'86 Grand National Motor Value??

[griz_83ho]

Hey guys been looking at picking a motor up. Looking for an idea on what it is worth. Its a 3.8 from a 1986 Grand National that had 90k orignial miles. Motor was punched out 20 over and crank was just polished. Has all new bearing and ARP hardware and rods were resized/smoothed. Has wiesco forged pistons and rings. Shortblock was blueprinted and blananced and has factory heads that have a little porting and polishing, nothing extreme, and new stainless valves/springs. Running a new .206/.206 comp cam. Intake is also ported and polished to match head, turbo is rebuilt, etc. Only thing really missing for the motor was correct size pushrods due to the block and heads being decked. Question is what is it worth?

Also guy has a 4.1 block for sale as well, std. bore but cylinders are a little crusty due to sitting out.

Thanks

 

[bryesh]

I'd say about $1000 for the 3.8 and $10 for the 4.1.

Then again I tend to underestimate things.

 

[earlbrown]

I would inspect the 4.1 deck for cracks around the head bolt holes and look for deep pits in the cylinder walls. Both of those can be a deal breaker by itself. If the block is buildable it's worth a couple hundred depending on how much machining it's going to take to make it buildable.

On the 3.8 if it's never been fired, I personally wouldn't touch it for more than a core price. That's also depending on who built it and if it has a flat tappet cam. There is a VERY high rate of these engines failing on fresh rebuilds. Common issues stem from improper installation of billet caps, flat tappet cams failing, head gaskets failing, and oil pump problems is not set up correctly. Nothing would suck more than paying top dollar for a rebuild, shipping it, getting it installed and wiping it out (along with the turbo and radiator) right off the bat.

 

[Buick Mark]

Im always questioning why people put money into having an engine machined/assembled then stopping short of getting it installed and running then decide to sell it, BUT the seller stops short buy leaving components off so the engine cannot be run for the buyer, hmmmmmmmmmmmm.