firebird13

Ok this is a weird story...lol.ok I got this bud at school his grandpal is like does not have much time to live so his grandpals buying him stuff..well his grandpal just bought him a brand new crate engine for his s10. 350 so ...of course i asked him what hes going to do with his old one. he said ill prolly sale it to the junkyard for 100 bucks. i said WHAT...hes like its got like 112,000 miles on it and I said so i can rebuild the whole thing and make it better than ever so he said that he would sale it to me for 100 Bucks..its not blown or nothing just got a new one. and dont want it..lol so what do you think??

Camar_Hunter_c

I can get a 396 or a 402 for 175. It's just the $400 for the rebuild kit plus Machine shops $$$ thats stopping me from it right now.

firebird13

I dont know if you guys get the Pontiac magazine but i do and i sean a rebuild kit for a 350 in there it came with cam. gaskgets pistons everything from head to block..for 800bucks...but it kinda sounds like not to bad of a price to me for everything ...how much does machine shop usally caust and what do you need done by them?

TomP

I'd suggest going to summitracing.com and buying a book about "rebuilding the small block chevy". Then you'll get an idea of everything that's involved. The machine work is the pricey stuff; and there's some things you can't skimp on. Fer instance, you want to have a magnaflux done to check the engine block for cracks. So you might as well have it hot-tanked too, which burns all the grease/oil/dirt off the engine, so you've got a clean block to work with. And hot-tanking destroys cam bearings, so you should have the machine shop replace them for you, for two reasons: 1, the installation tool is $150 and it's usually not more than $30 to have the shop install the bearings. 2, if you install them wrong, you'll starve the cam for oil, and melt the cam. And by this point, it's probably a good idea to have the block decked, which makes sure the head gasket area is completely flat. Since you've now made sure the head gasket is flat, you should probalby check the heads out too, with a magnaflux and hot tank, and then..... it goes on and on.

I was told that a machine shop usually pays better attention to their work if you buy a rebuild kit from them, it might be $50-$100 more, but then the pressure is on them to make sure your parts fit. Say you buy a rebuild kit from somewhere, and the pistons are shipped to you as the wrong size. Well, you've gotta put the job on hold for a week to send the bad pistons back and get the correct ones. If you buy the kit from the machine shop, you just drive over there and say "Hey, these are the wrong pistons", and they give you the right ones.

'Course you can do a budget job and not take it to a machine shop at all... but wouldn't it just suck if by spending an extra $80, you couldve gotten a stronger rebuild done?

And is it just me or does $800 seem damn expensive? Does it come with a new crank? Try pricing a kit from Summit, they'll probably be cheaper.

firebird13

I got my book at school ill bring it home tomorro and tell you what all it has ok..all sounds good tomb you know alot. thanks for help man!

CaliCamaroRS

That is damn expensive. My 3.4 MASTER kit was $450. The 350 is probably THE most common motor out there so the kits are significantly cheaper than the rest.

firebird13

Ok, i got my high performance pontiac magazine home from school..ok this is a super stock master kit; it has pisons and pins , rod and main bearings, timing chain set, piston rings, crankshaft, oil pump, connecting rods, camshaft and lifters and gasket set. the price is $830.00 for cast pistons and 981 for forged pistons. so what do you think about it, it sounds kinda high iguess.

MDv6man

Still seems high. Make sure the kit you're getting is for a Chevy 350 and not a Pontiac 350. They aren't interchangeable and Pontiacs are more expensive.

TomP

Although.. it did say that it's got a crankshaft in that kit. Do master kits usually come with crankshafts? I wonder if it's a new crank, or a rebuilt crank?

Buy a kit without a crank; and when you get the motor in your hands, have the machine shop check the crank out. If it wasn't machined before, and isn't in too bad of shape, you can reuse them, no problem. Biggest problem is if it's been machined before. Machining a crank means you turn the journals on a lathe, to remove metal, to make a brand new surface for the bearings. If the crank was in bad shape when it was machined, they might've had to grind it too much- and that can weaken the crank. It'd be strong enough for a stock rebuild for a grocery-getter, but probably not the kind of crank you'd want in a high performance 350 buildup.

That's the problem with buying a rebuilt crank, too. Many times, these cranks were returned as cores because they -were- in bad shape. So the crank might be way undersized, and that's why a rebuilt crank is usually so cheap.

Crap; just dropped a handful of skittles on the floor. Now I gotta go hunt them all down; they scattered. (sigh)

firebird13

ok here is another rebuild kit with out crank in here let me read it to you....supre stock piston kits. pistons and pins, piston rings set, con rod bearings, and main bearings, stock or performance camshaft...price is 588.00 thanks tomb you a lot of help bro!

adam

1991tealRSt-topGuy

i'd say just have your stock crank and rods checked out
check out the crank with a micrometer
make sure there is no "out-of-round" and that all the measurements are within spec

stock chevy cranks are pretty tough- usually good for 450/500 HP
the rods are good too so their money saved right their

check your block with a dial bore gauge- if all the measurements are in spec and their is no "out-of-round" or scoring/burring, just ream the ridge (make sure not to go deep!) and get a flex hone to hone out the cylinder walls
it still would be best to have the block checked for cracks and hot-tanked

so right there all you should need are gaskets, bearings, pistons and rings

i paid $80 for my 10:1 hyperutectic federal mogul flat-tops (the deal included hasting's rings)
the full gasket set is $70
all the engine's bearings were a total of $70
and a new timing chain can be had for $40

so thats $260
quite a savings when you can re-use parts that had nothing wrong with them

eric17422001

Before you buy ANY parts for the engine, TEAR IT DOWN. Find out it the block has been bored oversize in the past, or if the crankshaft has been ground undersize. Tom P. had some valid points as did Teal. In your case it seems you have never built an engine yourself, find a friend who has done it or someone else who can help you with the job first.

Eric

SLOWFIVEOH

iTrader: (2)

Summit has a very good rebuild kit for $256...If it only has 112,000 there is no use replacing rods and such. The $256 has pistons and rings and everything. You can get it bored and balced. Put that Kit in and a new cam and your ready to go!