rebuild or buy? (car engine, fuel, best, mileage)

[allisonguru]

Is it cheaper to build your own motor(crank kit-new pistons rods crank etc.) including machine shop labor, or cheaper to buy a short block already built from a reputable engine builder(jegs summit etc.)? I have a 350 that i want to rebuild with a scat crank kit, dart heads and so on, but i have been seeing short blocks already assembled for pretty darn cheap. Any one have experiance with this? And anyone have a good source for rebuilt short blocks?

[silverfox]

Do a short block with a quality builder but check the written warantee before you buy.
Let them be responsible for any defects in workmanship or materials.

Silverfox

[BobKovacs]

It's definitely cheaper to buy pre-assembled- they can usually provide a complete assembly for less than you can buy all the parts, and definitely less than the cost of parts plus machine work. Unless you're looking for something extremely exotic or you're anal about the blueprinting, it's not worth the time to assemble yourself. Or course, for some, it's the satisfaction of saying "I built it myself"- personally I'd rather save the time and spend it driving the car

[JFRRACING]

If you have the tools and the know how its cheaper to do it your self. i'm doing an engine right now. i buy all the parts and do it my self. i enjoy doing things like that so it's not a big deal to me. i have my machine work done at a friends shop. if you don't want to spend time to rebuild it you self i would recomend buying a short block. you can save money if you do the whole thing your self.

[Ultrarunner]

It all depends...

Have you looked at buying a new crate motor from Chevy? If you' don't have a lot of time, it might make sense and they come with the GM warranty.

I've bought two and no problems...

I've also done several 289 Fords myself and jobbed out the machine work I couldn't do... It was fun and 31 years and 121k miles later, that Mustang is still running great...

If you're looking for special mods and don't have the time.... go to a local builder with a top notch reputation...

One of my best "Deals" came when a friend's car was totaled. He let me have the complete motor for $300 and an afternoon of my time to remove it

[GregW]

SCAT crank & DART heads sounds like a race motor. I would think buying a complete emgine from a reputable builder would be the most economical overall. Building a race engine is very, very time consuming. Just be absolutely certain you match the cam to the use. A high rev peaky race cam in a street car engine is a gigantic PIA.

[burdell]

Originally Posted by GregW

SCAT crank & DART heads sounds like a race motor. I would think buying a complete emgine from a reputable builder would be the most economical overall. Building a race engine is very, very time consuming. Just be absolutely certain you match the cam to the use. A high rev peaky race cam in a street car engine is a gigantic PIA.

Good Advice!

I'd add if it's to be a carbureted engine, bigger than you need isn't better and you might be surprised by how small you can go and still get max performance.

[M3 Mitch]

You probably can't assemble a Chevy 350 for less than the short blocks you can buy. But if you assemble it yourself you can get (I forget the correct term) under-gapped rings, and grind the ring gap to minimum spec yourself, you can get totally anal about balancing everything, etc. If you are into that sort of thing.
That said the ZZ-whatever it is Hi-Po crate 350 seems to deliver satisfaction.

As a note towards the $4 price of gas anymore, you can definitely go with some sort of fuel injection and HEI ignition, should not be all that bad on gas if/when you are keeping your foot out of it. IMHO you will get a better overall performance/mileage deal by setting up to run premium - premium costs 20 cents more per gallon, with $4 gas that's 5% - you can get more than 5% better mileage with premium. Plus you'll get more all-out power.

Agreeing with Burdell and Greg W, don't over-cam it. Look at some of the higher-performance, 1 hp per cubic inch grinds of the late '60's, I think these will be about what you want. If you set up to do it, consider installing the cam advanced a little rather than "straight up", will give a little more mid-range torque.

You didn't ask about transmissions, but, an aftermarket 6-speed (who is making them now - Richmond Gear?) will allow you to use say a 3.08 to maybe max 3.54 rear end gear for good cruise RPM yet with the lower 1st and 2nd gears still get standing start acceleration like you had something more like a 3.73 or 4.11.

[texdav]

I have a friend who buys alot of engines for rods. He says it is cheaper to buy a crate engine built by the big three than rebuilding and the out come is better.

[GracieJJ]

I would always want warranty to be taken care off (pre-build), even if you had an engineer, unless you're there to overlook the build from start to finish and if it was a mistake that is costly, whats stopping him from dodging the blame and pushing it onto something else?? critical thinkers at its best. Ohh did i mention i was an engineer?