I found a local guy that has a 302. Built it the better part of 10 years ago but due to "circumstances" in his life the car sat for a long time. The motor basically has a couple of hundred miles on it. He wants just shy of $1k for it.

It has been my experience that motors that have sat for a long time are ones you should pretty much plan on rebuilding. I know a friend of mine bought a classic one time with low miles on the engine but lots of years that lacked power, etc so bad that he finally did have to pull it and rebuild it. Guess the seals, etc wear out when you don't have fluids / oil circulating in the engine on a regular enough basis.

Would something like this 302 be worth looking at or should I just keep looking? I guess worse case you could take it all apart, replace seals / gaskets / rings, etc then reassemble. At least with the low miles you wouldn't have to bore it or get new pistons.

Ticked me off because I just missed a good one this morning where a guy was upgrading to a 351 but someone else beat me to it.

 

Unless it's got some really bitchin heads on it, I wouldn't think about paying him anywhere near $1k for it.

 

http://houston.craigslist.org/pts/1091406090.html

 

Funny you should mention that Nick...exact guy I emailed to ask some questions.

Seems a little high to me but just sitting that long is not really good for a motor so I have my doubts about being able to throw it in the car and go without doing some work on it first.

He did say he just recently added the Edelbrock cam so maybe he has replaced some of the seals, etc but he didn't say.

 

buy 150 5.0 HO core from the junkyard rebuild

 

I've kicked some ideas like that around....I have seen several roller 302 blocks locally from time to time for under $100 and usually they have enough bolt on stuff that you could sell to make the block pretty much free.

Problem arises in finding heads that don't cost the next three months mortgage, LOL!

 

I had an engine machined for $2k from a very reputable place and I did all the rebuilding. That price included gaskets, oil pump, and everything I needed to rebuild it. So $1k isnt too bad it its a legit engine. I am assuming he didnt drain the oil or water? Water sitting in the manifold and engine could be bad news bears. You would definitely have to take it apart and check everything. Has he tried to start it? Does the engine turn over? Does the guy seem like a legit guy? Be careful if you are messing with a guy who may know it needs to be rebuilt and says he doesnt know or says it only has a few hundred miles on it when really it has 50k. Also why has it been sitting? If he rebuilt it why would it sit for so long after. "circumstances" in his life may be his excuse. Just some ideas.

 

well go for a 96-97 explorer motor they have gt40 heads you can get one for 500$ add a cam for 150$ add roller rockers for 150$ done


that will be an easy 300hp