Is a picture worth 1000 words?

[kholding]

I have been searching for an engine for my '73 for a bit now and have found a few good ones and a few bad ones. Ultimately I would like to get a 351W roller and put a GT40 upper intake on it. I found this at a local salvage yard. They say they pulled it because it was a "good" engine. It was taken from a '95 Bronco. The tag attached says it had 64k when it was pulled (obviously no way to confirm that now). It is VERY dusty since it has been sitting in a warehouse for over a year. I know there is risk in buying it without hearing it run but for $500 I am really considering it. Here are a few pictures of it. I was hoping to get some honest opinions about going this route. I appreciate ALL the comments, good or bad.

 

[73azbronco]

except for the longblock parts, all the accessories are not usfull unless you want to adapt your rig to a fullsize bronco serp. I don't know if that can easily be done.

He wants $500 for everything, I'd offer the guy $250-300 for the longblock (he keeps the intake, front accessories, you keep heads and exhaust mans) but only if he lets you pull the heads to see the cylinders and get to rotate the crank. It's been sitting, so internal rust would be a factor. Opening up the cylinders also lets you see any problems, which on a motor with 60K, you should not really see any ridge on the wall and still see the hone marks. I'd even wager pulling the pan and dropping a crank cap or two to check bearings/crank and rod bearings (that would add another $120 or so to do the bearings while it's out). Pulling the heads lets you get those freshened for $100 or so, new gasket set and your driving after you put on your intake of choice (that one won't work without a huge mod).

I just tried over the course of six months to sell all those extra parts with no luck.

Of course, he wants to sell it all and be done with it, any warranty? that may be the only reason I take it as is but only if you can stuff it in and get some miles on it quickly to confirm it will last. No warranty? No deal unless you can look at internals, if one thing is bad (crank, pistons, bearings) your into hundreds of bucks right now.

 

[Broncobowsher]

Do you plan on dropping it in as-is or do you plan on going over it (inspection tear-down) first?
Depending on local, $500 could be a fair price. If I trusted the yard I would pay that. But I would also try and knock off a few bucks for missing items. A/C compressor (I know you probably not going to use it, but it is leverage to work down the price), the remote TFI module (good to have since it has a roller cam distributor already but is just missing the module), cap and rotor are missing. Try offering $300 and work up to $400. But if you have to do $500, and the local market is slim pickings, looks like $500 it might be afterall.

I would make sure the crank still moves (just to make sure it isn't locked up) and check the stretch in the timing chain (since they already have the distributer off for you) to see if the 64k feels right.

From what I see it is a clean engine, doesn't look like anyone has been in it before either. All good signs.

I would keep the EFI stuff, little pieces come in handy when doing a swap later. This fuel rail has issues here, but this other one works. This different heater nipple works better. Better to have a selection of parts.

For $500 I don't expect the seller to open the engine up for you. If you really want it tore down and look for damages I would expect the deal first, do the tear down and come back if there is problems. If I was selling it and you wanted me to tear down a complete engine so you could decide if you want it or not, I would tell you to go pound sand. There are others who would want a complete engine ready to drop in that will buy it. Yards sell complete engines, the last few yards I delt with would not sell heads off an engine. They want to sell the complete engine. They have a hard time selling a short block, or even storing one. Most normal people wanting to get there ride rolling again simply want a complete engine to drop in, not have to put one together. When my grandmother lost compression in a cylinder due to lost coolant I just found a junkyard engine and dropped it in instead of trying to figure what was wrong with the old one. I would not consider an engine from a yard that had it tore apart for inspection, last thing I wanted was to build another engine from used pieces.

 

[kholding]

Its a local salvage yard. $500 is the lowest they are willing to go on it. They won't part it out anymore. Not sure if they will risk letting me break it all down or not. I can only imagine they wouldn't. Its in a covered warehouse here in Vegas, hoping internal rust wouldn't be a problem. I'm sure I could pull the spark plugs and compare them?

 

[kholding]

If it really only has 64k, I would rather just drop it in. Got a quote of $1000 to break it all down, re-ring, hone, new gaskets, valves, etc... The shop called it "freshening it up". Didn't want to spend it if it was going to be a waste. I know its impossible to tell how it is going to run. Does the front accessory set up on this engine not work in the EB?

 

[Broncobowsher]

If it really only has 64k, I would rather just drop it in. Got a quote of $1000 to break it all down, re-ring, hone, new gaskets, valves, etc... The shop called it "freshening it up". Didn't want to spend it if it was going to be a waste. I know its impossible to tell how it is going to run. Does the front accessory set up on this engine not work in the EB?

If I remember the smog pump and power steering don't like sharing space with the frame rail. The clutched fan will be in the same space as the last row of the radiator.

But an Explorer 5.0 front dress works great after you get the balancer redone to match the balance of a 351.

 

[kholding]

Bowsher, so if I was to go this route, I would need to get an explorer serpentine set-up and that would fix the issues you mentioned? No need to alter the frame afterward?

 

[needabronco]

Give them $400 cash for the long block without the accessory's. Start laying down $20's and see what they say. I work with a yard in AZ that sells complete engines for $300 all day long, $260 cash if you show up on a tuesday or wednesday. Problem being they are simply cores and that's their 'core' price. Even on this engine, I'd still buy a gasket set and pull it all apart to inspect it and reassemble. Just to be sure.

As for a shop charging you a grand just to do the same thing is total horse hockey! A complete rebuild would only be a few hundred more.... I know it's Vegas, but there are plenty of good shops there. Ask the local hot rod guy's and see what they say. There's also a Bronco club there in town, I'm sure somebody would be willing to help you out.

 

[kholding]

Not bad ideas all the way around. Ill see what they say. Didn't want to walk into this blind and didn't want to get an engine that I wasn't going to be able to use. 64k sounded pretty good for a 351W "roller". Everything else I find is around 130-170k. Just a bummer I can't hear it run before I throw down the cash. I also wanted to make sure this engine would work for my application without too many mods! Thanks everyone.