Is this a good engine for the price

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Hallzy

Hallzy

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Bear with me I am a rookie thanks for any good input could use some experienced opinions
Engine would be going in a 74 swinger with an a904 and a narrowed 8.8 rear with 3:73 gears also unsure what converter would be good with this combination
Owner wants 6500$ Canadian

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Only 2 grand more then what I paid to have my 408 build
 
What are you planning for this car and engine? If wide open racing, then it MIGHT be a good candidate... which it sounds like if you have a narrowed rear axle . For street cruising, it is overkill.

There is NO mention of condition or how much it has been used; this engine may be totally run out. Is there any chance you can go see it and pull a head to make bore measurements?
 
nm9stheham said:
What are you planning for this car and engine? If wide open racing, then it MIGHT be a good candidate... which it sounds like if you have a narrowed rear axle . For street cruising, it is overkill.

There is NO mention of condition or how much it has been used; this engine may be totally run out. Is there any chance you can go see it and pull a head to make bore measurements?
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Mostly just street but there are about a million assholes with mustangs around here and it would sure be nice to eat them alive
 
We have used MANY smallblocks from cup shops,,,most notably Roush/Yates engine shop,,we generally paid around 38k for good smallblocks, basically 358cid, they would dyno at 780+hp and didnt run until they turned 8700rpm,,,and would turn those rpms all day long,,,,so its doubtful what this guy is claiming to be a 500 hp motor,,with a 30 to 40 k motor cost is true. Even Clemens house of power in S. Carolina isnt that pricey for a 500hp mopar sb...... just my two cents
 
jack68gts said:
We have used MANY smallblocks from cup shops,,,most notably Roush/Yates engine shop,,we generally paid around 38k for good smallblocks, basically 358cid, they would dyno at 780+hp and didnt run until they turned 8700rpm,,,and would turn those rpms all day long,,,,so its doubtful what this guy is claiming to be a 500 hp motor,,with a 30 to 40 k motor cost is true. Even Clemens house of power in S. Carolina isnt that pricey for a 500hp mopar sb...... just my two cents
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This one the guy is saying its at 370cubes so it's probably done for boring any more I guess too
 
Thanks for the input guys you have made me wary of this deal
There's also a 440 and 727 combo I'm looking at for 450$ maybe getting that built is the better plan
 
jack68gts said:
We have used MANY smallblocks from cup shops,,,most notably Roush/Yates engine shop,,we generally paid around 38k for good smallblocks, basically 358cid, they would dyno at 780+hp and didnt run until they turned 8700rpm,,,and would turn those rpms all day long,,,,so its doubtful what this guy is claiming to be a 500 hp motor,,with a 30 to 40 k motor cost is true. Even Clemens house of power in S. Carolina isnt that pricey for a 500hp mopar sb...... just my two cents
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The $40,000 plus is in Canadian dollars cost us twice as much to build here. I was thinking about those engines for my cuda. I think there legit. Up here our stock car are pretty old school. Ask about the engine history like which car team it was run in. Might have do a cam change to make it more street friendly. And the dry slump might make installation hard.
 
Hallzy said:
Thanks for the input guys you have made me wary of this deal
There's also a 440 and 727 combo I'm looking at for 450$ maybe getting that built is the better plan
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I knew a kid that had a 74 Dart with fiberglass front end and bumpers that put a stock 440 with 8:1 compression in the car and turned a 12:45 sec 1/4 mile... Build it up a little and that thing has great potential ...
 
273 said:
The $40,000 plus is in Canadian dollars cost us twice as much to build here. I was thinking about those engines for my cuda. I think there legit. Up here our stock car are pretty old school. Ask about the engine history like which car team it was run in. Might have do a cam change to make it more street friendly. And the dry slump might make installation hard.
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I did ask for some history runtime etc...
No response so far
 
krazykuda said:
I knew a kid that had a 74 Dart with fiberglass front end and bumpers that put a stock 440 with 8:1 compression in the car and turned a 12:45 sec 1/4 mile... Build it up a little and that thing has great potential ...
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Yeah I'm pretty sure if I put the same dollars into the 440 as the 340 costs I probably will have a pretty decent engine
 
a nascar motor
Hallzy said:
Yeah I'm pretty sure if I put the same dollars into the 440 as the 340 costs I probably will have a pretty decent engine
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Oh yeah, that 12:45 was on pump gas, 87 octane.... :lol:
 
Hallzy said:
Yeah I'm pretty sure if I put the same dollars into the 440 as the 340 costs I probably will have a pretty decent engine
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I thought that my 68 340-s was fast with a .484/284 cam... Until I drove my dad's stock 440 6 pack road runner... Made my 'cuda look stupid.... Go with the 440...
 
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Check out the Magnum builds on this site. A 5.9 with a mild build will easily go 375 to 400 hp and use your tranny ,driveshaft, etc. The big block idea is great, but it would be cheaper overall up to about 500 hp to stay small block. After that, a big block will start to make more sense, mainly for drivability. Another thing to consider is weight distribution for street traction. The lighter you can keep the front end, the better off you are. I doesn't pay to have 600 hp and get stomped by a guy that only runs 500 hp but can stick the tires and go! If I were going to build a street lite bandit, with your car body, It would get aluminum heads, on a smallblock, battery in the trunk, engine carefully set back as far as you can massage the parts that hold it in, rear axle forward as far as you can get it with the clearance you have, and a great suspension set up for max rise on takeoff.
Being able to do some fab work in my shop, I would also drop the stock fuel tank, cut the wheel well out of the trunk area and mount a flat gas tank further back! Look in the Hot Rodder adds, for gas tanks that might sit in there just right, level with the trunk floor. OK, a little off topic, but you wanted to kick so Furd butt!
 
My advice? Just turn around, McFly, and walk away.

Spend your money elsewhere my friend. Like that 440 combo you mentioned... Investing in that would be much wiser IMO.
 
What Gregsdart said. Find a Magnum 360, stick in a cam, intake on it, and a set of headers and go have fun.
 
Hallzy said:
This one the guy is saying its at 370cubes so it's probably done for boring any more I guess too
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Pretty sure there built with 3.58 cranks
$6500 is Canadian price so whats that $4000-4500 American.

Pretty sure there's only a few builders for these engines shouldn't be hard to find out there history but the age of the ad does give pause. Since we run old school engines in our series dodge actually dominates our Cascar/NASCAR but it's more like late model really lol.
 
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