in 450 HP is just a little bit away - unless you need to redo and rebuy the 330 mods.
It's kind of like trying to nail jello to the wall until at least some boundaries are set.

 

You're correct, "diminishing returns" doesn't have to have a specific ratio attached....I was just using a time worn 80/20 example.....it's simply whenever it takes greater effort/money to achieve even less return than the initial gains required..

We're saying the same thing.............

Ray

 

Fwiw, the 350 Buick V-8 is the smallest and lightest 350 engine made. I think one is right at 450 pounds..

Only thing is that they are maxed out size-wise so probably only a .030" overbore is about it. (3.80"bore x 3.85" stroke.).

I would figure that there should be a bunch of them around for cheap, but I don't know about costs to rebuild, sorry..

pdq67

 

My vote is for the small block Ford. While the first 260's and 289's had the odd 5 bolt bell housing pattern, the later models changed to the common 6 bolt bell and were the same on the 289, 302, and 351W blocks. They were Ford's work horse, found in everything from Falcons to F250 trucks in various displacements. Parts were higher than the Chevy until the 5.0 Mustang version came out, then they became as plentiful as the Chevy with comparable pricing. The front sump can be changed to a rear sump with factory parts, Fox Mustang or pickup oil pan and oil pump pickup. There are small blowers like the B&M that fit around the distributor, plus I think there were even some manifolds made for 4-71 GMC blowers. Or you could always use a Paxton like came on the 57 T Birds. Easy to stroke the 302 into something like a 347, the 351 is a little wider up top, about 2", but not as wide as a big block. The late versions even had factory roller cams and some pretty decent iron heads. And the Ford electronic ignition can use the small cap to look like a points distributor.

Lots of them still on the roads and in the yards, so pretty easy to find. You can even buy aftermarket blocks and heads for them now if you wanted a high dollar motor.

 

I just want to know what's the matter with pink panties.

 

absolutely nothing, as long as you wear them on your head...