if you think the gm 350 is great, take some spare pants on the test drive with the wedge
MOPAR CRATE MOTORS??
Moderator: Moderators
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
I bought a crate long block 360 and that was OK, but then lots got thrown away - Studded bottom end, etc, and aftermarket heads, cam, etc etc.
If you have a clear view of what you want to achieve, I think it is better to build it from scratch as opposed to paying for bits you won't use.....
If you have a clear view of what you want to achieve, I think it is better to build it from scratch as opposed to paying for bits you won't use.....
Pete Wiseman; Cambridge.
Mopar by the grace of God
Mopar by the grace of God
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Anonymous
There has been lots of postings on Moparts about crate motors, most of them not good. It is generally accepted that the HP figures quoted by Mopar Performance are very optomistic and are not to be believed. The motors are basically a bunch of off the shelf parts bolted together, sometimes not very well. As a kit of parts, they are fine, as a finished high performance engine, I think not.
“It’s good enough for Nancy”
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paolo_mangusta
- Posts: 592
- Joined: Tue Aug 10, 04 1:34 pm
- Location: Paul, London
well, i might be about to find out...
Depending on the outcome of a trip to an engine builder on Saturday I might be ordering up a 408 stroker small block from Blueprint Engines
http://www.blueprintengines.com/popular ... s&pc_id=55
I've yet to find a bad word said about this company or their products, but still know it's a big risk. But that said, I don't trust many machinists over here having worked in the trade and got back poorly machined stuff from a few.
If you ask on here, people will tell you that to get a comparable engine built in this country will cost you three or four times what a crate will cost, so I'm probably going to take the risk. And you can all laugh at me when I'm sweeping up parts at the Nats
I think when you hear crate engines being slagged off you've got to look at whose doing it, and on a lot of the boards in the States it's competing engine builders - you've got to figure that there's a vested interest there
I think if you're going to race it hard I would definitely get something built here, but if it's for a street strip car a crate is a possibility.
Another option is to buy a short block and heads, manifold etc separately check it all before final assembly, it's not much work to check clearances but if it is all as expected it would be a lot cheaper than having it all built here, especially if you have to find the block etc first...
Depending on the outcome of a trip to an engine builder on Saturday I might be ordering up a 408 stroker small block from Blueprint Engines
http://www.blueprintengines.com/popular ... s&pc_id=55
I've yet to find a bad word said about this company or their products, but still know it's a big risk. But that said, I don't trust many machinists over here having worked in the trade and got back poorly machined stuff from a few.
If you ask on here, people will tell you that to get a comparable engine built in this country will cost you three or four times what a crate will cost, so I'm probably going to take the risk. And you can all laugh at me when I'm sweeping up parts at the Nats
I think when you hear crate engines being slagged off you've got to look at whose doing it, and on a lot of the boards in the States it's competing engine builders - you've got to figure that there's a vested interest there
I think if you're going to race it hard I would definitely get something built here, but if it's for a street strip car a crate is a possibility.
Another option is to buy a short block and heads, manifold etc separately check it all before final assembly, it's not much work to check clearances but if it is all as expected it would be a lot cheaper than having it all built here, especially if you have to find the block etc first...
'64 Barracuda
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Anonymous
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mopar_mark
- Posts: 6738
- Joined: Fri Jul 14, 06 8:01 pm
- Location: Windlesham, Surrey
I like to think as engines, like a good meal
Crate motors are fine with those that are prepared to accept Supermarket engines. What I mean is they have the same ingredients of a lot of engine builders, but far too often just thrown in the pot.
Where as specialist built are more Ala carte, same ingredients but prepared & cooked as you want.
Both will fill a hunger, but like after good Chinese, an hour or so your still hungry !
As with most things in this world you get what you pay for, as long as you get what your expecting, then there should be no problem which ever route you choose.
Crate motors are fine with those that are prepared to accept Supermarket engines. What I mean is they have the same ingredients of a lot of engine builders, but far too often just thrown in the pot.
Where as specialist built are more Ala carte, same ingredients but prepared & cooked as you want.
Both will fill a hunger, but like after good Chinese, an hour or so your still hungry !
As with most things in this world you get what you pay for, as long as you get what your expecting, then there should be no problem which ever route you choose.
I asked Ray Barton to build a Hemi for my Cuda. He built it exactly the way i asked him to, and delivered it to me with full spec, building notes, photo's and dyno run print-outs. I got it in the time he said and it does everything i wanted.
I would recommend Ray Barton to anyone. But there are a lot of companies in the states building 'crate' engines now. Mopar Performance is just one of them. I recommend doing your homework before placing your order.
Quite honestly, I wonder if it's worth re-building an old engine, especially if you've got performance in mind. A new engine can be cheaper, and it's all new.
I would recommend Ray Barton to anyone. But there are a lot of companies in the states building 'crate' engines now. Mopar Performance is just one of them. I recommend doing your homework before placing your order.
Quite honestly, I wonder if it's worth re-building an old engine, especially if you've got performance in mind. A new engine can be cheaper, and it's all new.
