What has most $$ value: core long block assembled vs. unassembled & cleaned long bloc
 

I was wonder what the thoughts are from fellow pelicans regarding if they were in the market to buy a 3.0L long block engine.

Specifically, I was wondering which would have the most $$ value... a never opened high mileage long block with 110-130 compression and just plain old & tired VS. buying the same engine that was taken apart, all parts cleaned and measured and determined what is ok as is, what needs replacing and what needs machine work.

Now, if I was to ask myself this question, I would think both have strong merits either way you look at it.

For instance... if one was to buy the tired long block as is, this is a known quantity; it has never been opened up before; no damage to the engine... just plain old tired. This I would view as a known value as many of us know what typically goes... what needs replacing... what needs machining... you all follow me here and the big positive is that no one has screwed with the engine and possible mix-n-matched parts to try and come up with all the needed parts.

Now, to consider the same engine disassembled... all the parts are cleaned, all the parts are measured and determined what is good, bad and what needs replacement. So, in this case, would the potential buyers be skeptical to buy what could be termed as a "box of parts", not knowing for sure they all came from the same engine, except for the sellers word. Would this disassembled engine possibly be worth more OR is there possibly too much room for a buyer to be skeptical in that they would not trust or buy an engine this way. We have all herd of people buying a box of parts from a torn apart engine... most of these deals are for short money and the reason for the short money is something is usually missing or wrong in the deal and one winds up stuck with it..."but it was a great price!"

What do you all think has more value AND you would be willing to pay more for ??

Thanks for time & opinions here!
Bob

Go for the long block...

The value of a "tired" but otherwise original engine is very underrated.

I'm a bit of a nut for detail but when I see an engine that's never been opened I get excited... Original nut's and bolts with no tooling marks are the stuff of my dreams.

There is no guess work involved and there is so much documented about how to rebuild these engines it almost easy. Waynes book is a prime example.

Go for the assembled long block for sure... :cool: (I would be willing to pay more)

+1 Have to agree. The fact that it hasn't been molested internaly yet, adds value to me as well.

thanks guys for your inputs.
I was leaning that way too, i.e. the unmolested long block.

However, the idea popped into my head about potential buyers these days, whether on pelican, ebay, local newspaper, craigslist or where ever, and I was wondering with the impatientness of people these days, IF I documented that all of the pcs came from the same engine AND cleaned them all up AND measured to see what was ok/needs machining/or needs to be replaced, That all of that work is a lot of added value...BUT from what you 2 are saying, the DIY kind of buyer these days wants to tear it down themselves to see for themselves how it comes apart & then will go back together - are probably leerey of buying a box of parts no matter how clean or such and some are very particular on condition of every nut and bolt.

Basically, I was thinking of tearing down an engine and doing all the clean/measure stuff and someone could buy it as a 'kit' engine all ready to do the needed machining...buy a bigger this or that (p/c or cams or crank maybe) and could build what ever they wanted.
As we all know, at least 1/2 of the time required to rebuild a 911 engine is in the disassembly, cleaning and inspecting the parts, so I thought for an added x amount of $$ one could buy a 'kit' engine already to build how ever they wanted OR they could sell off what ever or part it out entirely if they wanted.

Any other comments from the pelican community??
Thanks, Bob

Hmm, having bought a few engine turds over the years, I would probably pay more for one that was torn down and inspected. Parting out an engine usually gets more $s in the end. Maybe not enough to justify the extra time disassembling and cleaning, but maybe so.

Compression numbers are ok, but I would rather have leak down numbers and observations. Leak downs are pretty easy, tell you where the wear is, and can be done with the engine out of the car.

As a data point:
I'm going to clean and measure any parts I get (even new) so for people like myself, any "value add" would be from "knowing" that the crank wasn't damaged, the parts were in spec before I bought them, not from any labor saved.
The 2 worst (unusable, out of spec or damaged) cranks I've measured, one was described as "perfect, ready to go" and another had come from a friend's machinist after being "crack checked and polished".

-Chris

thx guys... so chris, which do you "value" more and why??

If I was buying a motor to rebuild, I'd rather buy it whole and disassemble it myself. The motor can tell me things when I tear it down for one thing. Those "box of parts" motors always seem to be missing something.

If I was buying parts from a motor, I'm willing to pay more for a part that is "known" good than buy a motor and tear it down to get the part(s) myself and hope that it is good. I'd rather the seller measure it and then chuck it if it's bad vs buy it, discover it's bad and then have to ship it back, get a refund, etc.

I think there is a case to be made for parting it out for more money but it will take you longer to get that money.

For a 3.0, I think the risk is pretty low that the crank it bad. A 3.2 or a 3.6 on the other hand...

-Chris

thx chris... I guess this is why the forum has more listings for "engine parts" vs. core engines or whole assembled engines.
Parts are what they are and it avoids getting a potential bad something when an engine is bought assembled.
This also makes sense as if you were to add up the value of all the individual parts from a long block and compare it to an assembled long block... the parts always wins out.
I also get the impression now that no one would be willing to pay 'more' for an engine all disassembled and all of the parts cleaned, measured, and clearly stating what is good, bad, needs replacing and guaranteed that all of the parts came from that particular engine... very interesting...