I think y’all are starting to turn me. I was dead set on building something myself, but after pricing some of it out… is it really worth it? I know I’m going backwards now but I never realized the great value of some of these crate engines. The $6,000 price tags scared me away at first, but I’d be spending every penny of that anyway. I’m happy to get every opinion, especially from those who have been in the same situation. Maybe I’m overthinking it, but I have a few options I need to really look at before throwing a few paychecks at this old car.
There is one piece that you're not mentioning - warranty. You're purchasing a warranty when you purchase a crate from a quality vendor.
Think of it this way - you put in your motor, $6-7K crate or your build, and after 5 hours of runtime it spins a bearing for whatever reason (other than negligence). What is your recourse with a BluePrint crate and how does that differ from your home built setup?
I believe that most, repeat most, guys don't think about this - especially in your HP/performance range. And I'm not downplaying your HP range. 400+ crank HP is a crap ton of power that alot of people, and most of the general public, don't understand. Of course if you are looking for something wild like 600+ NA, then you're forced into either paying $10-20K from a performance shop build or building that on your own. But IMHO 300-350 wheel HP in a 40+ year old chassis is ample power to do burnouts and ice cream on a weekly basis and still cruise great.
I say this being a person that has never bought a crate motor. And yes, I've made mistakes that have cost me plenty of money building my own stuff. But currently I'm looking for more than 400-450hp, so I've been forced to build myself.
Regarding my comment about most of the general public not understanding how much 400+ is, look around for a wrecked modern era Mustang, Camaro, Hellcat, etc. for powerplant swaps, and guess why there are so many of them wrecked. Go on YT and search for 'Mustang fails' and watch the list of donor power plants grow.