rayfrausto

okay guys so as i was looking for a 350 rocket i came across a guy who has one.. seems like a pretty nice guy the only thing is that the engine is not in the car its on a crate in his garage. so as i went to go look at it and talked to him. he told me that when he bought it it was (supposedly) rebuilt. he threw out the word supposedly because he said there was no paper or proof that it was rebuilt but the guy he bought it from said they went threw it and rebuilt it. the guy ended up wanted a 455/th400. so he bought one and ended up selling the 350. so thats how he got it he said. he bought it outside the car too. the guy im buying it from now wanted to put it in a 50's Pontiac car but when he installed it it didn't fit there wasn't enough clearance for the exhaust manifolds. he showed me his car hes restoring and he had pictures of the drop in and u can see the exhaust manifolds didnt fit. so now hes trying to sell it and buy a smaller motor. The motor looks pretty clean the heads are pretty spot less. i didnt take off the intake to look at that yet. the guy says that he turned it over when he got it and it turned over nicely. he also offered to do a compression test with me before i buy it. the price is 650 for a 350/th350 that comes with it. now dose that seem like a good deal what should i look at? and is it worth the risk? i will upload pictures i took of it shortly... thank you guys

-ray

Shizzy

depends on the price. The guy does sound like he is trying to be up front about the history of the engine.

I would treat it as a core and would open it up to check it out. may or may not have been rebuilt. for the cost of some gaskets you could see.

rayfrausto

ya so what main things i should look at to see if its rebuilt or in atleast good condition cause i was just gunna slap new gaskets on before i droped in anyways.. and the guy is more then willing to let me inspect it. he has it on his pallet with a starter everthing hooked up so we can turn it over and give it a compression check too

GTI_Guru

if the compression checks out okay and it spins freely, good chance it's fine. I'd plastigauge the rod/main bearings to be sure they are in spec, check out the oil pump to make sure it's new and not just a cleaned up worn out one, but besides that, if you can get the combo for around $500, it sounds like a decent buy.

jag1886

I'd offer him a couple hundred less and see what happens. You will need to tear in down, a lot of people call a new set of rings, timing chain and new gaskets a rebuild.

rayfrausto

here are some random pics i took of it last night
2011-06-16_215632.jpg

2011-06-16_214146.jpg

2011-06-16_214134.jpg

2011-06-16_213851.jpg

rayfrausto

i dont no what none of the numbers mean on the block so i just took some pics off those see what you olds guys no. if the compression test works out it should be fine? i want a good running motor it dont have to be nothing special the one in mine right now is getting ready to die low compression in 2 cylinders.. bearings are shot its making my tranny wear the tranny guy told me when he rebuilt my tranny so im storing the tranny till i get a new 350