Dinero

John, just curious.
If I had a 92 original Formula, 5.7 with 90k miles, would over hauling the same engine, keeping it to specs, can I say the engine has 0 miles because of over haul?
And would this increase the value of car since the engine has "0" miles on it?
Hope I am wording my question right.
Thanks

okfoz

Dinero,
That is not just a cut and dried answer...

It would depend on what is wrong with the engine. Personally I do not have a problem with a rebuilt engine, if I have it done or have rebuilt it myself. But a big red flag to me for some reason has always been when someone states in an ad: "Fresh engine"... I would personally prefer a rebuilt engine with 10K Miles on it over one that has just 10 miles on it. Because it would appear at that point that it was put together correctly.

For a 90K miles car, as far as that goes, you have to take into account that
1) If it does not run then yes it would increase the value.
2) If you rebuild the engine would the cost of the rebuild outweigh the potential increase of value. So as an example a perfect condition Formula 350 might fetch $8,000 - $10,000, If you can get $6,000 - $8,000 for the car now, and it would cost you $3000 to rebuild the engine, then no, sell the car as is...
3) The rest of the car, the suspension, the bushings, the axle, the transmission, the interior and body still have 90K miles on them...

Personally, unless I purchased a non-running car with the intent of rebuilding the engine or replacing the engine to resell it, I would not pull the engine out of any car and just rebuild it for kicks and giggles in the hopes of making it worth more. I would rebuild an engine for myself, if I knew I was going to keep it, or if I knew going in that even after the rebuild that it would outweigh the investment.

Here is an example, I looked at a 1987 Formula 350 it was a few miles from my house, the body was ok, and it ran ok, they wanted $3,000 for it... The owner ended up giving it to his son, and then I found the same car 2 years later for $600 with a rebuilt engine and not running... The moron that rebuilt and installed the engine did not route the wires correctly around the alternator (RH side of the engine) and they ruined the in-line fuses going to the starter... I was only able to find it when I decided to run the wires correctly and found the inline fuse was pulled apart enough not to let it run... I took the car, got it running really good, fixed a few things and sold it for $2,500... I think I had a total of $1,500 in it all said and done after replacing a few things and cleaning it up really nice... If I would have held onto the car it would probably fetch around $5000 now...

jokerZ71

If you do decide to rebuild,keep all receipts for actual parts(piston type/volume,crank specs,headgasket thickness,etc) used in the rebuild & part #'s & descriptions,including receipts for machine work to the block/heads.A detailed build sheet that includes assembled piston to deck hgt,cam specs.This can all mean a lot to a buyer.Otherwise,it's still just a used engine that will need to be guessed at,or, torn down & inspected/measured for any future upgrades,such cam swaps,or,even for tuning in some cases.
At the end of the day,if you can't show me what work has been done & what parts were used,it's just another used motor & has no more value than that.

Vanilla Ice

I was out looking for a new thirdgen early last month. Came across a fresh rebuilt 84. The slowest v8 third gen I've ever driven.
It was slower than my diesel Cruze.

As said put some miles on it. And make sure it runs right. Only an idiot would want a zero mile rebuild.

jokerZ71

"Rebuilt" can mean anything & doesn't mean it was any better than before unless you can show me what has been done & what was put into it.It could have "rebuilt" with cheap rebuilders pistons & a .051 headgasket to lower the compression down in the 7:1 range.It could have just been re-ringed.
I have an L31 Vortec in my truck now with 365,000 miles on it.I could clean it up,put it on an engine stand & tell you it had 10,000 miles on it & you would never know.It's clean as pin,inside & out.Runs quiet & has within 10 psi of the original cranking compression it had brand new.
If you can't show what's in it & what's been done,it is worth no more than any used engine.

Dinero

Well, I guess only you would know.

Dinero

John and Joker71, thank you for your honest and Class answers. Your input is truly appreciated.
I now have a better understanding the value of a car after an engine rebuild.
This car has an engine that burns oil and runs very poorly. All rest of car is well taken care of and well maintained. A well documented and detailed report of the rebuild is in order.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Whatever you spend on a rebuild, it will not change the "value", as in "resale value", as much as it will cost.

A cheeeeeeeeeeep shoddy "slap em together" job will probably even LOWER the resale value from its current state.

Something that n00bz rarely understand about antique cars is that "rebuilding" an engine rarely fixes "runs very poorly". It's simply the wrong approach to take. "Rebuilding" involves the major mechanical items like block, pistons, heads, etc.; "runs very poorly" more often involves the parts that you would re-use and transfer over as part of the removal & replacement, like injectors, ignition, etc. Therefore what may well end up happening is, you spend giga$$$ "rebuilding" it, and NOTHING gets any better unless you also attack the "runs very poorly" issue independently. At which point you find, "rebuilding" was completely unnecessary, which is to say, there wasn't anything wrong with the stuff that gets "rebuilt" in the first place. Money down the drain.

Oil burning in a Chevy small block is almost always due to valve guide seals. A set of seals and valve cover gaskets is less than $40, and this is something you can do yourself in your own garage.

Attack the "runs very poorly" first. Give it a tune-up (spark plugs, dist cap, rotor, & plug wires ONLY if they're burnt or otherwise damaged); get a set of cleaned and matched injectors from somewhere such as one of the board sponsors (Southbay for example), and repair anything that causes a trouble code.