have you/would you buy this (ebay link)

[harnalien]

I am looking for a replacement engine for my 84 chevy shorty, and i was thinking of building my own, but this looks pretty good and about equal to what i was gonna spend in parts, and then still have to put together. this would save me time since i would have to just put on carb and accessories. with limited skills, do you think this is a good deal?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CHEVY...mZ200194562571

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by harnalien

I am looking for a replacement engine for my 84 chevy shorty, and i was thinking of building my own, but this looks pretty good and about equal to what i was gonna spend in parts, and then still have to put together. this would save me time since i would have to just put on carb and accessories. with limited skills, do you think this is a good deal?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CHEVY...mZ200194562571

interested to know also.

[edman87]

That price is not too far off from what you can buy from a dealership catalog- new and witha warranty.
I might be a little leery of buying a rebuilt engine through ebay unless I knew someone that had used that shop before.

[harnalien]

Originally Posted by edman87

That price is not too far off from what you can buy from a dealership catalog- new and witha warranty.
I might be a little leery of buying a rebuilt engine through ebay unless I knew someone that had used that shop before.

yeah, i was gonna get an engine kit through jegs, but shipped it would be about 2200 bucks. i was thinking of going with this one since it makes a little more power. they have some that come w/ vortec heads. i was looking at the feedback, and it's all pretty good. i have had good experience w/ ebay. i'm definitely gonna try and research more.

[bweg84]

http://shop.enginekits.com/osb/specials.cfm

$2200 seems like a lot. If you just want a good driver.
just my .02

[burger]

I WOULD NOT buy that engine.

1. There's no warranty offered.

2. They're in Phoenix, AZ. I don't know where you're located, but if there's a problem, it's going to be a lot harder to rectify if they're on the other side of the country.

3. They use no name parts. You get what you pay for.

4. You could build it yourself, using top shelf parts, for less. Find a $75 core engine (4-bolt!) at the u-pull-it with decent heads and then have the short block and heads rebuilt. Quality machine work and parts for a street short block should come in somewhere around $1200-$1500, at least around here. If you found decent heads, it should cost around $300 to have them rebuilt with a 3-angle valve job. Clean up (not port) the heads, block, and oil pump yourself with a $15 die grinder. If you can't find a decent set of heads, buy prepped Vortec heads from Scoggins Dickey or somewhere else cheap (Pace, etc).

5. Spend $40 and buy two David Vizard books -- his step-by-step howto on rebuilding a sbc and the max performance budget sbc book. The rebuild manual makes assembling your engine as difficult as building a model. If you're competent with hand tools, you can do it. The max performance/budget book will give you ideas as to how to build the engine you want to match your performance goals.

6. If you build it yourself, you'll take a lot more time than the "pros" would. There's no part to assembling a SBC that's particularly hard. With proper instruction (Vizard book) and basic competency, you'll turn out a better engine.



Hope this helps,

Engine building is fun,

Ed

[N2TRUX]

Play it safe and get a GM crate. Try www.summitracing.com If they are still doing the free shipping, you can't go wrong

[Mkcustums]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

Play it safe and get a GM crate. Try www.summitracing.com If they are still doing the free shipping, you can't go wrong

Very true!

I'm actually thinking about getting one for my daily, but getting one locally here here in town. The piece of mind when it starts every morning is worth a few horses! Decent price and you can always add a few things to em.

[mhicks]

I ended up getting a 260 hp 350 ft lbs torque for 1300 through summit. If I would have went locally to a chevy dealership I would have had to pay taxes on it. The tax price took care of the shipping charges. Plus the chevy place couldn't tell me the hp or torque for what they sold. I sked several different salesmen there and they didn't know.

[harnalien]

thanks for the advice, based on your responses, i am pretty sure i will get the package from jegs w/ the motor, intake, carb, etc. i will have friends to help since i never was good at putting together models, ha ha. i don't know if i will get the 290Hp or 260Hp, a difference of about 250 bucks. probably go wtih the 290. i guess i needed to realize that this will be a daily driver mostly, and i don't need gobs of power. just enough to light up the tires from time to time . my ram hemi gives me good enough power, and i'm guessing it will be in that neighborhood.

[dhughins]

ive been looking at the same engines for a while now but i cant decide either,

[rotgg]

no

[Mkcustums]

Originally Posted by mhicks

I ended up getting a 260 hp 350 ft lbs torque for 1300 through summit. If I would have went locally to a chevy dealership I would have had to pay taxes on it. The tax price took care of the shipping charges.

Oregon... we don't have TAX!!

Good to hear though, I hope you like it!

[Kixwy2]

Originally Posted by mhicks

I ended up getting a 260 hp 350 ft lbs torque for 1300 through summit. If I would have went locally to a chevy dealership I would have had to pay taxes on it. The tax price took care of the shipping charges. Plus the chevy place couldn't tell me the hp or torque for what they sold. I sked several different salesmen there and they didn't know.

I just got this for my truck - started right up yesterday and sounds great!

[harnalien]

yeah, i called my local dealer yesterday, and they wanted 2256 after tax for the 290hp version. that's more than jegs, and they include new carb, manifold, distributor, etc. i want the kit so i have all new stuff since i don't have any clue on the history of the motor.