Questions about so-called "crate" motor.

**Troll** · 03-01-2009, 07:12 PM

OK, first off, I'm no mechanic. I'm not going to pretend to be. Oil changes, brakes, exhaust, springs... maybe, but internal engine stuff... I go to the pros.

So, I looked at a 1992 chevy pick-up yesterday. Odo reads 183,xxx which the guy was not denying, but he says it got a new chevy 350 crate motor in it that only has about 15-20K miles on it. Well, the motor looked to me like it had 183,xxx on it. I did not want to call the guy a liar, but I hinted around some and then he says, "Well, I didn't put the motor in. This guy owed me money and he gave me this truck instead. He put the "crate" motor in and he said it has 15-20K miles on it." He said his daughter put the ad on CL and she said he put the motor in, but she didn't know what she was talking about.

Well, now I'm getting jacked, but I take it for a ride anyway. Surprisingly, it runs pretty strong. It had no weird noises or valvetrain clatter that I could hear. It was not started and warmed up when I got there and it did fire right up cold.

The intake and valve covers were all chipped up and beat to hell.

Are most crate-motors considered long blocks, but they don't come with vc's or intakes, do they? These items along with the manifolds and front accs would all be re-used? which would explain the appearance? if the guy is even telling the truth?

here's the CL listing: http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/1051647303.html

We didn't talk about the price, but he seemed pretty eager. It's probably worth $3K in my opinion. Not if the motor blows up next week, though.

Any of your thoughts, opinions or roasting of Troll5000 is much appreciated.