Value of a 340
It's worth what someone is willing to pay. It's like the 327 Chevy vs a 350. Which is best? Every situation is different. 340s are not rare, nor were they ever really rare. I can recall hearing they were rare in the mid 80s when I had 4 of them. I think "rare" means hard to find in a certain proce range and locality. To me they are not rare, but they are desired because of the legends and myths around them. But in terms of any buildup. Show me a 340 that makes "X" power and theres 318s, and 360s that also make those numbers. You can get a nice street engine for $4000. But it will be a 360 when that total includes initial cost. I don't think there's any 4" arm engine I've seen that combines quality and great output for the displacement with a sticker of $4K. My first complete, disassembled but cleaned and honed 340 cost me $350. Now the core blocks are worth more than that. In erms of shopping for used engines... If you don't know the guy whose car it came from and/or have seen it run, I would be very nervous to spend anything close to $2K on it. "Rebuilt" took on a whole new meaning when the Mopar flipper market took off 10 years ago.