I've got an old 318 sittin at the farm that I used to use in my derby car, making around 350hp. It was used a couple times, but since I moved to Brandon I haven't ran a car since. Anyway, a friend of mine back home derbies, and he told me that a friend of his is looking for a 318 to put in his 97 Dakota (I told him to tell the guy to just go buy a V8 dakota, but he wants to put one in his truck for a project) Mike asked me the other day if I'd be willing to sell my engine to his buddy. So I have to try and figure out a price for my engine, and was wondering if you guys could help. Here's some info on the engine:

-rebuilt 3 years ago
-all new bearings, camshaft included
-block hot tanked and tested
-all new gaskets
-new rings
-heads cleaned up, but not rebuilt
-new camshaft & lifters
-factory 4 barrel intake
-stock internals (crank, pistons, rods)
-new double roller timing chain
-new high volume oil pump

The engine only ran in 2 derbies, and only for very long in one (broken axle not a minute into the first one) However, it did get screamin hot in the second derby, so new head gaskets and a once over of the heads wouldn't hurt.

So, in all your opinions, what would you say this engine is worth??

 

Hard to say but what would you like to get out of it and what would you be happy with?
Figure at least the price of the new parts and a bit for your time/labour as well, say $750-$1,000? That would be my guess.
Next question is will you ever need it? If not then it`s time to sell before it rusts or seizes up.

 

That's what I was figuring as well. I'm not likely to ever need it, so I may as well let someone else get the use out of it, plus the extra cash wouldn't hurt.

It cost me right around $600 to build, and my neighbour gave me the engine. For this guy to get a comparable engine built would cost at least $1500 at a shop right?? Even to get Mike to build one, he has to find a good base engine, and then rebuild it. So he's looking at the $600 I spent, plus the cost of a rebuildable engine.

So does asking $800ish or so seem reasonable, or should I be elsewhere price wise?

 

I would go with asking $800 as it seems reasonable enough.
He`ll counter offer I`m sure.

 

I'm just leary on the Demo derbies, connecting rods and everything else still takes a beaten.

 

8 sounds reasonable for the right buyer. without knowing if there's damage one might be leary and offer a tad less...

 

800 would be a good deal for him, its hard to get a rebuilt engine for less then that.

 

800 is high for an already ran 318, IMHO.