Is a rebuilt motor from Schuck's any good?

[mountaindew]

I was wondering if a rebuilt motor from Schucks is any good. A local mechanic was going to charge me $1200 for a rebuilt stock motor, he says that he doesn' t cut corners. On one hand that sounds good but on the other hand I can get a stock rebuilt 454 for about $800. I was also wondering if the motors are decent, then maybe with the money I save I could get some more preformance cams. Thanks for the info.

[Rbraczyk]

Just so you know, With core deposit and my motor replaced it is 2400. I dont' think that motor is too great.

[mountaindew]

I called my local Schuck's for my dad's 460 and they said it would be $800 after I turned in my core.

[Erik_The_Red]

My 4.3 was 1200 after core charge. That sounds kinda low. Check with some locals. I am not familiar with that company. They may just fix the bad parts and not replace everything.

[mountaindew]

I talked with a guy at Carquest he rebuilds motors on the side, he said he would do it for $1200 no core charge. The guy at Schucks said all I would have to get for the motor would be exhuast manifold, carburetor, and one other thing but it was something I already had on my rig.

[chebby uno ton]

Originally Posted by Erik_The_Red

My 4.3 was 1200 after core charge. That sounds kinda low. Check with some locals. I am not familiar with that company. They may just fix the bad parts and not replace everything.

What he said. Find out what will be replaced in the rebuild. Ask around for some smalltime racing or just plain engine repair-machine shops. I got one here called dons engine shop. You can't find it in the fon book and from the outside it looks like a old warehouse but inside it's racemotoers and millin' machines. You can go in to the little joints and talk to the guys that r going to be working on your motor. He'll do a 350 for a grand to 1,200. all depends on what you want. that price is with new pistons and bearings cam and lifters blah,blah.

[mountaindew]

Thanks for the info you guys I'll keep it all in mind.

[jimss454]

That does sound really low. I do know that there are a few large mass-engine-rebuilders (Four-Star is one), that provide rebuilds to places like Advance, Carquest, etc. You are not going to get anything near the quality of your original motor. I am not saying they are junk, but they have a very low-paid labor force, and these guys use impact guns to quickly disassemble & re-assemble the engines. They use the cheapest replacement components available, and re-use many parts that are not worn beyond the specified wear limits. You know darn well they aren't concerned with close tolerances on piston to bore clearance, ring end-gaps, etc. It is basically like buying mass-produced, low-cost tacos from Taco Bell for 39 cents apiece, vs spending $3 for a killer taco at a real Mexican restaurant. You get what you pay for. Depending on what your intended application is, it may suit your needs. But if you want a performance engine, stay away from them! The chinese pistons & korean bearings, etc will NOT stand up to the higher pressures & stresses created by a high-output engine. I build my own big-block Chevy engines, for my own muscle cars, drag racing & tow vehicles, etc. Using my own core, and putting together a good quality moderate performance engine for a pickup truck, with my own free labor (about 80-120 hours of cleaning, assembly, measurement, clearance checking, careful torquing of fasteners, filing ring end-gaps, setting valve clearances, etc), I can't do one for under $1,000-$1,200. That is just for the machine shop bill (to bore, hone, hot-tank, deck, the block), do a Valve job on the heads, and the cost of new parts. I use decent quality pistons, rings, bearings, cam, lifters, oil pump, pump screen, timing gears & chain, valve springs, gaskets, freeze plugs, push rods, rod bolts, head bolts, spark plugs, water pump, plug wires, fuel line & filter, gasket & thread sealants, oil & filter (which gets changed after 40 minute run-in), assembly lube, cam lobe lubricant, etc. This assumes you have your own suitable core motor, complete with crankshaft, rods, flywheel, damper, carb, intake, tinwork (oil pan, timing cover, valve covers), all necessary bolts & hardware, distributor, and exhaust manifolds or headers. Then there is an air cleaner, anti-freeze, etc. It isn't cheap to do, even if all you need is a freshening-up for a stock grocery getter. Now, I don't do enough rebuilds to get any kind of volume discount on the parts, and I don't use stuff from off-shore manufacturers. I can make your stock 454 pickup motor put out 550 reliable horsepower, on pump gas, for about $2800 (you are buying all of the above, plus a new intake manifold, forged pistons, matching performance cam, bigger valves, more machine work, minor port work, ARP fasteners for heads, mains, rods, maybe better head castings, Good timing set, Hi Perf HEI Distributor, Holley Carb, Headers, better head gaskets, etc. Again, this is zero profit, parts at cost, and zero labor cost.
If you want a stock, low-compression, replacement motor, for a transportation vehicle, and performance is not a factor, and you can do the labor to remove & replace it, (twice or 3 times, at your expense, if there is an internal warranty problem), and if you can accept a bit higher than normal oil consumption, then this deal you found may be the way to go. But read the warranty folder BEFORE you buy the engine. And the list of what parts are new, and what is included with the assembly, also. If it is a "long-block", you will have to install your old oil pan, valve covers, distributor, carb, water pump, etc. & your own plugs, oil, filter, coolant, etc. Hope this helps you make an educated decision. Also, consider a GM factory replacement crate engine. They build thousands of them, at truly affordable prices, in many different configurations and performance levels. Scoggin-Dickey Performance Center in Texas, is a huge, high volume Chevy performance parts dealer. They are about the lowest priced, and a GM factory motor is 100% new parts, and the warranty is the best you'll find. Quality will be HUGELY better than a CQ $800 unit.
Check GMGoodwrench.com, and go to replacement/crate engines. Or look in the advertisers index of a Chevy High Performance or Hot Rod magazine, for a SDPC ad. Good luck on your project! -Jim.