Price of 402 BB

[blasterfdc]

Anyone tell me roughly what a 72 402 big block is worth. It needs rebuilt, no apparant cracks, heads are off so I could look at it. Guy says that if I take it to a machine shop and it checks bad he will refund money. comes with original heads, 67 intake, extra "good" crank, valve covers, extra oil pan.

 

[ratflinger]

$400-$500 at the most. That was a common engine so there should be boatloads of them around.

 

[blasterfdc]

I guess I am not doing so bad then, I got it for $450. looking forward to building it up. Will be a far cry from my heavily smoking 327. Thanks for the reply.

Now for the tear down.

 

[norvalwilhelm]

I wouldn't bother with a 402. If you put the same money into a 454 you would be at least 50 horse ahead and the cost of rebuilding a 402 or 454 is exactly the same. An extra 50 horse makes itself felt. You are building the smallest of the big blocks. Think bigger. It's like building the 283 when the 327 and 350 are just a readily available.

 

[Jack]

I wouldn't bother with a 402. If you put the same money into a 454 you would be at least 50 horse ahead and the cost of rebuilding a 402 or 454 is exactly the same. An extra 50 horse makes itself felt. You are building the smallest of the big blocks. Think bigger. It's like building the 283 when the 327 and 350 are just a readily available.

I agree ... with this caveat ... I've found that 396-402 piston choices are rather limited when compared to 427-454. Also, the bigger-bore 427-454 breathes a lot better than smaller-bore 396-402 ... you'll see when you look at how pronounced the valve cutaway is in top of 396-402 blocks' BORE-DECK. Since it's a swap motor ... I'd ebay the 402 block ... someone may need it for a chevelle-camaro resto ... enough to pay good$ ... haven't looked at 402 but alotta 396 blocks on ebay are stupid high$.
JACK:gap

 

[blasterfdc]

That all may be true, but there are not a lot of 427 and 454 blocks available where I live.

I am not looking for maximum power here, just a nice cruser. Something more than a small block. Besides the price was right.