Well not exactly..Just heard a decent deal on a 406 bottom end..Its a stock crank eagle H beams 6" long, and ross domes..

The guy claims its only one season old but from the looks of his receipts, has opted not to balance it all..Is there something that i should be looking for when i inspect it all?Mainly something due to being revved to 7200 unbalanced on the regular...The journals look ok as well as the slugs..Just want to be sure before i fork over $400 for this stuff..Everything that ive built i had balanced.

 

I would take it to a shop and have them check your parts for those hair line cracks that you nornaly cant see.

 

Yeah Magnaflux all the steel parts and Zyglo the pistons.

I'm a big fan of not buying used parts, reusing parts is ok if you know the actual service life of them, like if they came out of your motor.

I think the old man has a comment on why metal is like women, because they both remeber every little stress that has ever been put on them and at one point that last little stress makes you pay.


Bret

 

hehe i remember him saying that, and i will forever remember that one.

 

Used parts are like used brides; you never know what you're getting into.


Personally, used rotating/reciprocating engine parts scare me a lot more than "used" brides.

 

Nah that's a toss up both of them scare me equally

Bret

 

When you buy a used car you are buying a used rotating assy. and can't even (easily) inspect it.

Rich Krause

 

Man, last year a buddy and I attempted to campaign a GT-1 car on the cheap. We bought used everything. At the time a buddy who runs a match-race fuel car told me "People don't sell stuff 'cause it's good, they sell it 'cause it's junk." I nodded, smiled, and ran the used parts we already had.

Needless to say, motor #1 tossed cookies before the first race. Motor #2 ran about 4-5 weekends before it suffered complete destruction. The options were either run used junk or don't run, so we did what we did.

The parts you're looking at include a vintage crankshaft that's been used at it's limits under adverse conditions for a considerable time- after it served one lifetime. You're getting a set of used rods (I have a set I could make you a deal on) plus a set of pistons... and the Ross pistons I have used were kinda funky.. really heavy, and had grooves cut into the skirt that wore the cylinders badly.

This year, we went out and bought a complete motor for $3,500. It's a Bowtie block, Lentz rods, CP pistons, Jesels, Belt drive, worked Dart heads, custom roller cam, etc. Of course it's well used too, so we got another time bomb. Again, it's a matter of making priorities.

If it were me, I'd skip em- if I could. JMHO

 

No flame intended, but just a thought: if you total up the money spent on 3 "bombs", is enough to have built one reliable engine, especially if #3 self destructs and you need #4?

 

sorry to hear about your bad luck..Be careful about where you get your used parts..Ive has great succes with used cup parts from hendrick over the years..Put 400 passes on one top end alone and sold that engine to someone who still runs 7.60s in his RED..

The guy hasnt called my back so im gonna slap together some parts i have and buy some wiseco protrus..

I have a klien crank and some eagle rods with crower bushings..It just suprized me how rough the CNC work on the pro trus are..Guess i gotta break out teh cookie wheel and wet sand paper..

 

All told, I think we've spent about $6,000 and we sold off one motor for something like $3,800. There were a lot of "previously enjoyed" parts that came with the car. The one we'll start next year with is all good parts, just well used. Definately would like to buy a real bullet, there's just no money to do so right now. I'm rebodying the old Camaro to a new Corvette and it's getting a bit spendy.

Definately agree with your point nonetheless: it doesn't pay to buy used stuff- at least in my experience. But we've really got a net of about $2200 on the whole season, plus one motor that should run half this coming year.

 

I have no problems about paying the $550 I did for my 383... and the T56 and most of the Camaro that comes with it I know it was ragged out and I'll continue that.