Rebuilt or new engine replacement?

Unless it is just minor damage. Replace it. Cost of a complete rebuild may run more than a replacement. GM has a brand new engine replacement engine for them.

3 year 50K parts and labor warranty. MT

Two other options to consider: buy a good low mileage used engine from a scrapyard (my favorite, best bang/buck ratio), or buy an already rebuilt engine and turn yours in for the core.

I haven't had good luck with rebuilts, IMHO it's hard to beat the quality of a factory built engine without spending $$$ for the expertise to rebuild an engine correctly, and the cheapest factory engines come out of wrecked vehicles.

For $1700 US you can get a new longblock for your truck, complete with centerbolt valve covers and such - it's the factory replacement engine for your truck.

It depends on what's blown on your current engine - if you need a valve job, that's probably a lot cheaper than $1700...

My $.02... (and I'm a hotrodder) would be to get a new engine, and while you've got the engine out... hop it up a bit, even if it's a computer friendly cam for more torque. :)

But, I have no idea what your budget is, what your truck has been like, what shape it is in, and what your plan for it is.

Give us more information. :)

The big advantage of a new engine is you don't have to wait as long for the machine shop - quality takes time, and I always worry that after disassembly and cleanup they'll find that it's basically scrap anyway and you'll end up having to pay $1700 for a rebuild because of all the parts... where you could sell your current long block for $100....

This all changes if you know someone at a machine shop or you're building a non-stock motor, but I'd say that the days of local engine rebuilding for stock engines is going away.

if it's an old beater truck, what about a used motor for $200?

Ray

Depends on what is "blown." If it did the typical small-block Chevy trick of throwing a rod up and out the side of the block, there won't be much left worth rebuilding. If it just spun a bearing or cracked a piston, rebuilding is a good option.

What's the difference between a $650 rebuilt Chevy 350 and a $1500 rebuilt Chevy 350?

A friend of mine wanted to get a $650 one, but I talked him into a $1500 engine from Spartan, and it's worked out fine, but exactly what's done differently with those $650 rebuild jobs?

Possibly nothing more than $850.

Possibly (probably) lots: Cheap gaskets vs good ones. Honed vs bored. Cast crank vs forged crank. Hot tanked vs pressure washed. Hi perf cylinder heads vs 305 smogger heads. Even the quality of assembly.

If you're replacing the engine in your 78 pickup with a stock one, it's fine. If you're replacing the engine in your race car...

What's the difference between a $19 pair of shoes and a $99 pair of shoes?

Ray

How are you going to repair the large hole in the side of the block?

JB weld and bailing wire....... ;)

Bob

I wonder how they weld thin cast iron? The only way I know of is by heat= ing the entire block in a furnace, welding while hot, and then controlled cooling= over several days.

Yes. We had a Case 400 tractor once that developed a crack in the outer = water jacket. I fashioned a metal plate about 3"x9", drilled a hole every one = inch around the edges, drilled and tapped holes in the block, got some thick g= asket material, and bolted the plate to the engine. It ran for many more years= before we sold it.

More than can easily be listed. Cheap rebuilds may just be a "hone and re-ring it" job, but the block should be bored. Cheap rebuilds use cheap cast aluminum pistons, better ones use factory style cast pistons or better. Cheap rebuilds use nylon cam gears on the timing chain. Cheap rebuilds don't include squaring the block deck. Cheap rebuilds don't include degreeing the cam, just slapping it in with the marks aligned and hoping its somewhere close. Cheap rebuilds don't include re-hardening crank jounrals after turning them down for oversized bearings.

The list could go on for PAGES.

And not all of that is necessarily required in a stock low perf application. It's like cast cranks vs forged ... we all know which is better, but how many of us have ever even busted a stock cast crank?

there are certain things that NEED to be done for an engine rebuild, and lots of many optional things. I think the catch is whether or not the $650 rebuild will include all the required stuff or not.

Ray

True. Boring IS required. I would say that (at least) factory-quality pistons are required. Line boring is required IF any or all main bearing caps had to be changed for some reason. Cam degreeing is a good thing if you want to be assured proper efficiency and performance, but the fact is 'slap it in and run' USUALLY works OK. Squaring the decks isn't required, nylon cam gears are OK for 60k miles or so. etc. etc.

It's like cast cranks vs forged ... we all know which is

Some of us have 450,000 miles on a cast crank engine :-)

some of us have bent cranks in 25 laps. (but that was far from a stock application on an old 307.)