thanks for all the replies, I wanted to build a replacement engine for my 70 while still enjoying my car, I don't want to tear the original engine out unless im ready to swap.
I wasn't thinking of it as a novelty, I was looking at it as brand new quality parts. the block, the crank, etc. I realize that it will need gone thru just as a used engine would but the parts are all brand new factory, good old USA steel, things you cant buy today...... or am I looking at this all wrong?????
I think it’s a good idea... you can save a lot of machine work if you are ok with the factory’s tolerances. If you want to balance and blueprint it then I don’t see much point, may as well just find a core.
Nothing wrong with a nos engine but the work. Take it apart and clean . Check it, better piston and cam and off to the races
IF it was a "rare" Buick 350, (which there is no such thing) then it may be a good buy. Think of it this way, there is no forged crank in that block, no forged rods, no forged pistons, no big valve heads. In other words, that engine is the same as you would find in a junkyard for 150 or less dollars.
Yes and no. If it was well protected, ie no rust . Clean and you have new bearings, cam, lifters , timing set, Pistons, fresh crank, rings. . Easily worth it in parts depending on the person looking at it.
... no heads at all. One would still need oil pick up, oil pan, timing cover, heads, intake, balancer, cam & lifters, all the hardware, etc. If you had some standard forged pistons already it would have some value, but, not $1K
Get the melling pickup for a 77 Buick 350 (20is5 I believe is number) I drill out the pickup passage to 1/2 inch . Can go to 9/16 . You don’t need to if you’re stock . Or not going past 4500 rpm . But I believe it’s less load on pump . Some nice 3.0 v6 flattops with a crower level 3 or a 284-88 would be decent in my opinion.
No heads or timing cover, oil pan, etc? So you have a short block? Crank, rods, pistons? 200 bucks I'd say I don't want to bash the guys engine, but its nothing special. You have a good virgin crank, and a virgin block. The rods aren't even the cap screw rods, and the pistons are low compression cast jobs
Thanks, its good to get all this feedback. I have read and reread this post and I think I will back away and really think about this some more. I think your right Mark, look for a good used running takeout for a couple hundred bucks and start there. If the rods and pistons are not really worth using then your right, not much value here.
Good thinking Dave Think of it moneywise, pick up a decent 350 Buick COMPLETE from the junkyard for 100/200 bucks.... 800 LESS that the NOS short block. With the money saved you can upgrade to better rods and pistons. Years ago I picked up a 78 350 Buick complete carb to pan, the guy at the counter asked ME what I wanted to pay! I told him "150 bucks" he said "ok" Probably could have got it for 100 Nobody wants 'em
Mart has been scouring the yards up here for a sbb 350 with no luck except for 2 of them frozen to the ground in one remote yard that they said they have been there for 20 years! With them being on the ground for 20 years even if they're there upside down how good of a core can they be? Going to the junkyard these days and having a pick of sbb 350 cores is a thing of the past, you're lucking to find one in a yard nowadays!
We're going to, just have to wait for the ground to thaw out before we go. You remember that rusty raw forging that Dave had in the dirt? Yeah that came out sweet, the same guy that stroked your cranks did that crank. Did you see it before or after it was machined?
Sean, you remind me of my brother. He tells everyone he has 11 cars! But I tell him yeah, but none of them run! Couldn't resist....
