I have two offers for engines that appear to be reasonably priced. One of them could come with the FiTech Go setup, but both could use TPI, Stealth or Mini Rams. Which one looks to be best? One offers a little more hp and the other makes a little more tq. The offers are for less than what the listed price is on the links and one includes free shipping.

Asked the builder for the specs.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SBC-425HP-4...8AAOSwEGBcJXBE

This 383cid has a good EFI cam I think being on a 112lsa and good CR 9.5:1 for pump gas.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/192975817101?ul_noapp=true

 

You need to ask questions

i/e "american made Al heads"..."high performance pushrods", I could go on.

Are they one pc or 2pc RMS blocks, I may have missed it.

If a seller doesn't have enough attention to detail when posting an ad ALL IN CAPS, then I wonder about attention to detail on an engine he/she assembled.

1 year parts guarantee...but what if said part explodes as you're driving to work and destroys the block? I guess you get a new rod?

I'd be hard on questions and on the phone if I was buying an engine, not asking "what is a better deal" on the internet. That's just me.

 

lol did you actually click on the 2nd link and read the parts break down. I also wasn't really asking what the better deal was looking for opinions on which was the better of the two setups with respect to one having more tq and the other having more hp. But I get your point as the one listing contains all of the specs and the other has none. I asked the one that provided no specs (first link) to give me a parts break down. That way I could post them up for comparison. I'm not familiar with TriStar heads but after doing a search they look to be DART heads. I normally use AFR, DART, or WCCH for my builds.

I haven't heard back from the seller on the first link to give me a spec sheet so that might actually make the decision a little easier in selecting.

 

Yes I did look at both links, but my "criticism" was directed at the generic post.

Only you can decide the best way. take all the parts listed, price them out and see what a local shop would charge for the same.
Personally the only mailorder SBC -any engine actually- would be a GM/Ford-etc drop in replacement engine, once I wanted to have an engine making bigger HP/Tq, I'd be sourcing parts and sourcing shops close by. That's me though, as I'm usually not in a rush for such things.

 

Typically I have used only local speed shops to build up my short or long blocks. However I'm not concerned or would not shy away from mail order as I know plenty in the LS community who have done mail order motors from speed shops. I actually did my first mail order long block this month for my son's 94' Bronco. Pretty seamless process as it showed up at the FedEx freight dock, they loaded it up loaded it my truck. Came with everything, full warranty and if installed by a certified ASE mechanic no questions asked. The shop that installed it checked it over and said it looked great.

Back to my question on opinion. The only thing I got out of the seller on the first link was that it was a GM assembled motor. Still waiting on the specs. The second link motor specs are great and other than the TriStar heads, I've used some of the same brands listed.

When I get the spec sheet for the first link I will list it like what appears on the second link. The only other quote I got was from TPiS. They quoted me $7900 for a 460hp 350cid with Miniram and tune. Seems kind of high but maybe not. My first C5 (97') LS1 took heads, cam, intake to make 430 rear whp (500bhp). In looking at an LS3 swap with tranny it appears to be about $5000-7000 just for the LS3 pull out for about 400-430 bhp....they would get better mpg though. But mpg is not a concern for me on this car as much as I would just like to keep it an SBC with HSR, Miniram, or FIRST. I'm just looking for about 450hp engine for my Thirdgen. I feel that is a good hp range for the car and street driving.

 

So there you should have a basis to order from, i/e turn to the LS crowd and use what has been proven, no need to be a pioneer

The same places that build and send a quality LS engine out, should be able to do a "regular" SBC.

It seems you have enough experience in this area to make an informed decision.

 

Oh no question about that when it comes to LSx based cars. Not interested in using an LS in a Thirdgen at all. I have had 4-5 LS powered cars ranging from stock 345bhp to a twin turbo 347cid making 1000bhp (Vette magazine twice). I used a 500bhp heads and cam setup to road race my 97 C5 as almost 20 years ago. I helped to re-design the ATI D1 SC for the C5 as I had the first D1 blower kit in California. I now use my 650bhp Z for racing purposes, waiting to install this 2650R on my bench to up to power to 800+hp to use at the strip.

The point of my post is too look at a SBC for my Thirdgen not LS as I'm not as familiar with transplanting into our cars and want to use the stock ECM to control it. I want to have a powerplant that is reminiscent to what came in the Thirdgen which is a SBC. I'm looking for opinions about the engines I listed. It's too bad they closed the Chocolate factory in Oakdale and forgot to do the bypass you might still see one of my cars racing down 108 to get there.

 

LOL, the Hershey Plant closed long ago, Sconza<sp> took it over soon afterwards.

I wasn't intimating using an LS engine, what I was saying is if the LSx crowd has been happy ordering from "XXX", the "XXX" should be able to send you a quality Gen1 engine as well.

Holler if you're heading by, I'll toss you a beer across the fence and we can bench race while maintaining our social distancing

 

There was just some guy selling an HSR from Oakdale last week on Ebay and I was contemplating buying it but I still have the stock heads...something about it only fitting 87' up with aluminum heads.

I thought I would throw the chocolate factory out as a test to see if you were a real local lol. When I was in grammar school we got to tour the Hershey factory in Oakdale and the cheese factory in Riverbank...there I just dated myself. Glad to chat with a local thirdgen owner....even if it got me second guessing an LS3 swap. lol..

 

You a young guy, wasn't a cheese factory when I was a kid...or maybe there was and I didn't know? There's one in Oakdale heading out to Woodward though.

You must be somewhat close by, so could you pass emissions without a hotsmog with the HSR?

PS-dating yourself, I graduated Oakdale HS in '79, started off at FairOaks, then to the JH, the HS...been here a bit

 

Class of 86' Calaveras....still only title transfer smog checks. Used to run down to Modesto every Saturday night for cruise on McHenry. Have a farmer friend still in Oakdale who I play guitars with. Yeah there used to be a Cheese Factory in Riverbank unless they called the one between Woodward and Oakdale the Riverbank Cheesefactory.

 

The 2nd seller is
Watch the specials and Broomsheet clearances. You can get some great deals. https://www.competitionproducts.com/

I don't like the "looks" of the 1st ebay seller.

 

Not sure what they call it in Oakdale, what I can recall, is you mountain guys hit like hell in Football!

 

He finally got back to me with the below specs. I will check out competition products. ThanksBore x Stroke: 4.00” x 3.48”
Compression Ratio: 9.6:1
Block: Cast Iron, 1 piece rear seal, 4-bolt main caps
Crankshaft: Forged Steel
Connecting Rods: Steel
Camshaft: Steel Hydraulic Roller Tappet
Cam Lift: .474” Intake / .510” exhaust
Cam Duration at .050”: 208 deg. Intake / 221 deg. Exhaust
Lobe Separation: 112 Degree
Cylinder Heads: Dual Bolt Pattern Fast Burn Aluminum, 3/8” screw-in rocker studs
Combustion Chamber: 62cc
Valves: .2.000” Intake/ 1.55” Exhaust
Rocker Arms: Stamped Steel, 1.5:1 Ratio
Balance: Internal
Ignition Timing: Base 10 degrees BTDC, 32 degrees total

I played football from 6-12th grade, I always felt like the valley guys hit harder lol.

 

I could be wrong, but this reads as a brand new GM crate engine. Something seems fishy, though. I would continue to ask a lot of questions.

 

Yeah that is the way I read it too and after searching I couldn't find any GM engine with any of those crate specs. Best I can figure is that it may have been a GM short block and they added the heads, cam, and intake.