cv67

With all the "has crate motor" ads and topics thought Id call a place or two just for fun; in fact called on a vehicle that advertised a new Crate motor. It came from Pep Boys not the GM or XX brand youd hope for. Get what you pay for as usual.

Called local high volume place that cranks them out for kicks.

1989 Corvette L98
Long block 1695
Labor 1050 + the extras below
Say roughly 3k+++


5.3 lsx (in my truck) 180k
Keep in mind lots of parts are going to be reused
$2195 long block+ 950 labor +below




Heres what you get:
Bore/hone
Pistons rings
Bearings, main & rod cam bearings left alone unless obviously bad
3 angle valve job, seals
Gaskets
head surface only if it "needs it"

2 yr 24k mi warranty IF they install it

Now for the catch-
-Reuse old cam & lifters if bad upsell
-Reuse oil pump, water pump
-no line hone no torque plate used
-Reuse valve springs lucky to "shim them up springs dont go bad"
-Reuse retainers keepers timing chain unless real bad
-Guides left alone unless way out
-Rods not resized
-Crank polish no grinding if it needs, upcharge
-No balancing done
-reuse old balancer.
-All engine hardware reused, any TTY bolts too if you want new $$

Basically reuse everything possible unless its broken

Cam upgrade?" No such things they dont work with computers"

Install "done by them or no warranty"
$950 plus tax. Say roughly 10%

$3404.50
PLUS coolant oil filter belts all the little "has to be done to keep warranty" stuff.

Didnt bother asking about a 6.0

No opinions just puttin it out there for kicks.
Get what you pay for as they say

Vendors encouraged to pipe in.

whalepirot

I think the rest of that reads, "IF you're lucky!"

Tom454

That's a joke. Is that what you were going for? LOL... "Here's what you get..." Bend Over.

Churchkey

GM Goodwrench or Ford Racing sell factory rebuilt "crate engines".

I avoid parts store engines like Jasper, Gopher etc.

cv67

Unless something changes will probably be doing the worlds cheapest rebuild on my 5.3 think Imlosing a lifter.

May post it up for fun

GM when you first look at them seem WAY more but really when you look at it hard to beat new. Not saying they are end all be all as they got their sloppy stuff too but man...imagine paying for one of those only to find out half your rebuilt motor isnt.

Be cool if a vendor popped in and gave a run down of what they do/dont do. I dont know how these places make any money at it.

tpi 421 vette

That has to be one of the most half assed engine rebuilds I have ever seen.

c4cruiser

Jasper builds an excellent replacement engine. They offer a 3 year, 100K warranty on both parts and labor. They also have a line of performance engines This link gives you an idea of what Jasper offers.

1985 Corvette

Crate motors can be a coin flip for sure. Kicker I always get a chuckle out of on some crate motor descriptions is the word "seasoned", which is usually used to describe the block and sometimes a few other items that are "reconditioned". Put it together for dirt cheap, and flip it to a customer and make a killing.

cv67

Jim agree not only "junk" its a straight up ripoff.
Who puts old parts in a "rebuilt" motor wtf is that!
TJ special!

Called Jasper they offer 3 yr 100,000k mi warranty they install it otherwise no warranty no used parts, but cams get reground;a perf. considerably more;they do balance it and do transmissions also In fact installed (in my truck) would be over 5k;with a trans 7k

Looks like its find a low mi core and go through it myself, cant afford GM although at this point if I could i would .Last one held up pretty good and drove it like I literally hated it first 60k. cant believe its still together

Cringe at the thought of picking something up off ebay

Anyone else have recommendations

jamall I agree "seasoned" just means old and used up
Know theres a theory behind it havent seen any proof its any better

Do new cars have seasoned motors?
Read about one guys "ex nascar *(they all are lol) builder who insisted on setting his pistons on the counter for a week so they took a "set" LOL
Dont mean to be critical but my god people that are paying others that really think like this?

ddahlgren

While GM more money you are getting a new engine rather than a bunch of washed used parts.

ddahlgren

There is used and there is aged and they are not the same. In the case of a rebuilt engine they re used rather than aged. Most heat treatable and some just cast will age harden and stabilize aluminum is the one I am most familiar with and machine a lot of it. I have many things made from a solid block of aluminum that is not weld able. 2024 T351 being on that is a very strong material with a bunch of useful properties but can not be welded. Some of the things I make start from fairly large blanks 105 to 115 lbs over 4" thick 2 ft. long and maybe 16 " wide. They get machined to close to 85% removed. The way the material is made it has a lot of internal stress from the outside cooling much faster that the inside so a lot of internal pulling and tugging on the outside. I generally machine to 5% to go remove from CNC and let it set a week or so before finishing as a lot of precision dowel holes have to line up when done and they all bend some at limes 0.035 over 2 ft. Letting metal relax is not a crazy though though the piston example a joke. A high nickel engine block or thick wall extrusion or rolled plate there is a lot to be said for natural aging.

Churchkey

Maybe things are now better @ Jasper?

Have installed 4 of them in 2 customer cars (long blocks) the second 2 replaced the first 2 that went south.

Good luck.

RWDsmoke

The supply of ls motors in junk yards is high making low mileage motors cheap. I think I would take my chances with one of them before buying a cheap rebuild.

1985 Corvette

So for someone really not in the know about age hardening of materials: certain blocks will actually strengthen over time by aging?

cv67

RWD waiting for a cheap LSx motor they get crazy money out here for them though. Cheapest Ive seen a 5.3 is for $800 usually $1k-1500 6.0 are 2k + with 200k on them.
guys steal these trucks left and right for the 5.3 throw a cheap turbo on them and run decent times.
Not sure I believe the aged sitting around makes them any better
Bought a new GM block in the late 90s seems fine. Hecho en Mexico shame they dont sell them anymore. $600 for a brand new 4 bolt

If GM were smart they would cast a better 4 bolt 400 2 pc & 1 pc 4 bolt 350....427 etc theres a market for them.

Tom400CFI

That motor (in the first post) is what my prof in auto school woudl call a "10,000 mile rebuild". Terrible.

Caterpillar does. At work, we bought premium, 5 year/8000 hr, extended warranties on all of our Caterpillar C9 engines in our snow cats. During a summer service we found metal in the oil in one that had about 4000 hours on it, this past summer. CAT came up, assessed the engine and decided to pull it. They took it down to Wheeler in SLC and determined that the block was cracked....it needed a new block. 3 months later (!) we got it back. I asked what had been done to it and was told that it got a new block. Upon further investigation, I learned that the block is all that they replaced! They literally, stuck to the word of the warranty and replaced only the broken part; the block. So they re-used all of our 4000 hr parts!!;pistons, bearing shells, rings, cam, lifters, oil pump....everything. You want to talk about a junkyard rebuild....CAT did it. With a premium warranty, I expected that when our engine failed, we'd get a reman'ed engine. Not a 4000 hr, reused-parts engine.
So who puts old parts in a rebuilt motor? Caterpillar does.


.

Tom400CFI

No. That's what we call...."lore".

cv67

like the 010 high nickel (actually tin) bs
I bought a mexican made GM block new it measured out with no work done better than any old (above) block the machinist had seen.

Surprising on CAT. Some of GM crates use reconditioned rods most are all new but even with mfg slop still trust them more

Seems ya buy GM, pay a lot for a custom build or DIY

Wheres blueprint, and some others be nice to see them pipe in

ddahlgren

Most cast materials will and your degree in metallurgy is parked where?

Tom400CFI

Right next to yours.