Pricing on Engines

Hello,
I'm in need of a 350, and junkyards around here don't keep things older than 20 years so I've been looking at stuff on Craigslist and Facebook for a while and just saw a listing that listing that caught my eye but I'd like to get others opinions because I don't know how to value used aluminum heads
I attached a screenshot of it, it's an old ZZZ crate engine, it's a std bore 4 bolt main roller block with aluminum heads and pink rods, 1 piece seal for 1100 obo.
Provided there's no surprises, what would you value something like that right now?
All I can find is smogger era low compression flat tappit engines so I don't have much to compare to locally
Thanks

IDK, I can't help you directly on the value, but to me it would not be worth a lot, certainly not $1,100. Here's my thoughts take it or leave it. I've put plenty of used engines in vehicles before, some of which rolled another 100K with the used engine, but they all came from wrecking yards bc, at least they'd have a 30 - 90 day warranty. If you do decide to move forward I'd wanna know why he is selling it? If the car was wrecked then that's fine. But also at $1,100 you not far from a stock rebuilt 350, which would come from a rebuilder with a warranty. Add another $1,000 and you could have a fresh rebuilt performance engine. IDK, back when I was taking the risk on used engines we'd get them for $75 - $125, so this would have been 90's into early 2000's.

Could you recommend some good rebuilders with warranties?
All the crates on Summit from a decent name are at least 3.5k
For wrecking yards, I've called every place in a 30 minute drive and nobody saves over 20 years old, to my knowledge every 350 that came in a vehicle is at least 20 years old. Pull-a-part yards were illegal here until a few years ago so none really exist

edit: this zzz crate is advertised as 345 horsepower & 370 lb/ft of torque. That'll probably wreck my crappy stock 700r4 and 10 bolt. Seems like my options are money pit, nutless dog, or lawn ornament for the car

Gene King said:

Hello,
I'm in need of a 350, and junkyards around here don't keep things older than 20 years so I've been looking at stuff on Craigslist and Facebook for a while and just saw a listing that listing that caught my eye but I'd like to get others opinions because I don't know how to value used aluminum heads
I attached a screenshot of it, it's an old ZZZ crate engine, it's a std bore 4 bolt main roller block with aluminum heads and pink rods, 1 piece seal for 1100 obo.
Provided there's no surprises, what would you value something like that right now?
All I can find is smogger era low compression flat tappit engines so I don't have much to compare to locally
Thanks

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Check out Chuck and Eddies in southington/plantsville. Despite being illegal, they always still had a u-pull side of the yard and nobody ever gave them sh!t about it. I haven't been there since I moved out of state almost a decade ago, but they used to have old stuff on the pick apart side of the yard, several squares (even a couple of my old ones) as well as older GM stuff that undoubtedly had SBCs in them. It's nothing they "keep in stock" but if you find something they'll usually still pull it for you if you want.

What part of the state are you from? I am very familiar with many of the salvage yards across the state, as I always drove junk when I lived down there lol. I also worked at a handful of them over the years. You're right they typically don't save stuff older than 15-20 years, but there are exceptions. Most places still hold onto a few old things they know will sell. I've seen things like a suicide door Lincoln going to the crusher, but the same yard still had a row of 25-30 year old pickups and vans down in the back because there was such a demand (and this was a place that specialized in Volvos, Subarus, ML320s, and other yuppie soccer mom sort of stuff). They're trying to maake a profit, they only want to keep what they know will sell. A lot of old stuff doesn't sell so despite how "cool" it may be they usually ditch it, but things like squares there's always a demand for so they will usually hold onto them

Jump on car-part.com It is a junk yard search. You can search for any year car or truck that you can think of that had a small block in it. You can sort it by distance. I use it all the time

kidego31 said:

Jump on car-part.com It is a junk yard search. You can search for any year car or truck that you can think of that had a small block in it. You can sort it by distance. I use it all the time

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I'm still amazed that there are so many people out there who don't know about car-part

Just a side note concerning rebuilds. I don't know about your areas, but the machine shops around here are backed up beyond comprehension. I dropped off a bare block for machining on November 15th and here it is almost mid April and they still don't have it done. At least here, you can't have an expectation of getting anything done in a reasonable amount of time.

Gene King said:

Could you recommend some good rebuilders with warranties?
All the crates on Summit from a decent name are at least 3.5k
For wrecking yards, I've called every place in a 30 minute drive and nobody saves over 20 years old, to my knowledge every 350 that came in a vehicle is at least 20 years old. Pull-a-part yards were illegal here until a few years ago so none really exist

edit: this zzz crate is advertised as 345 horsepower & 370 lb/ft of torque. That'll probably wreck my crappy stock 700r4 and 10 bolt. Seems like my options are money pit, nutless dog, or lawn ornament for the car

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You should do a websearch for S&J engines in Spokane, Wa. Of course you'll likely pay a little more for shipping, but their prices are reasonable, warranty good and they do good work.

If you can afford that kind of $$$$, I'd go with Jasper.

SirRobyn0 said:

You should do a websearch for S&J engines in Spokane, Wa. Of course you'll likely pay a little more for shipping, but their prices are reasonable, warranty good and they do good work.

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Have installed a couple S & J engines. They worked out fine, however when I needed a 350 last summer there was a 3-4 months wait. That might not be the case now.

Used Cassell Engines instead. They are a smaller company but have been in business for decades. Didn't ask, but they used matched rods and balanced it. Price was very reasonable at around $900 for a short block. Engine runs great.

Would you be interested in a running 305 that is still in the truck? Where are you in CT?

Gene King said:

Hello,
I'm in need of a 350, and junkyards around here don't keep things older than 20 years so I've been looking at stuff on Craigslist and Facebook for a while and just saw a listing that listing that caught my eye but I'd like to get others opinions because I don't know how to value used aluminum heads
I attached a screenshot of it, it's an old ZZZ crate engine, it's a std bore 4 bolt main roller block with aluminum heads and pink rods, 1 piece seal for 1100 obo.
Provided there's no surprises, what would you value something like that right now?
All I can find is smogger era low compression flat tappit engines so I don't have much to compare to locally
Thanks

Click to expand...

That's pretty sad they dont keep older things. Most people needing parts have 20 year old or older cars, silly policy.

$1100!! Ouch!
That's like the going rate for a running Cummins 12v.
I can get small blocks around here for between $150, and $200. Got a 305 for $50 and a 283 for free a while back.

Different markets. I feel bad for you guys on the east coast.

Hi guys, thanks for all the replies, I'll do some research on these guys you recommended
@RecklessWOT & @Rickf, I live 10 mins from Foxwoods. I appreciate the offer Rick but no thank you. This is actually for my Iroc that had a swapped smogger 305 before I blew it up and it was always anemic for a car that was hypothetically supposed to "fast". I've got another 305 sitting in a van in the yard but..I don't know I'm kind at odds with myself. I'm a cheap-ass that doesn't want to mess with the rest of the drive train yet I want the car to have some more pep if I'm going to do anything to it. I've got a late 80s 454 with crappy heads and a crank that needs to be turned in the garage also but to get that to work properly I'll be into it $2k before heads and like a year time

fast 99 said:

Have installed a couple S & J engines. They worked out fine, however when I needed a 350 last summer there was a 3-4 months wait. That might not be the case now.

Used Cassell Engines instead. They are a smaller company but have been in business for decades. Didn't ask, but they used matched rods and balanced it. Price was very reasonable at around $900 for a short block. Engine runs great.

Cassell Engines Performance Machine Shop :: Spokane, Washington

Cassell Engines is a Performance Machine Shop located in Spokane, WA. Phone: 509-484-8453

cassellengines.com

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I apricate the info. We had to wait a little while for a 350 for a customers truck last fall from S & J. Not anywhere near that long, but they were saying that they were having a hard time getting good lifters. I'm on the west side of the state, so as long as Cassell engines is willing to ship, I'll write them down as my back up.

I use to use either S & J or Oregon Engines out of Sandy, Oregon, but Oregon Engines shut down about a year or more ago. So with that I no longer have had a second option. I don't like using places to far away or shipping kills me. And I can't use any place in Puget sound area because all of a sudden a $1,500 rebuild costs $3K. Thanks again for that info on Cassell.

Was just bullshitting with my dad, he's got an old 327 with questionable bores and 10:1 heads but with sunk valves. Not sure that helps me yet but it wouldn't cost me anything to get