Is it cheaper to buy a crate engine or build one?

No matter how well you take care of your car’s engine, there will inevitably come a time when it reaches the end of its life. You may reach this point gradually with a slow loss of power and fuel economy, or you may experience catastrophic failure due to engine bearing or timing belt failure. When your engine finally gives up the ghost, you have several options. You can use a remanufactured or remanufactured engine, buy a new one from the factory from a dealer, or build your own engine. Factory and aftermarket crate engines can cost thousands of dollars, but building an engine is not for novice mechanics or the faint of heart. In nearly 40 years of working on cars as a professional and amateur mechanic, I have performed countless engine swaps and swaps, although I have only taken on the task of building an engine a few times. This is a delicate job that requires precision, experience and special tools.

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When you buy from a reputable crate engine dealer like Summit Racing or BluePrint Engines, you usually get a warranty on the units. But building your own engine means taking full responsibility for any assembly problems, such as incorrect bearing clearances that must be adjusted to within thousands of inches. While you can theoretically save some money by purchasing new engine components instead of buying a crate engine, when you consider everything that goes into it, for most people the smart move is to buy a ready-to-run complete engine.

Let’s use the 5.3-liter Chevy LS-series V8 as a measuring stick. The long block assembly from Summit Racing costs $3,799.99 and will allow you to use your existing belt drive accessories, radiator and starter with the new engine. Another option is to send the block and heads or donor from the warehouse to a machine shop and buy all new internals and valve train components. A rebuild kit with gaskets, pistons, rings, seals, and main bearings will cost you about $500-$800, and that’s just the beginning. Prepping the block and heads for new components will cost several hundred more, and you’ll still have to buy the crankshaft, camshaft, and valve components.

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These parts can easily add over a thousand dollars to the cost of building your engine, and you still have to include the cost of smaller items like valve covers, oil pan, fluids, fasteners, and hoses. Many of these small purchases will be necessary even if you buy a crate engine, but keep in mind that the material costs of building a DIY engine will always be greater than the unexpected costs associated with replacement. If you decide to build an LS engine, you’ll likely spend over two thousand dollars before you consider the value of the time you’ll spend planning, executing, and worrying about building your engine.

Assembling an engine can take tens of hours even for experienced professionals. In addition to actually working on the project, you’ll have to make countless trips to the parts store, online research expeditions, and frantic phone calls. Then, when you finally put everything back together and put the new engine back in the car, every rattle and hesitation will have you reconsidering every step, wondering if you did something wrong.

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While you may be able to save some money on engine assembly, when you factor in the time and stress, most people are better off having their engine assembly done by someone who does it full time and offers you a guarantee on the finished work. product. Even as an experienced mechanic, I almost always feel more comfortable entrusting this work to specialists. If you want to save money on an engine replacement, a much better way to do it is to remove the old engine and install the new one yourself. This task can be completed safely with the help of your vehicle’s factory maintenance manual, online resources, a capable assistant, and a rental engine lift.