So, how much $$$ should I have to expect to pay for an engine rebuild? 383 67 Fury

[jareed17]

Howdy guys,

So, a few months ago I took my car into the shop and he stated that the engine needed rebuilt as one of the cylinders only had 50% compression. I also have some oil leaks that I know about. The carb is either liened out or riched out as far as it can go to compensate. (I forgot which) Anyway, I didn't have the money to have it rebuilt a few months ago and am not sure I have enough for it now. It runs pretty good to me, but it does have the oil leaks. If I chose to go ahead and have the engine rebuilt, what kind of price range should I be expecting to pay?

If I decide to not do that yet, I plan to have the front bumper straightened and rechromed and get the AC/Heat working. (This is Dallas, its gets HOT).

Anyhow, I plan on taking it into the shop soon to get some quotes and need to know what to expect.

Thank you.

1967 Sport Fury with 383 4-barrel, automatic

 

[bajajoaquin]

Have you searched around the interwebs for parts costs? Summit Racing has rebuild kits. That will give you an idea of parts. How many hours for an experienced rebuilder? 20? 40? $75/hr gets you $1500 or $3000.

Whatever you do, fix the engine before you fix the chrome.

Really.

 

[banatello]

I rebuilt my bottom end with 10:1 comp, then picked up the Edelbrock RPM top end kit and I ended up at about $8000 I think. That's new heads, intake, carb, rocker arms.

 

[CanCritter]

just engine..you pull/install around 2 k for basic engine....can get rebuilt 350s here for 1800 with warentee...all depends what ya want out of it

 

[MrMoparCHP]

Mine was about $1500 parts, $1500 machine, assembly, well I owe my friend a big one.



Alan

 

[70NPORT]

What's the reason for the low compression in one cylinder? Might not require a total rebuild. I had a 318 with low compression in 3 cylinders at one time. A valve job, new head gasket and valve train parts (had a few burnt valves), timing chain and it was good as new and back on the road. I would want to know the reason for the dead cylinder before automatically dumping a boatload of cash on a complete rebuild. If a mild top to bottom rebuild is what you want however....think between $3K low and $7K high. Somewhere thereabout in that range.

 

[mr. fix it]

For my Poly I was quoted assembled basic rebuild $2500 and if I wanted it decked and trued up it would be another $1000 bringing it up to $3500.

Option one)

Fix the bad cylinder and put it back together. - one bad cylinder doesn't mean always the entire engine is shot.

Option 2)

find a good used engine.

I found a donor engine for $500 and it is a good engine. - I lucked out and had a very good history for the engine I bought.

Maybe you can do the same. Keep the original engine if it a matching#'s to the car for future rebuild or sale with the car.

If not, swap it out and forget about it with a used engine if you can't afford the rebuild route.

Option 3)

Drive it the way it is until you can afford the rebuild.
(Unless it is puking oil and belching smoke out the arse end..)

Do the home work on the used engine first though.
If it is a dry rusty looking engine, that could be a good thing.
Hopefully it is still in a car that you can do some testing before paying.

roll it over to make sure it can do that , passes? go to next step
get a compression check done, passes? go to next step
pull the pan & Valve covers off and look for any nastiness such as sludge -passes? then go to next step
since the pan is off, pop a conn rod cap and a crank cap off to look at the bearing material - if it passes then keep going.
Pay for the used engine
order gaskets and get ready to do a bunch of work!

If not then show the seller and walk away...

Chances are if it is an oily mess to begin with that is not localized leakage then chance are that the rings are shot and it is hemorrhaging oil from blow by and it is not better than what you have.

 

[jareed17]

Thanks guys. I burn a small amount of oil, and have what appears to be localized oil leakage, that is not excessive, and I don;t have smoke coming out of teh exhaust unless I left it stil for 3 weeks without starting it. he said the though the piston ring was probably going out on it. I think I'll hold off on the engine rebuild for now. I don't have $4-$5k to put into it right now and don't have the space or knowledge to do it myself. I drive it less than 50 miles a month right now, so it's just not worth that kind of money for somehting that appears to run okay to me. Thanks for the input!

 

[70NPORT]

Assuming you have an alternative set of wheels, you could work on the Fury on your own pace and piecemeal as funds allow.

 

[polara71]

four to five grand with everything stock and the shop doing all the work ..

 

[68Bigred]

After my 300 sat for 20 years I tried to just tune it up but with constatnt overheating and only 12lbs oil pressure I knew it had to come out. I pulled the motor which gave me time to redo my engine bay. I paid a local guy 3500.00 to rebuild my 440 and trans. Of coarse I supplied him the cam and timing chain. Poor thing had 2 spun bearings 5 broken rings and a cracked piston. He said there was no way it ran but it did! He even painted the motor and cleared the trans. I put a shift kit as well in it and 2000 stall. Runs like a bear now. I probably put 50 miles a month if I get time. It was hard to find a guy in Austin tx that even wanted to do a mopar. Several shops told me they didn't want to do it. I was floored! They guy that did mine actully does marine motors and was the go-to guy in the day to build the chrysler 440s in the cabin cruiser boats so he was happy to do it.

I didn't add it up but probably 7 grand for everything but outside motor rebuild I did everything.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

Just drive it, if it doesn't overheat and oil pressure is good, your not hurting anything. It most likely has a valve problem in that cylinder, pitted seat or valve head. The next concern would be the steel shim head gaskets they rust toward the cylinder this will result in pressurized cooling system and overheating then you will have to do something about it. Till then drive happy.

 

[tallhair]

After my 300 sat for 20 years I tried to just tune it up but with constatnt overheating and only 12lbs oil pressure I knew it had to come out. I pulled the motor which gave me time to redo my engine bay. I paid a local guy 3500.00 to rebuild my 440 and trans. Of coarse I supplied him the cam and timing chain. Poor thing had 2 spun bearings 5 broken rings and a cracked piston. He said there was no way it ran but it did! He even painted the motor and cleared the trans. I put a shift kit as well in it and 2000 stall. Runs like a bear now. I probably put 50 miles a month if I get time. It was hard to find a guy in Austin tx that even wanted to do a mopar. Several shops told me they didn't want to do it. I was floored! They guy that did mine actully does marine motors and was the go-to guy in the day to build the chrysler 440s in the cabin cruiser boats so he was happy to do it.

I didn't add it up but probably 7 grand for everything but outside motor rebuild I did everything.

Looks great Big Red

 

[moper]

It will run whatever it costs. I've built 383s for $2500, and I've built 496s out of them for $8K. I'd expect a proper rebuild (by my standards), using modern equipment and parts, to run at least $3K.