[-sLaYeR-]

Well, I have seen rebuilt 350's anywhere from $250 - $1500 dollars. Now for a ZZ4 Crate it would be $5700 Canadian... Now I understand the warrenty and everything with the crate, but if the machined engine lasts up to 2-3 years for say $600 it to me would be worth it. Now what's everyones view on this? Now what sort of things would you look for in the 350's as well??? I want an engine swap, but preferably for around $2000 or less Canadian. I dont want to have to change engines every month, but $5700 Canadian is a lot for an engine. I can get a 89 Iroc for that price... Thanks

Jay

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'91 RS 305 5.0L V8
Bowtie Grill & Lamps, K&N Air Filter, Centerforce Clutch, and of coarse kickass stereo

Grim Reaper

In some respects, you get what you pay for.

A good machine shop can build you a great motor. But the key is a good machine shop PLUS what you want it to do.

For C$2,000 you are not going to get much IMO. Basically the equivalent of a base Goodwrench motor. If you are happy with 200-250 HP, then its fine. But if you want 300-350 HP, then you are going to have to pay for it.

The biggest problem in Canada is the cost of the internal parts necessary to handle a higher HP motor. The good "Made in the USA" parts are not cheap in Canada.

C$5,700 is only US$3,750. That is not that expensive considering you are getting a brand new motor. With a "machined" (call it a rebuild) you are going to need a good 350 core/block. It wouldn't be the first time that I heard of someone getting a rebuild only to find out the block was not in the best of shape. Whatever you do, MAKE SURE you get the block checked out before beginning your rebuild.

[-sLaYeR-]

I have friends at lordco, and I've herd the machine shop is good. Do you think it would be worth it to look into getting them to build me an engine...? or would I be best off waiting until I have $5000+ bucks to do the crate? I'm not trying to get the cheapest possible, but I am still a student... so the extra money is there right now. If I do wait for the crate, I will be waiting till I'm out of school.

Blown 87 camaro

Well crate engines are best for relieving stress, all you do is save and buy and put in. You can prob build an engine for cheaper and has much more hp but you have to match parts, try to put together right and esimate what its makin in hp. I dont really like crate engine but in your case it may be a a good move. Or you may just want to keep and eye out in newspapers ect. people are always selling 350s they built and dont need cheap too.

Good luck
Cody

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Wieand blown 87 camaro

Grim Reaper

Slayer, I cannot say anything good or bad about Lordco. But "Bond" in Vancouver use to be pretty good. I am not sure if they are still in business though.

But no two machine shops are the same. Some are fine for a "quick rebuild" that will give you another 100,000-200,000 miles of driving on a basically stock engine. But when it comes to a performance engine, they are not as good.

I would contact a few (no make that many) machine shops and tell each of them what you EXACTLY want. HP range, driving style (street, street/strip or strip), etc. Then get them to give you a quote including the parts they are going to use and WHY. Also, ask them if they have made any strip motors and get some references.

The more you get the machine shop to do, the more expensive it will be. However, the more you do WILL affect any warranty you may get. Recently, a buddy found most machine shops charge very little to do the entire "short block" (install the bottom end) over the boring/honing plus they gave him a 90 warranty on the bottom end. Also, get them to install the cam if you are not comfortable with that. Then you only have to install the heads and adjust the rockers. This may save a few bucks.

I will ask another friend tonight who lives in Port Coquitlam where he recently took his motor too to have it rebuilt. They did a very good job and he is very happy with the work they did.