b9radz

Here's the story. My son and I built a 87' IROC last winter for his H.S. graduation present. We put a carbed 388ci.-700r4w/TPI guts and a 3:73 gear in the car and it ran great. I used to be a bump and paint man so we squirted it black. We had about $7K into the car. If anybody has been to Detroit in August they were probably at the Woodward Dream Cruise. (est. of 44,000 hot rods for the weekend)To make a long story short,a guy offered my son $15K and he sold it that weekend. So what we've decided to do is build a couple 3rd gens a year to make some extra cash. I've got sources for the cars,trannys and rear-end work, and I do the paint work. What I need is an engine supplier that does turn-key motors. I'm looking around 400-450hp.,w/carb and HEI.
Does anyone know of any good sources ? Bang for the buck is of utmost importance!
Thanks in advance for any imput!

Vader

B9,

Welcome aboard!

You'll probably get lots of opinions, but for outright reliability and consistency, it's hard to beat the GMPP 350 HO crate engine. It only makes 330HP/380ft-lb at the crank, but a brand new, fully assembled, gauranteed engine ready to install is worth something. It comes out of the crate with a Holley 650 already set up for the engine, HEI distributor, and at just under $3,000 a copy, a brand new gauranteed GM engine is another plus when selling the refurbished cars. The crates are available whenever you need them, not when someone can get it assembled or has some spare time to do the work.

For about $200.00 more, you can get a ZZ4 crate engine that will make 25 more HP and 20 more ft-lb torque. The engine does NOT come with a carb, so the true cost differential is about $500.00 for the extra power. Again, a brand new engine can be a good lure to a buyer.

Complete engines rebuilt from other commercial sources will vary in components and reliability. The warranty period is much shorter and usually non-transferrable. The cost of the rebuilds is often higher than advertised, since a rebuildable core needs to be exchanged for the fresh engine.

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Later,
Vader
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"No matter how hard you try you can't stop us now"
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ede

i hate to say vaders right, but on this one he is. for the price and what all you get the gmpp engines are a great deal. jim pace and scrogin-dickie are 2 sources that come to mind. your local chevy dealer may get you better prices since you may be closer to the source.

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ICON Motorsports
1st & 3rd

Vader

Ed,

Thanks for the vote of confidence, I think...

I was going to bring up ICON Motorsports, but didn't know what your capacity was, or if you were interested. Detroit isn't that far to ship an engine, but given the circumstances, I thought the crates were a good solution. I knew you would see the post anyway, and could email B9 if you wanted to get more information.

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B9,

It sounds like you and your son have something to work with, and it isn't just cars. You're very fortunate to be able to have a common interest. A lot of idle talk can be made under the hood, and some of that "chat" can have a significant impact. The kind of trouble he can get into while playing with cars is a lot better than the other kinds of trouble he could get into without your guidance. Consider yourself very lucky to be able to work along side him and continue to hold interest. It sounds like you have something to build on for a lifetime.

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Later,
Vader
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"No matter how hard you try you can't stop us now"
Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0

[This message has been edited by Vader (edited December 30, 2000).]

b9radz

Hey ede & vader, I appreciate your replies, but I'm really lookin' for over 400hp. One of the reasons we got the kind of money we did was that we showed the buyer a time slip of 12:87 we ran on street tires.(and the seat of the pants test drive) I don't think the ZZ4 could pull those kinds of numbers.
The car we sold started with a 350ci 4-bolt and we added a Speed-o-motive rotating assembly,Brodix heads,Victor Jr.etc,etc. I've looked in CHP and saw some good deals from Golens engine service,Powerline engines and the aforementioned Speed-o-motive. I wanted to check with you guys for more sources.
Thanks again,
b9radz

ede

vader's right again. i never even thought about it, but the fact that you and your son can/are doing this together is worth way more than any proffit you see from the cars.
one thing i did think of is the prefornace packages put together by holley and edlebrock, heads, cam, intake, and carb. doesn't require much thinking or researce to bolt these up to a good short block.

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ICON Motorsports
1st & 3rd

ede

lunati makes top of the line crank kits, high dollars stuff. add the preformance package from holley (lunti cam) and bolt it all together. about all you'd need is a block and few minor pieces. for complete engines i'd look at BRE, but shipping would be a lot. GMPP makes several other preformance engines, EFI 502 for little over 7000 dollars.

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ICON Motorsports
1st & 3rd

b9radz

I'm would like to stay with a turn-key setup!
Thanks,
b9radz

Vader

B9,

Just a thought, since you are in the Great Lakes State. You could check with Rich at Cruzin' Performance. They do several types of conversion and upgrade service, and may have a lime on engine builders in your area who could accomodate your needs.

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Later,
Vader
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"No matter how hard you try you can't stop us now"
Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0

87kevroc

Check out this site. I have not done business with them, so I don't know anything about them other than the info on the web site, but they seem to address all the right questions, and it sounds like the kind of thing you're looking for. May be worth looking into.
http://www.musclecarengines.com/index.html

branz28

I'm with vader and ede, this sounds weird..but i look to people like vader for my guidance (sp?) so i can keep under the hood. Lord knows what i'd be doing if i didn't have them around to help me with my questions and such. Since i don't have a father (passed away when i was 6) i don't have someone like you to guide me in the right direction or talk with me. So all i'm saying is consider yourself fortunate.

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89 IROC-Z 350 TPI

-Flowmaster Catback
-Performance Resource Chip
-700R4 (Rebuilt) Too much done to actually list
-K&N Airfilters
-Ported Plenum
-2.77 Gears (not much to brag about but eh, its there)
-MSD 8.5 mm plug wires
-Problems every other day with the car (probably not a mod, but to me it sure makes a difference)

md

I've had a few phone conversations with Bill Ceralli (sp?). He seems to know a thing or two about high output engines and uses high end parts with high end machine work like lifter and cylinder bore indexing. You can see a few of his dyno results at AFR's web sight. They're 406's in the 500+hp range with dyno slips and cost $9500. Considering what your getting, not a bad price at all. I'm sure he builds others, but I didn't ask.

Ceralli Competition Engines 973-742-4972

Ditto on Vader's comments about your son...I have a teenage girl that likes makeup and gossip and the new VW Bugs. But I'm working on the boy, I can hope......

Mike

Kevin91Z

iTrader: (1)

I would say stay away from Speed-O-Motive. They're local to me here in SoCal, but I know two friends who got absolute crap engines from them. They used to be good, but lately, they suck.

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1991 Camaro Z28
5.7L 5-Speed (originally 305)
13.25 @ 107.18 MPH
Southern California
Member: SoCal 3rd Gen F-Bodies
Webmaster: SoCal F-Bodies
-=ICON Motorsports=-

super chevy

Check these guys out.
They sell chevy crate engines, and modified crate engines, plus they will build whatever you want. They are located here in Dallas. I have been to their store/shop. My buddy bought one of their ZZ430's. Hauls a**.
Here's the link: http://www.goautocenter.com/