Trying to figure if it is better to rebuild or buy new. Seems like it is more expensive to rebuild

New engine with all new parts (including aluminum heads) = 2800 from enginefactory

OR

Nice rotating assembly ? ~600-1100 (know any good places? Any crank that takes 1 piece RMS?)
Aluminum Heads = 1100
Cam + Lifters = 135 (non roller hydraulic)
Roller timming chain= 50
Dampener= 65-150
Oil Pump = 30

my big question, about how much for the machine work to make my old 89 350 like new.
How much for the standard, clean up, bore, hone, deck and what ever it is they do when they check for stress fractures? Any other machine work you would recommend(cam bearings?). In the end I can only see this being cheaper if I reuse the crank which is something that scares me becuase that crank has seen 140k miles.

[This message has been edited by 89 Iroc Z (edited November 15, 2001).]

 

what ever you plan on spending, plan on at least spending a third more.

There is nothing wrong with reusing a crank.
all the "new" cast cranks you would buy from jegs or summit are just cranks that have been used and are "turned"

maching work for boring, hot tank, line boring, etc etc, usually is about 400.
for a good balance, xpect to pay 150-300, if u want it done. pistons fitted to rods is usually 10-20 dollars a peace.

I would say go with a rotating assembly, like the zz4 short block, which is like 1100 I think.

 

I payed 400$ for barely used aluminum ZZ3(L98) heads. then, my dad had an old 350 block, sent that into the machine shop. They took care of cam etc. and its only costing me 935$ for the shortblock. All together for a long block around 350+ hp it's going to cost me less than 1,400$. Just a little more than the GM performance parts replacement 350. The trick is doing all the work yourself and finding good deals.

 

Unless you're hooked up(discount) with a good machine shop,it's gonna be cheaper to buy a crate motor.
I bought a 300HP TPI 350 crate motor from goautocenter.com for $1855 (long block,no core charge,all new gm parts,except Crane Powermax Cam,included!)
-Rich-

 

ditto that its allways cheaper to buy them build even more so with crate engines being so cheap.

 

I am going to have to disagree with RICH92RS, and TempesT68. I understand this may be the case sometimes, but not in mine. I have around $1917 in my engine. This is block, heads, valves, locks, springs, studs, pistons, crank, all bearings, cam, intake, carb, roller rockers, gaskets, and machine work. I don't have a dyno sheet to prove this, but according to magazine buildups, I should have around 400hp. I do know it is faster than a stock LS-1, but many on here are that fast, so I guess that is a bad comparison. Just my $.02



------------------
Joshua Johnston
1991 Z-28
350, T-5, K&N, Ported Vortec heads, Edelbrock RPM, Holley 750 D.P., HEI, 11.07:1 CR, Comp Cams Roller-.510"/.520"-282*/288* dur., Shorty Headers, Dual 2.5 Exhaust, Dynomax Bullet Mufflers, T&R Motorsports custom air intake, Bald tires

 

Is line boring necessary? (That's where they make sure all the mains are aligned, right?) Can you tell if you need line boring by just using a dial gauge?

I'm thinking of doing a rebuild on a junkyard engine... but haven't gotten the nerve up to call for prices on the basic machine work (hot tank, magnaflux, cam bearings, bore/hone).

------------------
-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l)

 

you can tell if it needs a line hone or not by when you take the crank out look at the bearings, if the wear is dead on right inthe center perfectly up and down then no need to line hone, if the wear is off to the side or not perfectly up and down then it would need it, i just got an estimate from a local place to do a thermal clean, install new freeze plugs and cam bearings, bore and hone, block deck, pistons pressed on the rods and balence was 650$ if your reusing the rods figure resize will be another 100$ and a head rebuild for just labor will be another 150$ for a basic build, so figure about 1K at the machine shop to have a engine built RIGHT, sure you can half *** and cut corners and have a 500$ trailer trash engine, but anything worth doing is worth doing right the 1st time, so you wont have to worry about the 2nd, and 3rd and 4th

 

The more of the work you can do yourself, the more it tilts the balance in favor of building.

I just spent about $1200 at tha machine shop building a motor; that was for cleaning, boring & honing the block; grinding the crank; balancing the rods and hanging the pistons; setting up a set of heads for 1.45" springs, screw-in studs & guide plates, and 1.6 rockers; and a valve job (heads only, I used new valves) with replacing a couple of seats.

I did all my own assembly from that point on. I assembled the heads completely. I put in the cam bearings, freeze plugs, etc; and built the short block, then everything else after that. Parts and all, I probably had $2400 in it; I used a roller cam that I had got for cheap, new roller lifters, roller-tip rockers that I had laying around, new pistons and soft parts, new valves, new push rods of the properly selected length, and lots of new sensors and wiring pieces and stuff like that. I already had the block, the crank, and the head castings, and lots of the peripherals like water pump, carb, intake, headers, etc.

So there's another idea of what it might cost. $2400 with me doing all the assembly, for a roller motor with no corners cut anywhere, IMHO more carefully and meticulously done than any "crate" engine. I dropped it in and drove it through California smog 8 miles later (one trip around the block, then off to the inspection place).

------------------
"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

Going through the same thing for my 87 Iroc. All the guys are right, but here is something to think about. If you buy a crate motor it will come with a warranty, 3 years 30,000 miles. A 350 330 you can get a 1 year warranty on. The good is, it is all together just unload it and put it in. The bad is that you don't know who built it and can have problems even though its under warranty. Also if rebuild it can have everything you want and the satisfaction of doing it yourself.
I chose to rebuild, I'll let you know the exact cost in the Spring.

 

I am in the process of my engine swap...
BENT RODS IN 305 88 Iroc TPI 5 speed
- 350 shortblock (87 iroc) $300
- crank was shot, but turned and polished one on ebay for $125 VERY GOOD DEAL!!!
- block hot tanked $40
- freeze plugs, bearings, gaskets, etc $150
- Install cam bearing freeze bearing $30
- connect rods to new pistons $30
- Hyperouctic pisonts new w/ rings $125 AGAIN VERY BAD @$$ DEAL
- New World Products S/R tourquer heads (2.02/1.60) he spent $400 having them ported at a local machine shop AGAIN... BAD @$$ deal $400 (heads had less than 500 miles, he went with AFR's)
- ZZ3 Cam (i think .490/.501 lift) $50 came with the heads i paid $50 for shipping VERY GOOD DEAL
- $70 timing chain bought from ACCELDZ for $35 GOOD DEAL
- FULLLY ported TPI manifold FREE FULLY PORTED PLENUM FREE
- Hypertech chip in box with instruction $45 very good deal cost $245 at local speed shop
- AFPR got for $35 VERY GOOD deal....... again this engine is costing some DOUGH bought im buying everything for good deals... sorry for so long just wanted to give you an idea!

 

BY THE WAY?? HOW much horsepower you boys think i will have... im thinking about 320 with about 370 lb/tq and again that manfild is FULLY ported very good job... ohh and i got an edelbrock catback with no cat and i just bought SLP HEADERS 1 3/4 with y pipe for $250!!!