So I have a 1986 Camaro IROC Z with the LB9. My goals for a engine swap are just to have a reliable TPI 350 that will work as a daily driver for the next few years. The transmission and rear end have already been rebuilt on my car. I also have full hooker exhaust. There is an old saying in the hot rod world that you can only have cheap and reliable, fast and reliable (but expensive) and fast and cheap (but unreliable). Right now I am ok with cheap and reliable. I'm ok with having a 215-230 horsepower 350 that will be dependable. 10 years down the road when I have more disposable income, I can pull the engine and rebuild it as a procharged 383 stroker or something. For now a mild 350 is fine.

I was looking at O'Reilly's PowerTorque Long Blocks. They have an ironhead L98 re-manufactured with roller cam for $1500. That's the cheapest roller cam engine I've found by far. On Summit and Jegs most of the re-manufactured crate engines are $2200 or so and have flat tappet cams. Does O'Reilly's sell directly to customers through this program?

I ask, because an acquaintance of mine a few years ago had a late 70s C10 with a tired 305. He wanted a 350. He called a couple of sellers of remanufactured engines (I don't remember who) but most of them he said only sell to licensed shops and not only would he have to pay for the engine but the shop's own installation labor costs. He also said a few would only sell him a 305 because they expect a 305 in return. They wouldn't sell him a 350.

I know O'Reilly's listed a core charge for $410. Could I buy the 350 for $1910 or so and simply scrap my 305? If so that is a great deal! Still cheaper than 90% of crate engines that have flat tappet cams. Plus it has great warranty.

 

I recently put one of these in a food truck for a customer. Early 90's P30 chassis. Very heavy and a factory 4 bolt application. So far it's been great. No issues and we did a filter cut on it after the break in and there was nothing to be seen:

https://www.atechmotorsports.com/parts/vre-hd02

The engine we pulled out was a Jasper with a cracked cooling jacket. Though this may have been due to sitting, etc.

We recently installed a Blueprint 390 HP 355 in an 87 IROC. Lasted 3 hours of testing and tuning before it started knocking. They have been good to work with so far though - paid the return freight, etc. We will see what happens with that one. We did a bunch of testing at their request - oil filter was FULL of metal and the sound is from the #7 hole. I surmise it's likely a rod bearing on #7.

GD

 

Is there a way to view that engine without being a dealer?

 

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/vre-hd02

GD

 

Here's the manufacturers page:

https://www.summitracing.com/search/...ibanner=SREPD3

GD

 

Cool! I was looking at this engine. It's by the same manufacturer built to L98 spec.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/vre-dcn7

 

Doing a little digging - looks like Vege is the Mexican sister company of ATK.

I think you are going to find success and failure stories with all the manufacturers. Heck I've even read posts about GM Performance crate engine failures.

Best you can do is shop the warranty and roll the dice. You may get a great unit, or you may get one that was built on Friday at 4:30.

There's no guarantees in this type of a purchase and for me personally I would rather just do it myself with my local (trusted at arm's length and that arm carries a lot of measuring tools) machinist. Then there's really only myself to blame, and thus far I have built a LOT of engines over the years with basically zero failures. Of course that's easy for me to say - performance shop owner with every tool for the job. Much more difficult for your average DIY'er

GD

 

I wanted to do it myself and rebuild a junkyard engine. The problem is, I can't find one. Within a 2 hour radius not a single junkyard near me has a 350. I've been looking since last summer. Last I checked was in February just before COVID. No one has a 350. I've tried posting ads on Craigslist asking for a 350 and I've gotten 2 calls in a year and both were people trying to sell me entire cars.

Last year there was one Corvette C4 and the L98 was pulled in less than 24 hours. Talking to the Junkyard staff. One told me since cash for clunkers 10+ years ago, he has seen less 350s and C1500s scrapped each year. Cash for clunkers made those trunks rarer and inflated the used car market, people are less likely to scrap them.

Another owner had a theory that all of the re-manufacturers brought up all of the engines and that's why finding them has become difficult.

So plan B was the Goodwrench 350, the K-Code with the One-Piece Rear Main Seal but it looks like GM recently discontinued it. The remaining stock is selling for $5000+.

I'll continue to research different builders. It seems 90% of threads I find on different forums people just suggest the discontinued Goodwrench K-Code motor, the Discontinued Goodwrench Vortec Motor or the Discontinued ZZ4 motor. I'm assuming these motors were discontinued within the last year.

I'm hoping someone on some forum has info on the DCN7. So far not a single review anywhere.

 

One of my relatives is a retired supervisor for a USPS maintenance facility.

He used Jasper extensively, saying they had a lower failure rate than any of the other vendors available to them (mostly that could handle the volume and zero-wait-time needs of such a large fleet). He did experience failures of course, but that was their go-to. He used their products in his own vehicle (a transmission for his own truck for example) and it seems to work fine. It's just yerbasic stock rebuild, which is all he was looking for, but he uncrated it, slapped it in, and has driven it around for acoupla years since.

To GD's point about GM, a friend of mine bought a car some years ago with a FRESH "Target" motor in it. Paid extra for the "new straight from GM" feature. It started knocking within a day or 2. Turns out they had built it with .002" undersize bearings but a stock size crank, so it had ZERO or even NEGATIVE bearing clearance. We had to tear it down, grind the crank, and put the right bearings in it. Fortunately it didn't have metal chips all in it yet because he quit driving it in time, before it got to that point. Keep in mind that "Target" motors in those days were NEW VEHICLE engines that had failed initial QC at the factory engine plants (Flint, Tonawanda, etc.) and were "repaired" and remarketed.

So yeah, there's no such thing as a risk-free "rebuilt" engine. No doubt some vendors are MUCH worse about that than others, and also no doubt, it depends on customer expectations (a "performance" rebuild compared to just a straight-up fleet replacement for example). And also no doubt, when you just search the Interwebz for people's accounts of their experiences, the people that had bad luck are MUCH more vocal and prominent, which means that the more motors somebody sells, the more "bad" writeups you'll see, even if AS A PERCENTAGE, they're no higher than anyone else's. IMO it's much more important how the supplier responds when there IS a problem; obviously they're NOT going to pay you for the R&R, but if they get you another one right out in the mail, give you credit for the return, etc. without a fight, that's MUCH better than endless haggling over whether it was their fault or not before they even have any evidence.

 

There's really no need to buy an engine from a local junk yard. There's plenty L31 Vortec's still out there in the yards. Shop https://www.car-part.com/

It's a global economy, and things like engines get palletized and hauled by truck virtually anywhere you want them to go. And it's not even expensive. $150 to $300 typically.

The engine in my Tran Am (currently 400 HP) was a $200 1997 L31 Truck engine I picked up off craigslist. Fully dressed and the guy loaded it in my truck with his forklift.

GD

 

The only problem I run into with buying an out of state L31 is getting the machine work done. There really isn't a place near me that does machine work on car engines. The few machine shops in the are are industrial/aerospace machine shops. All the mom and pop machine shops are gone. There's no speed shops or engine builders either.

I can't find a L31 in any yard to save my life either. Believe me, I've looked. When I have used car parts most of the L31s I've found listed at $800-$1500, plus shipping.

 

There's TONS of them. You kidding me?

Here's a screen shot from my zip code (97267):



Heck there was one in there with 100k for like $750. Probably don't need any machine work. Reseal it, change the cam and valve springs and run it.

You have to target areas of the country where there's no rust. Here in the Pacific NW for example. Arizona, Texas, etc. All you have to do is lookup zip codes and do searches. You'll find a LOT of engines.

GD

 

I'll consider it but it seems safer and easier to just to go with a crate engine. Plus if I get an engine from Oregon, Arizona, Texas, etc there are still shipping costs and if the engine is cracked or does need a rebuild that's more costs.

I'm still leaning towards a crate engine.

 

Personally I would rather start with a low mileage used L31. When you are talking about budget crate motors - they slap that garbage together with whatever they have lying around. Mismatched heads, cheap gaskets, etc. You may end up tearing down a crate motor - seems almost as likely as not. So if you are going to do a reseal anyway - reseal an L31 that's original GM built. Just my opinion. It's not very likely you'll get a "bad" engine if you do your homework. Talk to the yard, get pictures, maybe even a video of it running. Pics of oil and coolant condition, have them cut the filter, etc.

Mine was pristine at 177k even full of milkshake from a failed intake gasket.

GD

 

Closest to me in N Ca is Reno, NV 4 hour drive each way. The 1500 there looks nice, but the K&N Equipped decal ruled it out, for me. Too many older vehicles got junked in Obama's
Cash For Clunkers" deal.

 

I'll call around. If I can get videos of it running that would be cool.