GM crate engines
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2024
Posts: 1,510
Likes: 985
From: Florida
GM crate engines
Any opinions on where GM/Chevrolet crate engines stand in the pecking order with the aftermarket people???
They are a bit more expensive but I notice Forged cranks and Forged pistons come in the ones I am looking at...
The small block Aluminum " fast burn" heads are CNC'd , unlike ALL of the aftermarket crate engine builders
thanks everyone
They are a bit more expensive but I notice Forged cranks and Forged pistons come in the ones I am looking at...
The small block Aluminum " fast burn" heads are CNC'd , unlike ALL of the aftermarket crate engine builders
thanks everyone
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 12,624
Likes: 3,097
From: Shamong, NJ
The GM crate engines are more expensive, but they can often be bought for much less than the list price if you shop around with some of the bigger Chevrolet Performance Parts dealers. A big plus is they come with a very good GM warranty, if I recall correctly it's two years or 50,000 miles.
A few years ago a friend bought a Chevrolet 383 crate engine for his 66 Corvette vintage road racer. The first time out with it it developed a knock. He called the dealer that sold it to him and Chevrolet replaced the whole engine, knowing the whole time that it was in a race car. The only restriction GM put on the exchange was they wanted the dealer to pull the bad engine and install the fresh one. The racer had all the plumbing, etc. removed from the engine, brought the car to the dealer where they pulled the engine and installed the new one, and gave it back to him to reconnect everything himself.
I've gotten a few Chevrolet crate engines for customers and they've all been happy with them.
A few years ago a friend bought a Chevrolet 383 crate engine for his 66 Corvette vintage road racer. The first time out with it it developed a knock. He called the dealer that sold it to him and Chevrolet replaced the whole engine, knowing the whole time that it was in a race car. The only restriction GM put on the exchange was they wanted the dealer to pull the bad engine and install the fresh one. The racer had all the plumbing, etc. removed from the engine, brought the car to the dealer where they pulled the engine and installed the new one, and gave it back to him to reconnect everything himself.
I've gotten a few Chevrolet crate engines for customers and they've all been happy with them.
Pro
Joined: Dec 2023
Posts: 651
Likes: 195
From: Katy,TX
Pretty sure Fast Burn SB heads are not CNC'd just a precision casting. They flow pretty decent and have a good chamber. The set I have with a little cleanup flowed 260 cfm. They do take "Vortec" style intakes to match thew ports that may or may not give clearance problems with hood clearance
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2024
Posts: 1,510
Likes: 985
From: Florida
Pretty sure Fast Burn SB heads are not CNC'd just a precision casting. They flow pretty decent and have a good chamber. The set I have with a little cleanup flowed 260 cfm. They do take "Vortec" style intakes to match thew ports that may or may not give clearance problems with hood clearance
Are all of the vortek intakes taller??
EDIT: Just looked in my 2025 GM performance catalog and they are CNC-machined according to it....
Last edited by Limp; Aug 17, 2025 at 11:25 AM.
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 4,383
Likes: 1,183
From: Lexington,NC,USA
C1 of Year Finalist (track prepared) 2019
Back in 2001 I bought a GM Ram Jet 350 crate engine, assembled in Mexico (I think), from Pace performance. Because I was working on building the frame for the car, and I needed the engine to ensure that it would fit under the hood, it was over a year before I cranked it up and found that #2 cylinder had zero compression. I called Pace, and was told that the one year warranty was over, but I explained why it had taken me so long to crank it up, and they sent me a new engine.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2024
Posts: 1,510
Likes: 985
From: Florida
Back in 2001 I bought a GM Ram Jet 350 crate engine, assembled in Mexico (I think), from Pace performance. Because I was working on building the frame for the car, and I needed the engine to ensure that it would fit under the hood, it was over a year before I cranked it up and found that #2 cylinder had zero compression. I called Pace, and was told that the one year warranty was over, but I explained why it had taken me so long to crank it up, and they sent me a new engine.
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Race Director
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 12,624
Likes: 3,097
From: Shamong, NJ
Yep, the Target Master and the later GM Goodwrench 350 that replaced it were all "Hecho en Mexico".
I think when the Target Master came out around 79-80 it listed for about $1200, but you could buy them for less than $1000. And that was for a complete brand new engine. They weren't bad engines either, especially for the money. Since they were originally intended to be a cheap replacement engine for light trucks, they had four bolt mains and were otherwise basically the same engine as the L-48 350.
Back in 1980, we put a 350/350 cam in a Target Master, added an Edelbrock intake, a Holley and headers to it and dropped it in a friend's 74 Corvette. It ran pretty darn good. I also helped a friend replace the tired 307 in his 69 Chevelle convertible with one around the same time, and he was thrilled with it.
I think when the Target Master came out around 79-80 it listed for about $1200, but you could buy them for less than $1000. And that was for a complete brand new engine. They weren't bad engines either, especially for the money. Since they were originally intended to be a cheap replacement engine for light trucks, they had four bolt mains and were otherwise basically the same engine as the L-48 350.
Back in 1980, we put a 350/350 cam in a Target Master, added an Edelbrock intake, a Holley and headers to it and dropped it in a friend's 74 Corvette. It ran pretty darn good. I also helped a friend replace the tired 307 in his 69 Chevelle convertible with one around the same time, and he was thrilled with it.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2024
Posts: 1,510
Likes: 985
From: Florida
Yep, the Target Master and the later GM Goodwrench 350 that replaced it were all "Hecho en Mexico".
I think when the Target Master came out around 79-80 it listed for about $1200, but you could buy them for less than $1000. And that was for a complete brand new engine. They weren't bad engines either, especially for the money. Since they were originally intended to be a cheap replacement engine for light trucks, they had four bolt mains and were otherwise basically the same engine as the L-48 350.
Back in 1980, we put a 350/350 cam in a Target Master, added an Edelbrock intake, a Holley and headers to it and dropped it in a friend's 74 Corvette. It ran pretty darn good. I also helped a friend replace the tired 307 in his 69 Chevelle convertible with one around the same time, and he was thrilled with it.
I think when the Target Master came out around 79-80 it listed for about $1200, but you could buy them for less than $1000. And that was for a complete brand new engine. They weren't bad engines either, especially for the money. Since they were originally intended to be a cheap replacement engine for light trucks, they had four bolt mains and were otherwise basically the same engine as the L-48 350.
Back in 1980, we put a 350/350 cam in a Target Master, added an Edelbrock intake, a Holley and headers to it and dropped it in a friend's 74 Corvette. It ran pretty darn good. I also helped a friend replace the tired 307 in his 69 Chevelle convertible with one around the same time, and he was thrilled with it.
Pro
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 566
Likes: 133
From: Fort Worth Texas
I got a LS376/525 crate from GM, Chevrolet Performance and it is fantastic. I was looking at a crate BluePrint 427 sbc but knew that I'd only be happy with the LS. I say this to let you know that Summit Outlet center very often has GM Crate sbc for great deals. That BluePrint 427 was like around 6K in the outlet store. Incredible deal! Same kind of deals with GM crates if you are lucky. Summit has really good deals on regular pricing Crate engines and they have free shipping if you aren't close to a store. I'm in Fort Worth, so there is a huge Summit store 20 minutes from me.
If you shop around, you can probably find GMPP crate engines discounted fairly well compared to the GM website pricing. Good luck!
If you shop around, you can probably find GMPP crate engines discounted fairly well compared to the GM website pricing. Good luck!
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2024
Posts: 1,510
Likes: 985
From: Florida
I got a LS376/525 crate from GM, Chevrolet Performance and it is fantastic. I was looking at a crate BluePrint 427 sbc but knew that I'd only be happy with the LS. I say this to let you know that Summit Outlet center very often has GM Crate sbc for great deals. That BluePrint 427 was like around 6K in the outlet store. Incredible deal! Same kind of deals with GM crates if you are lucky. Summit has really good deals on regular pricing Crate engines and they have free shipping if you aren't close to a store. I'm in Fort Worth, so there is a huge Summit store 20 minutes from me.
If you shop around, you can probably find GMPP crate engines discounted fairly well compared to the GM website pricing. Good luck!
If you shop around, you can probably find GMPP crate engines discounted fairly well compared to the GM website pricing. Good luck!
That SBC 427 is $9649.00 at summit, I just checked... Prices have really gone crazy.. Blueprint just had a $200 per engine price increase and from what I can tell, GM has had around a $300 - $400 per engine price increase in the last 60 days...
Pro
Joined: Dec 2023
Posts: 651
Likes: 195
From: Katy,TX
Both Fast burn and Blueprint Aluminum SB heads take both bolt pattern intakes but the Fast burn port shape and placement is trapezoid vs rectangular like Vortec vs "plain SB" and are slightly moved up also. So even if using a standard intake the port placement is a little different. The Blueprint ports are kind of in between. I have a set of Fast Burns and put a Blueprint 383 with aluminum heads in my 97 Chevy Vortec truck and matched to intake to the Blueprint port shape-not sure it made much difference as the intake is restrictive.
Also the Fast Burn D port shaped exhaust ports are raised in comparison to standard SB exhaust. I think you can slot "regular" headers and maybe exhaust manifolds to fit. I converted mine to push rod guide plates as I just don't like the self aligning rockers. Were fine on my trucks original motor but the BPE had too much slop in theirs and I swapped on Harland Sharp roller rockers with the tighter guides on the roller tip.
https://www.gmperformancemotor.com/p...PVMKwE7D15yEJJ
Prices have jumped a bunch. The 383 in my truck is a bunch more than I paid 3 years ago!
Also the Fast Burn D port shaped exhaust ports are raised in comparison to standard SB exhaust. I think you can slot "regular" headers and maybe exhaust manifolds to fit. I converted mine to push rod guide plates as I just don't like the self aligning rockers. Were fine on my trucks original motor but the BPE had too much slop in theirs and I swapped on Harland Sharp roller rockers with the tighter guides on the roller tip.
https://www.gmperformancemotor.com/p...PVMKwE7D15yEJJ
Prices have jumped a bunch. The 383 in my truck is a bunch more than I paid 3 years ago!