Crate Engine Help

[Dirtfarmer]

I've got a buddy that has a '63 vert in pieces, a project car he bought a little while back. It came with a 327/340 engine (not original to this car) which we found out last night is done for. He originally leaned towards having a correct car, but after cracking open the engine he's thinking about his options with crate engines. Does anyone have any experince with crate engine vendors or crate engines in general. I'd like to do a little on-line research to help my friend. Any help would be appreciated.

Dirt

 

[Viet Nam Vett]

I've got a buddy that has a '63 vert in pieces, a project car he bought a little while back. It came with a 327/340 engine (not original to this car) which we found out last night is done for. He originally leaned towards having a correct car, but after cracking open the engine he's thinking about his options with crate engines. Does anyone have any experince with crate engine vendors or crate engines in general. I'd like to do a little on-line research to help my friend. Any help would be appreciated.

Dirt

Heh Dirt... Welcome to the Forum.. Your in the Right place for the best advice you can get from our expert members..

GMPP ..."General Motors Performance Products".. Make a Complete line of SB and BB Motors.. Try and find there web page ..( Not a resellers web page ) which will list all the Motors they make. You can go Carb-ed or even go with a Ram Jet 350 SB FI motor.. Quite a few forum members here have gone GMPP including myelff wit a BB 502.

You can get them as turn key or short Block or Long Block..I'm sure Other forum memebers will chime in here with some more excellent advice for you...

 

[Mac]

Take a look here... CLICK!!

-Mac

 

[Dirtfarmer]

Thanks, I'll check their site. I started looking around last night and found a lot of stuff out there. I thought it would be a good idea to ask some people that have some experience with this.

 

[Dirtfarmer]

Yeah, I was looking at the "General Motors Performance Products" site last night. A lot to look at... very nice.

 

[BarryK]

i do not know if the car being a '63 will limit his abilities to "drop in" a BB motor if that's what he decides to do, but starting in '65 the frames were slightly different in the front with an indentation. I don't have a BB car so I don't remember if that indentation was to allow clearance for the BB motor or if it was more forward to allow additional clearance for the different radiator used in BB cars.
Again, not sure if this will make a difference in his choice selection or not but I'm sure someone else on here will be able to comment on that better.

A lot of the decision on which crate motor will depend on what he is looking for and what he is willing and able to afford to spend on one.
A simple 350ci/350hp SB shouldn't run that much money. One of the options on Sb's that I like and i'm hoping to get in my '65 in a year or two is the 383 stroker motor. Strokers are nice because they are still a SB which makes it a fairly easy drop in swap and relatively lightweight (compared to a BB motor) but they have a lot of torque which is great for street driving.
If he wants serious amounts of torque and HP many memebers on here have put in BB crate motors such as the 454HO, ZZ502's, and even a few 572's.

one thing he may want to look out for that i noticed as I looked around at a few crate motors for the future swap is that many that are long blocks are coming with a single plane intake manifold. This is fine at higher rpm's and increases HP a little bit but it's not the best choice for a street motor as I understand it. A dual plane manifold would be better for street use as it will help increase torque at the lower rpm ranges and also give you a bit better idle qualities also I believe. If he finds a nice crate motor and it comes with a single plane intake he may want to figure in the expense of buying a replacement intake or ask if they can sell the moroe re-configured with a dual plane.

This may help you a little bit but I'm sure others with a LOT more knowledge than I have (which isn't much) will chime in soon to offer suggestions and advice

 

[67HEAVEN]

My local Chevrolet dealer gave me a better deal on a crate ZZ-502 than would any local speed shop.

If you have any contacts with a local dealer's parts department, you may be lucky enough to help get a good deal for your buddy.

 

[Kid_Again]

I bought a zz454 and am really pleased with the value. You can't drop a big block into a frame that's earlier than '65 without substantial modification. Besides, even though I have no problems with correctly maintained drum brakes, I would consider switching over to disc brakes if you're getting into some serious iron. Most times, the important issue is not the engine.

Good luck!!!

Back to the engine. Even though I'm on the East Coast, my preferred deal was Sallee Chevrolet all the way on the other coast.

GM crate engines are commodities so get the best deal that you can.

 

[Dirtfarmer]

Great info. I mentioned that he wanted a "correct" car. Being correct wasn't that important since his '63 came with a '65 frame. We figured someone did a earlier restore and wanted the disc brakes. Sounds like that '65 frame may give him more options than he would have had with the '63. Thanks to everyone for responding, this makes my research much easier.

 

[Lucy64]

Last winter I had a 350 built by the EngineFactory for my 64. You can check them out at www.enginefactory.com . They built a total turnkey 350 at 420 hp for me. You can have it built mild to wild and everything in between. The engine came ready to drop in...complete from oilpan to aircleaner. I specified a full MSD ignition, March pulleys, Edelbrock alum head and everything polished, delivered to my mans shop at a total delivered price of $6000. This engine was complete, all I had to do was drop it in and add a nice set of Hooker headers and it was ready to go. If you want it built to look like the stock 327 they can do that also. Ask for Matt Walsh and tell him Kerry Sponseller referred you and I am sure he will take good care of you.

 

[Rowdy1]

That's Nice

Last winter I had a 350 built by the EngineFactory for my 64. You can check them out at www.enginefactory.com . They built a total turnkey 350 at 420 hp for me. You can have it built mild to wild and everything in between. The engine came ready to drop in...complete from oilpan to aircleaner. I specified a full MSD ignition, March pulleys, Edelbrock alum head and everything polished, delivered to my mans shop at a total delivered price of $6000. This engine was complete, all I had to do was drop it in and add a nice set of Hooker headers and it was ready to go. If you want it built to look like the stock 327 they can do that also. Ask for Matt Walsh and tell him Kerry Sponseller referred you and I am sure he will take good care of you.

That's a sweet deal for all that, did it come with any guarantee?

 

[Lucy64]

The hi-po engines come with a 90 day. I explained that I was dropping it in in December of last year and they put it writting that they would warrenty it thru May because it would not be run December thru March. You can talk to them and they will really work with you. Even if you have problems later they will work with you to keep you happy. I ran it hard all year since it went in last December and have had no problems at all. This is not just a crate engine, they custom build it exactly as you want it. In my case I may have gone just a little to wild on the cam. I started talking to Matt about a 370hp engine and he kept sweetening the deal with a hotter cam and higher compression until it ended up being 420hp. It is hard to say no thanks to 50 more horse...but it is a little wild idle for the street and I had to run a Crane vacuum tank so the MP power brakes that I also installed at that time had anough vacuum. But, everyone goes wild when they hear the wild lope of the engine. It just flat sounds bad.

 

[Rowdy1]

Nice Site

I just spent a while looking over the site, very impressive. With the MSD, March pulleys and polished, you definately hit a home run. I agree with the cam at idle having an awesome lope, you aren't going to balance a glass of water on my aircleaner either but then again, I didn't build this engine to idle. Thanks for the site info, I wish you many miles on it.