GRUMPYVETTE??
"my friend has a 383 stroker he's selling for $400 but he;ll throw in the tranny for $600 total. the only thing is that he said was wrong is that one of the heads got a bit messed up so id have to buy a new set or maybe just one. either way does this sound like a good steal? the motor and the tranny both only have 11k on em."
ID STRONGLY suggest disassemble and inspection before purchase to see the extent of damage and what remains re-usable.
you may have a friend who is giving you a great deal, because hes changing to a different type of engine, or getting out of the hobby, but I,D be cautious, and inspect the engine before you buy it,Ive purchased several engines in the past from partly completed project cars or from guys who bought replacement engines for pennies, but those are rather rare compared to guys trying to make a few bucks from totaled blocks etc.
and if it proves to be significantly more than just head damage a change in "FRIENDS"
IF he won,t allow inspection before the cash changes hands...a change in "FRIENDS" is a very good idea
just a re-usable block in good shape and a few parts like valve covers, rockers etc. could easily be worth the $400, but anyone selling an expensive engine with only 11K miles on it or engine/trans for $400-$600 is HIGHLY SUSPECT,unless your really good freinds and Ive seen far to many trashed engines sold to unsuspected new hot rodders to not be suspicious, of prices that low, ID also measure the bore/stroke and read casting numbers as more than one 383 purchased from a new "FRIEND" has turned out to be a 305 or 307 sbc .
anytime you buy hot rod parts from a private party, ID also, make damn sure you have ALL the parts your paying for, about 6 years ago, a buddy once purchased a (COMPLETE TUNNEL RAM WITH DOMINATOR CARBS) from EBAY which had a clear picture of the intake and carbs but when he received the box it had a different brand tunnel ram intake manifold , it was a dominator style tunnel ram with adapters and two 450 cfm holleys in miserable condition mounted on top,he had assumed since the guy was local, he would not get scammed, but what he received was not obviously what was described or what was pictured in the add, but he was screwed as the seller had closed the account and the address associated was a vacant lot.
obviously he should have taken the time to make a 1 1/2 hour drive and inspect then pay cash only after inspecting the induction set up, but he was trusting and got scammed, ebay basically said, since he had received the intake and carbs it was his problem.because the add read "dominator intake manifold and carbs," and he had received "dominator intake manifold and carbs" even if they were not matching the picture and not anything like the picture depicted.
I was waiting to get some parts from a local machine shop one day a few years ago when a guy walks in with a sbc block on a hand truck and tells the guy to bore the block, the machine shop guy measured and said. the block was already .060 over bore and taking it out further was not advised, the guy said, "just bore it and hone to the next larger size its going out on EBAY I could care less as long as it loods good when your done for pictures"
Im sure hes not the only guy dumping parts on the internet either
"my friend has a 383 stroker he's selling for $400 but he;ll throw in the tranny for $600 total. the only thing is that he said was wrong is that one of the heads got a bit messed up so id have to buy a new set or maybe just one. either way does this sound like a good steal? the motor and the tranny both only have 11k on em."
ID STRONGLY suggest disassemble and inspection before purchase to see the extent of damage and what remains re-usable.
you may have a friend who is giving you a great deal, because hes changing to a different type of engine, or getting out of the hobby, but I,D be cautious, and inspect the engine before you buy it,Ive purchased several engines in the past from partly completed project cars or from guys who bought replacement engines for pennies, but those are rather rare compared to guys trying to make a few bucks from totaled blocks etc.
and if it proves to be significantly more than just head damage a change in "FRIENDS"
IF he won,t allow inspection before the cash changes hands...a change in "FRIENDS" is a very good idea
just a re-usable block in good shape and a few parts like valve covers, rockers etc. could easily be worth the $400, but anyone selling an expensive engine with only 11K miles on it or engine/trans for $400-$600 is HIGHLY SUSPECT,unless your really good freinds and Ive seen far to many trashed engines sold to unsuspected new hot rodders to not be suspicious, of prices that low, ID also measure the bore/stroke and read casting numbers as more than one 383 purchased from a new "FRIEND" has turned out to be a 305 or 307 sbc .
anytime you buy hot rod parts from a private party, ID also, make damn sure you have ALL the parts your paying for, about 6 years ago, a buddy once purchased a (COMPLETE TUNNEL RAM WITH DOMINATOR CARBS) from EBAY which had a clear picture of the intake and carbs but when he received the box it had a different brand tunnel ram intake manifold , it was a dominator style tunnel ram with adapters and two 450 cfm holleys in miserable condition mounted on top,he had assumed since the guy was local, he would not get scammed, but what he received was not obviously what was described or what was pictured in the add, but he was screwed as the seller had closed the account and the address associated was a vacant lot.
obviously he should have taken the time to make a 1 1/2 hour drive and inspect then pay cash only after inspecting the induction set up, but he was trusting and got scammed, ebay basically said, since he had received the intake and carbs it was his problem.because the add read "dominator intake manifold and carbs," and he had received "dominator intake manifold and carbs" even if they were not matching the picture and not anything like the picture depicted.
I was waiting to get some parts from a local machine shop one day a few years ago when a guy walks in with a sbc block on a hand truck and tells the guy to bore the block, the machine shop guy measured and said. the block was already .060 over bore and taking it out further was not advised, the guy said, "just bore it and hone to the next larger size its going out on EBAY I could care less as long as it loods good when your done for pictures"
Im sure hes not the only guy dumping parts on the internet either