love the options
I went for a 351 conversion by mistake. I found a co-worker looking to empty his yard, and had one sitting in an 83 pickup. He guaranteed a recent rebuild, so I bought it for $250. It had intake manifold (weiand), and all the front accessories. I still took it home and replaced the seals, gaskets, and heard it run before I removed it from the truck. I considered it a good deal! I now have probably a little over 1400 total invested just to make it work correctly. Yours will be FI, so knock off my $300 carb, but if you dont have a buddy at an exhaust shop, plan on buying new headers. I recommend Hooker. They came from Advance Auto parts cheap, and needed a slight bend on the drivers side. Headman 289/302 headers wont work with a standard on this engine. If you can load all of the accessories on the front of the motor with it, DO IT! That serpentine settup is a costley little bugger, and is almost like buying gold. If you dont have AC, the compressor can even be used as an onboard air compressor! I always looked at this equation: Motor Cost + accessory cost individually (if sold seperatley) + core charge for same motor in parts store + regasket set multiply that by 50%. Depending on where you live, the price could be good, or could be just barely high. Its alot of work, so I would only do it personally if it was what your final plans had entaled. Look closely though, even the Harmonic Ballancer is around 300 to replace! Hope this shines some light for you! I would honestly offer no more than $550 with all accessories, with wiring and cats.....
