mopar crate engine

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73dodge

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i'm looking to drop in a stroker motor in my 69 valiant, does anybody have any experience with the mopar 402 stroker? I'm also looking at blueprint engines stroker. I want something i can just drop in and run.
 
73dodge said:
i'm looking to drop in a stroker motor in my 69 valiant, does anybody have any experience with the mopar 402 stroker? I'm also looking at blueprint engines stroker. I want something i can just drop in and run.
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I know a guy that bought a Mopar Hemi crate motor and dropped it in a 72 Challenger. He just added everything it needed and fired it up. That thing is starting to twist the frame! He is getting frame rail connectors or something to strengthen the frame. He is also thinking about taking it out because he does not want it to destroy his car. LOL!
 
Do yourself a favor stay away from crate engines and have someone build you a quality engine........
 
340srule said:
Do yourself a favor stay away from crate engines and have someone build you a quality engine........
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I hear so many mixed reviews about crate motors.

Some guys say take the whole thing apart and check for grab bag parts, clearances, and proper bolt torque-ok, sounds reasonable.

Then I talk to guys who drive their crate motored Mopars all over the country visiting car shows and cruises with a plopped in , bullet proof crate motor that runs like a champ with nothing other than routine maintenance required.

I personally would love the crate motor idea, especially the new mopar performance small block 440 super commando with 500 h/p, but having one built by a professional would be a crate motor to me anyways, so the peace of mind of having known quality parts is there and also most likely less expensive, especially if you buy all the parts and then take it to your builder.

Like I said, I keep hearing mixed reviews and most people will say "Go ahead and buy one and tell us how you like it."
 
i live in the bronx in n.y. and don't know any reputable shops around here, i was looking at the blueprintengines website and they say they dyno every motor and send you the results with every crate. I'm trying to simplify the whole process and don't want to spend all my time trying to find someone who can put one together. I was going to go for the mopar performance stroker until i saw some negative stuff on this forum, i'm confused.
 
73dodge said:
i live in the bronx in n.y. and don't know any reputable shops around here, i was looking at the blueprintengines website and they say they dyno every motor and send you the results with every crate. I'm trying to simplify the whole process and don't want to spend all my time trying to find someone who can put one together. I was going to go for the mopar performance stroker until i saw some negative stuff on this forum, i'm confused.
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Far as the crate motor is concerned I have never heard anyone say that their motor just blew, or started using oil, rod knocking, etc. And I've been in Mopars for awhile. Hey these are the same guys that bulid all the street engines in cars and trucks that we get in and drive everyday for crying out loud. I'd have one.

So then go ahead and pick between the two Mopar and blueprintengines and have a motor sent out.

Check the warranties on both.

Ask some questions.
 
I don't have any experience with crate motors, just an opinion....which is: don't forget to look at who the messenger is, don't just listen to the message. What I mean by that is, a lot of people on this site are drag racers and engine building gurus so their standards might be a little different than what the average joe expects.

Like the last guy said, I'd have one!
 
thanks for the input, i am leaning towards the blueprint engines 408. i spoke to brian and was assured that every motor is dynoed and comes with sheet. I think if somethings going to happen it would pop up during dyno testing. They also have a pretty good warranty covering parts for 30 months 50,000 miles. I don't think anyone could do better than that. I'll pull the trigger by early spring with my tax return.
 
73dodge said:
thanks for the input, i am leaning towards the blueprint engines 408. i spoke to brian and was assured that every motor is dynoed and comes with sheet. I think if somethings going to happen it would pop up during dyno testing. They also have a pretty good warranty covering parts for 30 months 50,000 miles. I don't think anyone could do better than that. I'll pull the trigger by early spring with my tax return.
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Sounds good to me.
 
There's someone here with one of theirs. Do a search and PM them. I think they were for the most part satisfied. I still dont think they are doing what they say. However that's just experience talking. I havent talked directly to them. I wouldnt buy a crate enigne any way. But for some people, it needs to be an option. As far as Mopar's crates... the more exotic, the worse they seem to be. Get a 360 Magnum, you're fine. Get a stroker small or big, or Hemi, and roll the dice. IMO, they get too much money for the problems they sometimes ship with, that they wont stand behind. But like I said, for some customers, that is one of the only options. But in this day and age, any engine can come from or go to anywhere. It adds about $500 to the cost of an engine to ship it coast to coast. Some of my best work is in CA...lol. SO the next question is, how much is the extra peace of mind a reputable shop/builder gives you worth to you? $500 on a $5500 budget is less than 10%, and that's assuming you have to ship that far.
 
Do machine shops give any warranty at all on motors that they build? I know most didn't used to... Once you picked up your motor, you were on your own. The factory warranty is the only reason I would ever consider a crate engine.

If they don't stand behind their product and honor their warranties, there's a BIG problem...
 
1969340dart said:
Check out these guys! They are building me a little 416 stroker engine and are a nice bunch of guys to deal with!

http://www.diamondbackengines.com/

Bobby
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Take a look at their Mopar Muscle Challenge engine and see how good it was and that tells me enough to stay away from them......

http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/...soil_mopar_engine_challenge_update/index.html


Since you don't know of any local shops I think a crate engine from a shop is gonna be your best bet......Look through the Mopar Mags and see whats out there....places like Speed-o-Motive and MRL Performance have good reps from what I have heard. I have a friend with an MRL 318 in his 66 Barracuda and you'd swaer it was a 360 the way it runs. I have heard the horror stories about the MP crate motors and seen some of the carnage. A guy in my town bought a crate 472 Hemi for his Polara.....well he dropped it in and fired it up and it rattled and shook and made all kinda of noise.....ended up having a rod bolt break and it dropped a valve.....killed the one head and piston, rod and crank.....The local dealer inspected it and MP replaced the parts.....so they at least stood behind it. I really like the 440 SB and I saw one at the classic this weekend.....I wonder who is screwing those together for Ma Mopar?
 
ab7fh said:
Do machine shops give any warranty at all on motors that they build? I know most didn't used to... Once you picked up your motor, you were on your own. The factory warranty is the only reason I would ever consider a crate engine.

If they don't stand behind their product and honor their warranties, there's a BIG problem...
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The good ones should. As an example, mine are a year from date of delivery, when all the recommended parts are used. (no cheaping out ;) ) Everyone is human. I've also re-ringed an engien I had nothing to do with the rings washing out (the owner had carb issues and tried to fix it himself and proceeded to wash out the rings). I've also personally put the upper 1/2 of the rear main seal in backwards. I ate that too. Human error happens. If you pay a shop for a certain performance level, it should be warranteed for that. I've seen engines rebuilt totally no charge because it was a labor issue that caused failure. Pistons in backwards. Incorrect head gasket finish or torque. Oil pump failure with less than 10 minutes running time. The problem with MP is, you arent buying it from your local dealer. You pay and pick it up there, but the warranty is with Mopar. I know a lot of guys that have had issues, and they are told go pound sand where they bought it. The reason Cummins has the contract to build the crates, is because they agreed to use the parts that were...marginal quality. Where the original contracted builder returned them and it was killing MP's bottom line. SO no, all parts get used, but the quality of the final product suffers. Nevermind the blatant errors that happen. Production line engines are fired at least a dozen times in the vehicle before any customer gets them. Crates are not. There's plenty of time to fix them or replace them. Anyone who worked at a dealership can attest to the shinannigans that goes on there. Find a builder you can live with close to you. There are a tn in the NYC area. Ask around. You may have to hit eastern PA or NJ. But they are around you.
 
I posted this thred back on 6/4/07

"I spent most of last summer installing a new MP 360 crate motor and getting the 10.95 Scallop clutch to operate correctly. I have driven the car less than 1000 miles since working out all the installation problems and changed the oil 3 times. A few weeks ago my wife and I drove to Santa Cruz for lunch in the Barracuda (about 50 miles round trip) and when we returned I found that the car had consumed ½ quart of oil. I had been keeping the oil level up by adding some from time to time but figured it was just slow to break in. I am going to take the car to Mopar Engines West for a leak down test to confirm there is a problem. I am not the first to complain about oil consumption with 360 crate motors and one of the guys on the Moparts web board lost his engine because he couldn’t conceive of a crate motor consuming that much oil so quickly. The warranty for a crate motor is 90 days from purchase, so I am likely screwed."

Update today:
Leak down test not advised by MOPAR Engines West because it would not confirm oil ring problems. I talked with the dealer that sold me the engine and they confirmed (much to the surprise of the salesman) neither MOPAR Performance nor Cummings would stand by there workmanship. The only thing I can do is pull the motor and have it rebuilt at my expense. I would rather spend money with Laysons Restorations than buy another Crate Motor for MOPAR Performance.
 
I am in the process of buying a 360 from Hensley Performance from Knoxville, TN . Everyone I have talked to there is very knowledgeable and the nicest damn folks I have run across in a long time.
 
Wow. Always such a mixed bag of responses about this topic. After reading most of the responses, I know I will have to make one of two choices. 1) Motor built by Mopar Engines West, 2) Blueprint Engines crate. It seems nobody has anything bad to say about Blueprint Engines and they do offer a 2 year, 24,000 mile warranty. MEW is 10 minutes from my house, they quoted me approximately 5-6k for a 400-420hp rebuild with me supplying the rebuildable small block.

I know I won't touch a Mopar Performance crate.
 
I'm just glad that one of the guys on the MOPARTS web board posted his problem soon after I got my car on the road. He drove his car for a while to break it in and then went to the strip to see what his car could do. He lost his engine because he didn’t think to check his oil level since he had so few miles on the engine. I went right out to the garage and checked the level and was down a quart. I just hate to invest so much time and effort only to find out that I have to do it all over again, at 61 years old, the moneys irrelevant.
 
I thought I'd add this: Just pulled from a $9500 Indy dyno'd crate. They installed the wrong oil pump drive. Put a bronze gear drive in with a hydraulic cast cam. Engine never ran right, never had the same power as the Indy supplied sheet said. Now timing was bouncing all over. The drive gear teeth are 1/2 way worn thru. All it takes is reading the MP catalog, and you'll know it's wrong. And the fact that it's bright bronze as opposed to a forged steel gear cant hurt IDing it either. In very limited experience (1 friend who used them) I have only seen major issues from MEW. Stuff a Mopar shop should not have problems with. (oiling system mods...or lack there of on a 7K rpm primarily race stroker small block) It ate some bearings, causing a freshening with extras for him. They denied any wrongdoing.

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I personally know the guys at Diamond back and that motor was never dynoed before the competition
 
Never dyno'd and never ran...what kind of compentent shop sends an engine to a magazine contest and doesn't even test run it on a stand to make sure everything is operating correctly. Don't they have an engine stand in their shop that they can test run engines they build? Any moron would know that you should make sure everything is right before you send a motor to a national magazine for a competition.....I know parts can fail from time to time but to not even run a motor before something like that is just plain stupid and tells me a lot about how they operate.
 
Sometimes for whatever reason (schedules, etc) you cant do everythign the way you want. It happens. But, the dyno and tuning is the last part of the puzzle. When that gets bolted to the rig, the builder has to have done all the right things. You dont have to run an engine to see if it's done "right". It helps to correctly break things in, but you dont have to. I didnt read that article. So I cant say whether it was parts failure of something else. But I know several race cars that show up on race day with a few odds and ends to do at the track before it's fired. One has held over 5 NHRA national records in Stock Eliminator.
 
I agree parts can fail but if you are building a motor for a magazine that YOU know is doing an article on it wouldn't you think you'd have all you I's dotted and T's crossed? I mean that is a major publication in the Mopar world and they are a shop in it's infancy so they need all the good press they can get. If I was building motors for a living I personally would at least fire up and run or break in a motor before it left my shop to make sure everything was okay...I understand you are gonna have some tuning to do but that's just sloppiness IMO. Anyhoo.....back to the subject at hand......I have seen the ads for Blueprint Engines and I think even Summit and/or Jegs are carrying them now as well and if they offer a warranty like that was stated I don't think you can go wrong there. I usually build my own engines but the way costs are getting I am really thinking of having MRL Performance build my next 318 whether it be a stock stroke nitrous motor or a 390ci 318 stroker......either way i can have a fully professionally built motor for less than what I can do it myself.
 
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