Do you guys have experience with re-man engines? I've never owned one, but when I worked auto parts years & years ago some people weren't very impressed with the quality. I'm not a big fan of them because I think they're slapped together and they re-used as much as possible to keep costs down (as long as it was within spec). Could be different these days. IMO, I think you'd still be much further ahead putting $1500 towards a stock rebuild than going re-man. Anyone care to chime in on that?
big block vs small block
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I've also seen remans where they only punched out the bad cylinders to 30 or 40 over depending on the need so you can end up with a mix of stock, 30 over and 40 over pistons....
The problem with re-mans is that they're mass produced. Time is money! At least with a local shop or builder, you'd think they'd take enough pride in their work to avoid tarnishing their reputation.
you get what you pay for...or at least you hope you do but if it sounds cheap there is a reason most of the time and on an engine that is not to place to cut corners..IMO
When I checked rockauto.com, they would give me right around $500 for the core, then spend $1500-1600 (slept since then) for the rest. Buying outright it was around $2000-2100 .I haven't checked thoroughly in to the reman engines, but they will definitely something I will check into, if I have the 455 when I decide to do another motor project. The one I am doing now (or rather waiting on) has been a big pain. It will be great when it is done, if it ever gets done. If I had the choice to do it again, I would go the long-block way, personally.pontiacgp said:
G-Body_Vet said:
I agree with you that a reman will re-use as much as possible. There's nothing really wrong with that as long as everything is within specs and the assembly has new gaskets, seals, rings, bearings, freeze plugs, and oil pump. I've had a reman in my Toyota truck for the past couple of years and it's been pretty good. I did swap in a different cam, which required me to loosen the head bolts, so I replaced the head gasket and inspected the cylinder bores/pistons. It just looked like they did a hone and re-ring mostly. I would not go this route with a performance application, however. Start pushing things and you'll quickly end up with a mess. There are too many factors when building an engine that need to be checked/corrected in a performance build that are not there in a reman. BTW, I'm in $7,000 so far on my 461, and that's with me doing the final assembly.
67rstbkt said:
That isn't exactly a run-of-the-mill engine either :lol: I think a big part of the cost on our Ponchos are those aluminum heads. That's $2k+ alone. I'm guesstimating around $3-4k when mine is said and done with iron heads. Then there's the trans to worry about.
My 301 is remanufactured, 10 years ago and by a very good local shop that only does motors. He had done Pontiacs but didn't know he could use the torque plate for a 400 on a 301. Aside from that he did a bang-up job and it is running right now in my wagon. Cost $1200 with all new pistons, valves, and the guides bronze sleeved then reamed for standard valves (no oversize available).
Bonnewagon said:
In your opinion, how does that 301 do compared to a 305 sbc.....aside from the fact that we're Pontiac biased :lol:
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