is a used 455 short block that turns freely worth 500 bucks? 396021F

thanks

duane

 

Are you buying ? Are you selling one ? I didn't pay near that for the last complete 455 I bought. Yes, it was a smog motor with J heads.

 

Been a little while since I was buying and selling engines. I woulds never pay more than $300 for complete motor, that I did not hear run, When selling, I had a hard time getting more than $150 for a bare block, and $100 for good crank. Maybe the prices have gone up, in the last year or so? Also, thought, they aren't making any more 455s. Try to sell, you can always lower the price.

 

Prices have gone up. 500 isn't horrible at all

 

What pistons are in it? What do the bores look like and has the block been overbored? What do the main and rod bearings/ crank journals look like? Has the crank been turned? The back side of the rod and main bearings will be stamped with the amount the crank has been turned if indeed it has been turned undersized. How clean is the motor inside (sludge build up, stiction, etc)? The answers to these questions will determine if $500 is cheap, fair, or too much. For a low compression sludged up motor that needs bored, $500 is probably too much. If it has small dish (higher compression pistons), the cylinder walls look good enough to use with new rings, and the motor is fairly clean inside, $500 is probably too cheap.

 

these are the pictures, it's listed locally but i have not went and looked at the cylinders up close.

 

I paid $300 for an original '73 455 - never apart but for water pump and HEI swap, about 2 years ago - still stored away in my garage for that someday project.. It was a J-head motor but I dumped those later for a set of untouched '70 big valve E heads off a 442 + a clean E-brock Performer intake, so I arguably have about $700 total in a complete motor.

I think $500 is too much for just a short block but in its favor, it does look fairly clean and that could be a huge plus later.

 

Looks like double round notch low compresion pistons. Cannot really see how good the cyliner walls look. Overall it is not encouraging. The next question is: What are your plans for the motor?
Will this be something to go on the street as a cruiser (intake, Mild cam, and a few other up grades)? Will it be an all out race motor? will it be inbetween? Low compression pistons can be good for a driver especailly with the cost of gas so high.

 

looking to build a mild cam driver engine to put in my 442 in place of the 400 so i can preserve the original engine. i will keep my eyes open. i found a 400 but the guy hasn't answered back

thanks

 

I paid like $800 for my complete virgin 1970 455 engine a couple years ago. $500 doesn't seem bad to me as long as the engine core is good. Mine was in great shape and had never been worked or machined. One of the keys to building a strong and optimal engine is starting with a great core to begin with.

 

Are 455 engines really that hard to find? There are several junkyards around here that still have old cars. I seriously doubt any of the engines would run, but I would think a rebuildable core could be found around here much cheaper than 500, and that would be a complete engine.

The most expensive 455 I have ever bought was $500, and that was in a 68 Toronado. I put a battery in it and it ran. It had no brakes, so driving it wasn’t an option but it did start and run.

All the other 455 cores I have I paid a 100-150 each.

I didn’t NEED any of the cores I have, but I bought them because I knew they aren’t making them any more. Gotta buy them when you find them.

 

i honestly haven't looked that hard, i was just posting originally to ask. most of the good yards with old cars close to me have closed. i guess it is time for some digging to see what's really out there still.

 

I think if they aren't falling out of the sky like rain, they must be hard to find.
I pick them up when I run across them, same as you do. $500 is the most I will pay, and that is for a complete engine including all the brackets and alternator and carb. People are now claiming to have bought "virgin" 455's. I find that unusual to find new never run before 455's. I would rather have a "seasoned" block.

 

Our evolving fuel and parts pricing/availability situations of late may now start to change a lot of plans for people holding buildable old big blocks in their garage for that someday swap. If that happens you may see more of them coming up for sale and changing hands for cheap. My '73 big-car BBO was complete and relatively untouched when I bought it a few years back for $300 - even with virgin 442 E heads, Thornton W/Z manifolds and an E-brock performer intake I've since bought for it I'm still invested less than $1k.

I've toyed with going forth on a build multiple times since then but keep getting hung up on timing and cost issues - and now of late I feel like the window has been missed to build it within an under-$10k budget (without cutting too many corners on replacement parts quality), knowing on the back end my ragtop won't really see any more use than the 3-4k miles/yr I currently drive her.

So I keep convincing myself my well-built SBO is still plenty of fun for what I do with the car and another BBO sits quietly tucked away in the garage possibly awaiting another changing of hands at some point barring some major turn in our economic tides.

 

That 455 is a serif F and could be as late as 1974. I have a serif F that was originally in a 73.

 

I have a 455 out of a 70 sx with E heads, Hi comp pistons, 2 bll intake, took it apart to do a rebuild but I found a 70 455 built and running I am in arizona though.
Bores look good so do the heads, Ill get pics of the heads later and add them