Have been looking into rebuilding my 351w and have decided to a crate motor might be the way to go 383- 408 stroker or something. I know that some companies are more concerned about quality than others, what is the most bang for your buck option here. i dont have more than 2000 to spend.

 

what is this going into?

i did almost a stock rebuild on my 94 5.8 engine and spent $2250 with most the hardware being at cost.

crate motors will run you at least 2 grand for a quality build.

 

Why not rebuild your current motor?

 

Just a little nervous about the whole thing. I have never done a motor of this size, only motorcycles and lawn mowers. I don't really know what I have in this truck, theres no telling if the cylinders have already been bored out. I can tell the manifold has been off before but how much deeper did they go? Seems like starting from scratch might be the way to go. But then you don't know what you have in it. People have recommended Coast High Performance as a good place to get parts where did you get yours? How much did you spend on machining?

 

CHP is a good vendor. I got a 302 for a friend from them years ago, and he loved it.

If you can do a lawn mower you can do a typical motor.
Theres a few odd *****, but they only get different in the details.

 

start talking to a few local machine shops. I went this route so i knew who built the motor and what parts where used. you dont get this when buying crate.

ive heard good and bad about CHP and frankly if your not wanting a hi HP/TQ motor no reason to go with them.

Jasper builds good truck motors if thats what this motor is for. but again i would highly recommend a local shop. My price i mentioned also included having the bottom end balanced and assembly of the motor which I feel is well worth it. why chance not torqing something down properly or what ever and losing the motor a couple thousand down the road. So far i have 3500 miles on my fresh rebuild and get 14-15mpg on the hwy doing 65-70mph.

 

If this is to be an EFI motor then there is no chance you can do it for $2k unless it's a completely stock rebuild.. and even then you may be pushing your luck. A high performance motor will require a completely new and upgraded intake, fuel, and EFI control system which could easily cost $2-3K alone.
When I did my 5.8 I worked with a local machine shop to do all the machine work and I assembled the motor myself. That part isn't rocket science just get yourself a good rebuilding book that describes the procedure in detail... How To Rebuild Small Block Ford Engines: Amazon.ca: Tom Monroe: Books. My rebuild cost a little under $2k and I managed to fit in an upgraded cam and exhaust for that price so I did get more performance for the $$.. you don't have to settle for stock power levels.. you won't get double the HP or anything but the stock EFI system will support up to about 300hp. I'd guestimate my motor only made about 250-260hp but it produced hugh torque and was a blast to drive.