Engine Build Average Cost (351W)

[kiteoregon]

So i am to the point where it's time to take my 351W in and have it rebuilt stock. I did the tear down and will have the shop machine and assemble. What do you think rough average prices for this sort of thing would be? Obviously could be a lot of different factors, but lets assume the engine is in fairly good shape for 160k miles. I will probably add a mild cam, and use the 302 upper intake and throttle body.

Thoughts on cost?


Thanks. KO

 

[joshd1971bronco]

Well, like you said, it depends on just how much you have them do.

If they simply bore it out, hone the cylinders, and do SHORT BLOCK assembly - maybe 600-800 or so. If they get a little more sophisticated and start with all the fancy tricks - line honing, balancing, chambering crank counter weights, this and that, you could be 1500-2000. If they bore it out (say 0.030 which it will likley need if it's got 160K on it) you'll need at least new pistons as well as of course all new bearings and such.

Ask around your area and find a trustworthy, reputable guy.

 

[Nightstick]

Ballpark, I'd say about $2500 for the machine work, rebuild kit, cam, assembly, balance.

 

[kiteoregon]

I guess it really depends on how much i have the shop do, and how much i do. I would really like to build it all the way up, but this would be my first motor of this size. How successful do you think an engine noob could be at the build up? I have rebuilt many a 2-stroke motor, i know it's not the same, but i am at least familiar with the parts.

I assume the risk is in the short block assembly, maybe its worth it to have the shop do that (while i watch).

 

[Bronco717274]

Make sure the shop you have doing the work is a good one, one of the guy's at the plant had a shop rebuild his shortblock and they put the cam bearing's in wrong. Couldn't get any oil to the top of the engine and messed it up.

 

[1975 BRONCO]

1975 302 longblock rebuild

I just had my 302 redone, $1596 for the longblock out the door. Basic rebuild kit plus new camshaft, one step above stock, .030 over, eight new intake valves, and sixteen rocker arms. As you know, most shops charge $80 to $100 an hour. No more bargains out there unless you got a buddy!!!

 

[kiteoregon]

As far as the shop goes, i was doing research on-line, and came across several posting referencing a guy here where i live. Turns out he is just down the road and is well regarded by folks over at WCB. I called him and he sounds like he knows the 302 and 351 very well. He is a one man operation, and because of that the rebuild time is about 8 weeks, so i want to get it all figured, get the parts ordered and drop it off. That 8 weeks should give me time to get some of the rest of the project done.....

 

[bluesbish]

I put together a windsor 2 summers ago for my bronco that I was building. Don't bother with a rebuild kit or at least not untill you know what you need. I was going for a budget build, mostly looking for reliability. I sent my best looking of three winsor blocks to the machine shop and had them measure it out. They said I needed to go .040 over with it. on ebay, I purchased 8 hyperutectic flat top pistons, rings, and cam bearings for well under 200 bucks. dropped them off at the machine shop along with my old rods and pistons and a rusty crank that was laying in the corner of my garage for years. machine shop bored cylinders, decked block, line bored mains, installed cam bearings, cleaned block, hung new pistons on rods, select fit pistons to cylinders, installed rings, machined crank, supplied rod and main bearings, and assembled the short block minus cam. basically, to do it right and make sure all the clearances check out, you would have to assemble it anyway. they did all that for 450 bucks. Then I took them a set of 74 302 heads and they drilled out to 1/2 inch for 351 head bolts, performed valve job, machined flat, installed new valve seals(they supplied), and tested springs. for this they charged 225 bucks. I used an old cam and lifters out of my 302 that I really liked and a factory 4bbl windsor intake. I purchased gaskets individually or in small kits such as timing cover set and put it all together. so, for just over $1000.00, I was able to build myself a nice little reliable powerhouse. It's no race motor and it never sees 5000rpm. but it will pull my bronco with 4.88's and 38's over any hill, anywhere in high gear with my foot just resting on the throttle.

 

[barronj]

I dig the assembly part.

I haven't even put 3000 miles on the 97 351 shortblock I built, and I've already bought another roller block... thinking about a 383 w/ more compression than the dish pistons that came stock.

 

[stock1970]

I just got a surefire reman from autozone.. came with a 3 year unlimited mile warranty.. I am totally satisfied so far and I have drove my bronco as a daily driver and two septembers in a row I put over 1500 miles on it.. i figure I have at least 15k on the engine ..

 

[kiteoregon]

bluesbish, do you remember what cam it was that you used? I am also having a hard time deciding if i want EFI or carb. Other then easy cold starts with EFI and probably some crawling performance, what is the benefit? I really like the idea of keeping the electronics out of the system. You can tune / rebuild a carb, fuel injectors, electronics all seem like they could become problematic. I will be using this as a daily driver but it will get a chance to see the trails and the dunes once and a while.

 

[bluesbish]

bluesbish, do you remember what cam it was that you used?

I do not remember the exact cam. I do know that it is a wolverine blue racer that came off the shelf at an advance auto store.
funny, I needed to replace the cam in my old 302 and went down to the parts store and picked this one off the shelf. Later, my buddy was doing research on cams with a bench dyno software program and discovered that this cam had a really flat tourque curv. he built another 302 and used this cam and then dyno the engine. he was making over 300 ft.lbs of tourque from 1500 rpm all the way to 5000 rpm. think it peaked at 350ft.lbs.

 

[barronj]

I do not remember the exact cam. I do know that it is a wolverine blue racer that came off the shelf at an advance auto store.
funny, I needed to replace the cam in my old 302 and went down to the parts store and picked this one off the shelf. Later, my buddy was doing research on cams with a bench dyno software program and discovered that this cam had a really flat tourque curv. he built another 302 and used this cam and then dyno the engine. he was making over 300 ft.lbs of tourque from 1500 rpm all the way to 5000 rpm. think it peaked at 350ft.lbs.

I had that cam in an '85 mustang once, it might be my all around favorite cam. That was in a 302 w/ massaged E7's. That was 17 years ago!