Steffan

I got a 351w. and i want more power out of it. But many people (including racer_dave (thanks for all your help dave, learned a lot from you)) suggested i buy a crate engine instead because i have not build/tuned in a engine before. I looked into it and looks like a crate engine will become ~ the same price as the parts i would need, to get the same power out of my stock engine.

So, i found a crate engine i like. The ATK HP21 (http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/hpe-hp21) (Got anything bad to say about this engine?? please speak up. Also, will this be a good street engine/daily driver? or if you got suggestions for another engine that's better for ~same price, feel free to post a reply.)

Based on the numbers i see, i should be able to use my Edelbrock Performer RPM intake and Edelbrock 750 CFM carb on this engnine.
I also have a high performance distributor (unknown name, it's blue..) and i guess i can take the waterpump and everything else from my stock 351w and put on this one?

Basically what i'm asking is.. will this engine fit in my 1970 Mach1 where i have a stock 351w and FMX tranny? And can i use the stock parts from the old engnine that needs to be put on the new crate engine?
And is there an other engine, for about the same price that's better than the one i found?


Or should i buy the almost-fully dressed HP21M instead that includes intake, water pump, distributor, flexplate, balancer........ it costs $900 extra and i have most the same parts so i don't really see why i should.

Starfury

Honestly, I wouldn't recommend buying anything from ATK. I sell their reman stuff at work and I haven't had good luck at all with it. One customer had an engine come in with the cylinders punched out to two different sizes (.030 and .040); another had one come in with zero compression on one cylinder, which turned out to be a bent valve. These are just two examples.

Steffan

That's quite disappointing compared to the prices.

Are there any other crate engines you can recommend? I live in Europe, and it will be a pain for me to ship it all the way to US again if it's broken on arrival. + the cost of shipping!

Edit: Or any crate engine manufactor that has a wordwide repair policy, so i can get it repaired in europe without having to send it back to the US?

barnett468

hello

i would never buy a crate engine. there is no world wide warranty and the warranties you do get do not pay for the r and r of the eng from the car or a rental car while your eng is repaired or your towing bill to get it to a shop where they can remove the engine or the cost of shipping to and from the builder.

have someone build your own irregardless of what it costs you.

there is a reason crate engines are cheap.

buy your parts from summitracing.com

Steffan

Family member is mechanic and can pull the engine out/put it in free + towing, got the trailer for it.

I got 2 cars and a mopet (including the mustang), so no need to rent one. If in any case my mopet and audi is broken too, mechanic family member has 10 cars i can borrow for no cost

But what you are saying is that all crate engines are crap and home-build are better? i would like a little more detail please, because i can't see how a company that only builds engines all day long can be crappy compared to a home-one-time-builder.

barnett468

hi;

ok, first of all, i am an engine builder.

since your family member is a mechanic, he can build yours for you.

shipping an engine to the usa then back to you for warranty might cost quite a lot plus take several months. plus it might rust to death being on the ocean for 12 weeks.

you know what your engine is so you know you have a good engine to start with.

if it will bore to .030", that's a lot better than .040" like a lot of engines are by now.

a crate engine might have sleeves installed or the cyl walls might be thin due to them rusting for 50 years in the water jackets.

engine builders [crate engines] are like surgeons. they are not all the same so you never know if you have a good one until after the operation at which point it is too late.

even if you pay 5k for a crate eng it does not mean it is better than a 3k one.

racer_dave

Coast High Performance has a great reputation and have a lot of Ford based engines. I thought a couple members here bought their engines there.

Starfury

True, CHP does some good stuff, but I'm with Barnett on this. If you can get someone local to build your engine, that's by far the better bet.

Steffan

Only problem is.. i live in Denmark..., Just getting an old block bored 0,020" over, costs ~$3650! and that is not including what i give for the block! after that i have to get everything for it (pistons, crank, cam, intake, heads....), an engine will easily go to $10.000 - $15.000 before it's finished and may only make ~350-450HP for that kind of money here (that's not including the labor it takes to build it)

Take your prices for parts, an double it.. that's what i have to pay for it!
A pro mechanic who can build an engine for me in Denmark is ~$90 an hour!

So.. what would you do in my situation? Get a crate engine smuggled into Europe from the US, or get someone to build one here for insane prices?
Or, get someone in US to build it for me, and then smuggle it into Europe (but that would be the same as buying a crate engine?)

Steffan

They look great, but a little pricey too..
See my latest reply before this one, at those prices i could get one build in Denmark even though that's expensive as ****..