Hey guys, I am looking for a motor for my car and I found a guy who is selling his. I'm going to copy and paste what he wrote me about the motor and I want to know what you guys think...if I should take him up on it and if it sounds like he did a good job...I will put my questions in (parantheses) throughout what he wrote so you can distinguish my writing from his...
Hello,
On the '71 400 YS, the machine work & asm was performed little over 2 years ago. On this engine, the customer had contracted me to replace the engine in his car after doing quite a bit of front suspension work & some detailing under the hood.
The engine is not a 350 horse RA 4 cammed, Rhoads lifter equipped 9.3-1 406 crate engine (longblock) like my Pontiac engine builder buddy builds & sells outright for $2800 (This confuses me...he tells me that the engine is NOT 350 HP like his friends engine? And he also says something about it being a 406 crate engine...is he talking about his friends or his engine? because if I recall Pontiac doesn't have a 406 engine.)
Instead, this 400 is a stock rebuilt 406 (he calls it a 400 motor...but then he says its a stock rebuilt 406 motor???) using desirable year heads (96's) & matching YS coded 400 block. In stock condition, this version of 400 bbl engine made 300 gross hp & ran on 87-89 octane regular fuel. As the engine has been bored, there may be a slight increase in compression ratio, but I have not measured & ck'ed it.
Aftermarket parts... On such an engine, or even on one of Len's 9.3-1 crate engines, there is no extra hp to be gained by going to a Performer intake (actually slighly less flow than stock early 4 bbl intake) or a $200-400 aftermarket carb. (Does this mean that I wouldn't be able to get any performance parts for it to add more power because its already maxed out or what?) In actuality one usually is just shooting themselves in the foot when going to the Edelbrock 1407 carbs, cheap Demons, or cheap Holleys. Have dealt with many of the associated problems with before mentioned carbs & honestly I cannot recommend them. The stock '67-72 Pontiac 4bbl intakes have been proven to be better flow wise than the regular Performer intake, & as we were using one of the "good" early Pontiac Q-jets (professionally rebuilt), there was no reason to go with lesser performing new aftermarket carb.
Often times on Pontiac builds, I will install a repro RAIII S grind cam or other owner picked new cam & new lifters, as I have a degree wheel & can propperly degree the cam in. Going with a RAIII cam, is going to add to the price of the longblock, the price of the cam & shipping. If such is the case, will throw in my labor to propperly install. On the Comp roller tip rockers that came off the 462 e-headed engine, they have under 45 minutes break-in time & 6 dyno pulls on them. I personally like using polylocks & would install these barely run rollertip rockers with new polylocks after cam swap. Rocker nut adjustment is done cold, & & on occasion, will have to readjust a rocker upon initial fire-up. (What does he mean by having to readjust rocker upon initial fireup??) Ordering a set of polylocks & going with the Comp roller tips, will add $135. Swapping cams will cost $70-110, depending on which brand of new RAII cam.
Warranty. Will warranty the YS 400 to be rebuilt, not a cheapy backyard re-ring special that someone slammed together. My customer spent close to 1500 on the machinework, internal engine parts, & assembly & then spent another 500 with me in R & R, including replacing the oilpan on the engine with one that was in nicer shape, & then the entire engine was painted the correct '71-early 73 shade of Pontiac blue. For $1100 for a rebuilt longblock, someone will be getting a deal. The rods have been resized & are not going to knock. Leaks, there should be no oil leaks, the rear main seal was properly installed. Every once in a blue moon, will install a rebuilt engine & get a slight oil leak, usually due to improper oil pan seal, this is withing the realm of possibility, but should not be the case.
Magnafluxing. Block & heads were torn down vatted & magged before machinework.
Crank undersize, I'm willing to bet it's 10-10, (what does 10-10 mean?) & I can remove the pan & a maincap & rod bearing cap & double ck the new bearing sizes, then propperly reinstall & retorque. The crank was propperly turned, but since this engine has been on the extra stand, I've torn down several dozen Pontiac engines & assembled 5 or 6 engines, so cannot remember exact crank undersize w/o double ck'ing.
(Okay guys, that's it...he wants $1,100 for the engine...tell me what you think I should do)
Hello,
On the '71 400 YS, the machine work & asm was performed little over 2 years ago. On this engine, the customer had contracted me to replace the engine in his car after doing quite a bit of front suspension work & some detailing under the hood.
The engine is not a 350 horse RA 4 cammed, Rhoads lifter equipped 9.3-1 406 crate engine (longblock) like my Pontiac engine builder buddy builds & sells outright for $2800 (This confuses me...he tells me that the engine is NOT 350 HP like his friends engine? And he also says something about it being a 406 crate engine...is he talking about his friends or his engine? because if I recall Pontiac doesn't have a 406 engine.)
Instead, this 400 is a stock rebuilt 406 (he calls it a 400 motor...but then he says its a stock rebuilt 406 motor???) using desirable year heads (96's) & matching YS coded 400 block. In stock condition, this version of 400 bbl engine made 300 gross hp & ran on 87-89 octane regular fuel. As the engine has been bored, there may be a slight increase in compression ratio, but I have not measured & ck'ed it.
Aftermarket parts... On such an engine, or even on one of Len's 9.3-1 crate engines, there is no extra hp to be gained by going to a Performer intake (actually slighly less flow than stock early 4 bbl intake) or a $200-400 aftermarket carb. (Does this mean that I wouldn't be able to get any performance parts for it to add more power because its already maxed out or what?) In actuality one usually is just shooting themselves in the foot when going to the Edelbrock 1407 carbs, cheap Demons, or cheap Holleys. Have dealt with many of the associated problems with before mentioned carbs & honestly I cannot recommend them. The stock '67-72 Pontiac 4bbl intakes have been proven to be better flow wise than the regular Performer intake, & as we were using one of the "good" early Pontiac Q-jets (professionally rebuilt), there was no reason to go with lesser performing new aftermarket carb.
Often times on Pontiac builds, I will install a repro RAIII S grind cam or other owner picked new cam & new lifters, as I have a degree wheel & can propperly degree the cam in. Going with a RAIII cam, is going to add to the price of the longblock, the price of the cam & shipping. If such is the case, will throw in my labor to propperly install. On the Comp roller tip rockers that came off the 462 e-headed engine, they have under 45 minutes break-in time & 6 dyno pulls on them. I personally like using polylocks & would install these barely run rollertip rockers with new polylocks after cam swap. Rocker nut adjustment is done cold, & & on occasion, will have to readjust a rocker upon initial fire-up. (What does he mean by having to readjust rocker upon initial fireup??) Ordering a set of polylocks & going with the Comp roller tips, will add $135. Swapping cams will cost $70-110, depending on which brand of new RAII cam.
Warranty. Will warranty the YS 400 to be rebuilt, not a cheapy backyard re-ring special that someone slammed together. My customer spent close to 1500 on the machinework, internal engine parts, & assembly & then spent another 500 with me in R & R, including replacing the oilpan on the engine with one that was in nicer shape, & then the entire engine was painted the correct '71-early 73 shade of Pontiac blue. For $1100 for a rebuilt longblock, someone will be getting a deal. The rods have been resized & are not going to knock. Leaks, there should be no oil leaks, the rear main seal was properly installed. Every once in a blue moon, will install a rebuilt engine & get a slight oil leak, usually due to improper oil pan seal, this is withing the realm of possibility, but should not be the case.
Magnafluxing. Block & heads were torn down vatted & magged before machinework.
Crank undersize, I'm willing to bet it's 10-10, (what does 10-10 mean?) & I can remove the pan & a maincap & rod bearing cap & double ck the new bearing sizes, then propperly reinstall & retorque. The crank was propperly turned, but since this engine has been on the extra stand, I've torn down several dozen Pontiac engines & assembled 5 or 6 engines, so cannot remember exact crank undersize w/o double ck'ing.
(Okay guys, that's it...he wants $1,100 for the engine...tell me what you think I should do)