Rebuild and Sell

jonn127 · 03-12-2010, 01:20 PM

Have a question. Can anyone tell me why more often than not, it seems like a lot of cars for sale have rebuilt engines. Not just rebuilt, but newly rebuilt. Seems like I come across ads all the time that say, "less than xxxx miles on the new engine." Do people just decide its time to get rid of the money pit or why do cars that are for sale that have rebuilds always seem to be hardly any miles on the "new" engines?

Dave68 · 03-12-2010, 04:29 PM

I can tell you from experience that there seem to be very few "engine builders" out there who can build an engine that is as reliable as a factory engine. The first time I and a friend rebuilt a 327 engine, I had a local shop do the cylinder boring and head work. That work turned out to be poor at best and my engine consumed way too much oil.
Eventually, I decided to go with a nationally-known shop, figuring the big bucks I'd spend would mean long-life. Nope: The engine ran hot and never did seem to break in. When it started blowing blue smoke I finally took the advice of a local Corvette shop owner who advised me to buy a GM crate engine. He went to say that it'll be more potent than the 327 ever was and will last a long time. Shortly after I bought one, there was a good article about crate engines in Chevy magazine. One of the engineers who worked with the crate engines told the mag writer that the ZZ4 is easily a 100,000 mile engine - something I cannot believe can be achieved by a rebuilt engine.

So to answer your question, I believe that when a rebuild goes wrong, it is often followed by another rebuild and then a sale. I'm sure there are other reasons, but I'll bet this one is very common.

jonn127 · 03-12-2010, 05:13 PM

very interesting and helpful information, I appreciate it.

juiceman03070 · 03-14-2010, 12:35 PM

I gotta go the other way than Dave 68...with the feedback on rebuild or crate ..
I just finished a 1968 Chevelle that had the original 375 horse engine ..
I restore to make them back to new ..To go with a factory replacement would cut the value buy 30-40%
A good engine builder will do things that are not standard on some crate jobs ..like a true balancing job ..with all of the rotating assembly in place ..
The ZZ4 is a few steps up the ladder ,but I have seen many with an assortment of crank bearings ..instead of machining to match ..