[CC69Rat]

For what it's worth to you, and to no offense of the guys why might have them.. I personally would steer clear of the 350/290hp crate engine from GMPP.

While yes, they offer a 12/12,000 warranty - it's only good if a certified ASE mechanic installed the engine.

I personally had one in a 69 Camaro and put about 1,000 miles on it. It started smoking, just slightly at idle. I thought it was just running rich at first and was trying to adjust the carb. It started loosing power, and the smoking got worse.

I started to do some research online and found that there were a bad batch of these motors built and they caught the problem a few weeks after the engines left the Mexico assy plant. As it turns out, someone apparently used the wrong valve seals. I was one of the lucky ones who got one. I pulled the valve covers off and there were pieces of valve seal all in the top of the head. It was a mess, and I have pictures if you'd like to see.

As soon as I replaced the valve seals with the correct ones, the power came back and the smoking went away. Not a big deal, I know .. but just make sure you're ready to change valve seals if you go this route. You may not get one of the bad ones, but they are out there.

On a good note, they like to run 32-34deg fast / btdc. They have a pretty nice sound to them too. I ran an Edelbrock 1407 and RPM intake with shorty headers and Delta40s and it sounded really good.

They're strong motors, no doubt. I'm just a little bummed with the QC in the assy plant. I agree. Unles you'll be turning this motor hard, a 2 bolt main will be fine. The 350/290hp is a 4 bolt block though.

I hear with a good set of 64cc heads and a slightly bigger cam there are guys pulling 400+ hp out of them.

Hope this helps. .. but I wouldn't buy another one personally.