Hot Rods Anybody ever bought a used motor?

Just traded labor for a 10 yr old crate 350. A friend wanted more power for his 1969 C50 and had a high dollar 383 built for it. Helped with the install and several other things in trade for the 350. He takes excellent care of all his stuff so I wasn't at all concerned about the 350's condition but then I saw how many miles he had on it...1780 miles!

 

Hit and miss. One of the best engines I ever had was a 350 Olds that came in an early 60's Chevy pickup that someone had given a buddy of mine and he in turn dropped off at my house on the way home as he didn't want truck nor engine. as it had a knock. My son and I threw a battery in it and fired it up and yep it knocked, put it in gear and put a load on it against the brakes and no knock, shut off, get a 9/16 out of the tool box and tighten the converter bolts and we hopped in and took a test ride. About 2 hours later we were figuring out how to make motor mounts for it in my 51 Merc. I put probably 75K on it in the Merc including a trip to Texas and Bonneville. Sold it to a guy with a 70 or so Lemans when I put the 455 in the Merc.

 

I always tell people the same thing, if you can get it for what the parts on it are worth and just ***ume it will need a rebuild. If you get it from a friend or are allowed to thoroughly check it out, I would feel a lot better.

 

I bought a rebuilt 1961 390 FE out of Galaxie for $50. Been running it for 12 years in my Ranchero

 

Until I worked at a dealership I thought used or rebuilding one was the only options

 

For the stock cars I always bought wrecked cars and yanked the engines. I would swap the intake, cam & lifters, heads if I had a good set, carb and distributor and go racing. It was a claimer cl***. The last one I had (now in my Ford) looked clean inside and I put 6 races on it. Fast forward 30 years and I tore it down... what a piece of ****! It needed everything.

 

I've bought lots of used engines. Fortunately, I've been lucky with good ones. I went to an auction a few years back, the guy selling the engines said " i guarantee these engines to be great motors" i bought three engines that day, a bbc turned out to be the biggest p.o.s I've ever seen. luckily, the 409 was good, & four bolt main sbc was rebuilt & only paid $50 for. I was pissed about the bbc, sold it to a rebuilder for what i paid for it kept the 409 & sbc

 

Two out of three's not bad!
And you broke even on the bad one.

 

Ive bought a lot of vehicles got them running and sold the engine's or used them myself. Just yesterday I sold a 350 from a 74 truck. I never got it running because it was stuck. I had been soaking the cyls for a year. I pulled the engine and trans. Removed the trans. and it turned free. the starter and dust cover where missing. and those dirt dauber mud wasps had built so much nest that it locked up the engine. I had priced it as a core only guaranteeing that the block wasn't cracked. Sold it for $150. The buyer came by today and stated he pulled the pan and it was a 4 bolt main. He also stated it had two loose rods but he was still very happy with the deal. A non running used engine is pig in a poke. A runner you can check oil pressure. Pull the PCV and check for blow By. You also can look in the radiator and check for air bubbles. And pull the plugs and do a compression check.

 

One thing ive learned. miles don't mean anything. run it out of oil or over heat it and you can ruin any mill in less than 1 mile. Regular oil & filter changes are the life of any engine.

 

I bought a 58 283 from a guy on Craigslist who still had it his 55 Chevy. I showed up, heard it run, and picked it up the next day. He was honest about it, and told me it was in the car when he bought it and was putting in a big block. He didn't know much about it, but it ran good, so $300 seemed fair.

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I went with my brother years ago to look at a junk '67 Chevy with a 283 in it, he needed an engine for his old GMC. So we get there and the guy starts it up... dead miss running on 7. My brother offers him $50 for it and away we go. I thought he was nuts. He listens to it, takes off a valve cover and finds a broken rocker arm. 15 minutes later we have the rocker replaced and we're test driving the car, ran good!

 

When I was 19, I saw a grimy, crusted over Chrysler hemi laying on its side in a s**** yard and without looking it over thoroughly, bought it for $50. As I began to take it apart in my back yard, I found #6 cylinder had lunched through the outer wall. I saved and cleaned up the heads, valve covers, rockers, valves, exhaust manifolds, intake manifold, distributor and whatever else wasn't ****, including most of the pistons and rods. Got s**** price for the grenaded block and other useless parts. Sold the good pieces for a couple of hundred bucks, and that was in 1968. Someone earlier said evaluate a pig-in-a-poke engine by what you can get for the individual parts. Dead on right!

 

No difference then buying a used car.

Gary

 

+1

At today's crate motor prices why gamble, and it has a warranty . . but I guess it's not vintage I get that. .

 

A crate engine cost $1000 or more. You can buy a running small block chevy mill and put rings rod & main bearings cam bearings new oil pump and timing chain for around $100 in parts. And have a plenty dependable engine. Not many old vehicles are driven enough miles to warrant a high dollar mill. One thing I do to evaluate a used engine is to inspect the spark plugs. if they are not oil fouled chances are good its not worn out. Ive been thinking about purchasing a bore scope so I can see inside the cyls. Once I bought a OT Mustang with a 351 Cleveland. Smoked like a tire kill. But ran smooth and when you pulled the PCV from the valve cover it had just a wisp of blow by. pulled the plugs and every one was showing signs of oil burning. Pulled a valve cover and a quart of oil ran down the side of the engine. other bank same thing. turned out the umbrella valve seals had deteorated and came apart and clogged the return holes in the heads. And the STP someone had added didn't help. New valve seals and a fresh filter and oil change. And you couldn't make it smoke.

 

Warranty is a selling point for folks not confident in their abilities

 

This is true, it's also wise to know your limitations.

 

Bought a 350 SBC from craigslist. Ad said it was from a 1984 blazer, 16,000 miles, $500. The ad ran for a long time and the price kept coming down. I don't think any body believed a 16K motor in an '84. Well the pic showed the valve cover. It had a "Goodwrench" sticker on it. I knew it was a crate motor, not the original. Price came down to $250, so I thought I'd take a look only 30 minutes away. Bought it for $200. Got it home and as usual took it apart to see what I had. Everything looked brand new. No ridge. Could still see crosshatch. Flat tappet cam and lifters perfect. Put it back together. Gave the heads a little port and bowl work, 4 barrel and headers. Now has 15K in my hot rod. Runs like a top. Gaskets and all $350. Don't think I could have gotten any luckier.

 

You can tell a lot by looking at the plugs.

 

Bought a couple. One was built by a friend-he put it in an ElCamino for a guy and his grandson. They came back and said they didn't like it-kid wanted more power was the deal so he built a 454 and put it in-I bought the 350 that cost them $3000 for $650-had 450 miles. Another was a ZZ mtr-had 3000 miles and the guy wrecked the car-$1000 with all accessories-ran strong!!

 

Back in the day I had a 289 mustang. dropped a valve and ruined the engine. I bought what was supposed to be a good engine a used 260 from a guy who ran a diesel shop. Paid $75. It wasn't any good had one piston top badly burned and every exhaust valve was burned. The bores where worn out and scored. saved the crankshaft. covered it with axle grease stuck it in a length of innertube and put it in the trunk of a 57 chevy parts car. Twenty years later a guy had a falcon with a 260 stick. and his crank was shot. He had it turned down and it didn't last as long as it took to put it in the engine. I dug the crank I had out I hadn't looked at it since the day I put it away and we cleaned off the grease and installed it no polishing or nuthin worked perfect.

 

I agree on the "if you can hear it run/drive it" if you're paying quite a few bucks. Used to be you could drive, then buy perfectly fine, running 283's, 327's, 350's (sometimes with aftermarket intakes, etc) for cheap that guys were yanking in order to drop LS engines in their trucks, Camaro's, Chevelles ,etc. Lately though the asking price seems to be as much as a crate engine.

Recently scored a free 283 that a guy had pulled from his 67 Chevelle when he built out the car years ago. It was moving day and the engine was collecting dust in his garage. I called on his $25 Craigslist ad and he said, "hell if you come right now it's free". I said I'll be there in 15 minutes. He had a large pettibone forklift on site lifting his Mill and other big items onto a trailer. He picked up the 283 (which was bolted to an engine stand) and set the works in my truck and thanked me for taking the engine and stand away. Turns over but I haven't busted it open yet. Love 283's and the price was right.

 

Good for you!!!!!

 

If it weren't for used engines, hotrodding wouldn't exist!

 

I've bought used engines with great luck for decades. I don't want to be a wet blanket here, but what gives me pause today is who's doing things out there. We're surrounded by PhD pros***utes (read as ****in know-it-alls) who are magazine and cliche' educated. I'd rather buy a whole running car and get everything I need with an engine that's never been out. A whole explorer (exploder?) is probably a good way to go in that regard. If it's a known source or engine all's well. There's a couple guys I'd buy from with no worries but that list is quite a bit shorter than it used to be. With "race" stuff there's a lot of mistakes out there that never quite live up to their expectations, a rough and expensive learning curve. too much cam, not enough compression, "so-n-so told me I should...", and more. You know the drill, procede with caution and trust your instincts. Doesn't hurt to get racer's opinions of the guy's stuff on bracket night too. Might range from "that's a bad *****..." to "he was always ****in with..." and lots of in between. Good luck.

 

Those guys that have to have the latest L something motors; have made a lot of good used 283 & 327 cu mills available.

 

And speed parts
Love buying stuff from the ls guys

 

How can you call yourself a hotrodder if you've never bought a used engine? Or other used parts!

 

I know its not logical but theres something that makes a small journal 283 or 327 very desirable to old farts like me. I have several but I don't sell them. In the past ive built 400 blocks with 350 cranks and they where really great at breaking driveline parts. I should have put a automatic behind them. But all real hot Rods have three pedals. When I was a kid I had used worn out 283,s and beat on them countinually and rarely broke stuff. Never had a bearing failure with any small journal. Always blew the pistons or the pressed in piston pin came loose.