To buy a engine/heads/carb that someone says is redone or has xyz done to it or just buy it bare and rebuild yourself..

The reason I ask is that I'm looking for a 455 engine and I've seen some on Ebay/Craigslist saying the engine was rebuilt not long ago. If this was purchased would it still be wise to break it down and go over everything or should I just look for a bare block and heads and rebuilt it from there??

 

If you have all the work done at a local shop and something is not right you have piece of mind of knowing where they live. And have more control of what is being done. After 58 years I don't trust folks as much as I should I guess.

 

Tough to say but I am sure that many people will weigh in differently on this. For me, I found a good looking SB350 with an Edelbrock Performer Intake, Isky Pushrod guides, Harland Sharp roller rockers, #5 heads, an MSD billet dist., 6AL ignition and who knows what else for $600. I thought it was a pretty good deal and rolled the dice. I have looked through it, ran some leakdown tests, pulled the intake, etc... and so far I haven't found anything but good vibrations! Like anything you buy AS IS, you have a degree of risk, but I figure I could part what I have bought and be close to a breakeven point.

I thought about tearing it down, but it looks good so far and my Cutlass isn't my DD. For me, I am just going to drop it in and see if there are any issues. If so, I yank it back out and go through it... I knew I couldn't build this engine for this price (or it would be hard to) so I bit the bullet. Could be a learning lesson, but I am happy with what I have found so far.

If you are going to buy a "newly rebuilt" engine you can find a lot by looking at seals, pulling the valve covers, etc... My .02

 

I feel ya, but if you go pick up an engine off of Craigslist, you still know where they live .

 

If it's a running engine, go and see/hear it running BEFORE you buy, if it's not in a car, you can start it without a car. You just need to supply 12 volts to the starter and a small amount of gas. You can look at my youtube video titled "Oldsmoible 350 engine running out of car"

No carb?, bring a breaker bar and a 1 1/8 socket and turn it over by hand. It won't be easy to turn, but it will turn and hiss.

With that said, Craigslist over eBay. At least with CL, you can find something local (or kinda local) and check it out before you buy. Then use a buddy with a truck, or rent a truck from enterprise and get it. That is how I bought both my 350 and my 330.

The 350 I bought from some kid north of Scranton, PA for $400 and got a free th400 trans. Rented a F-150 from Enterprise the next weekend and went up and got it. With the 330, it was somewhere in Central NJ, I still have no idea where. My buddy went up with me and I picked it up after draining the oil and seeing if it was clean and turning it once (no intake or carb) Got it for $300 and as you know the crank in that engine goes for about $500 alone My buddy has a 1997 Chevy 2500

 

Anybody can rebuild an engine but few can do it right.

 

I'll second that.

 

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