F-head cracked block.... thoughts ?

Factory EFI...... mmmmmmmmmm plentiful parts, inexpensive..... more power.... I had an Fhead. I now have an odd fire 225. the odd fire make the f head look bad, real bad. it weighs less than the f head, has more power and is just plain cool. the 4.3 with EFI....:drool:

 

http://www.earlycj5.net/forums/showthread.php?78830-Posting-photos

 

believe me, If money was no object , the 4.3 is the way I would go.

 

You would be hard pressed to find a cheaper guy than me, but when I looked at the numbers for rebuild for L head stuff, T-90, 11 inch brake swaps, I went with the CHEAPER options. disk brakes, SM420, Buick 225 etc.. I wanted a jeep, everything i had needed rebuilt and instead of spending a lot of money on old wore out stuff, i spent money on new and or much better stuff. Nothing is free, sometimes newer is cheaper with more power, less weight and more reliability. When I looked at the numbers I was dumbfounded. How could this newer great stuff be cheaper?

For instance, I got a complete rebuild kit including cam,bearings, pistons, lifters etc for ~471.00 bucks for the Buick 225. Rebuild kit for a 4.3 chevy is between 450 and 620 depending on engine. The rebuild kit for the F head is 550.00. The machine work is all similar in cost. None of this kits include valves though.

a running 4.3 can be had for under 500 bucks on C/L right now. If you can get a running F head and you're happy with it, go for it. Other than that you will save money with newer stuff. The deal breaker is if you can do the work yourself. To pay someone else to do it is the money suck.

 

Yep. A complete donor car can be even cheaper than a rebuild. At at some point, the surrounding car drags down the value of the engine, and you get the engine for cheap. Rebuilding an engine can be really, really expensive ... an educational experience, but expensive. An actual rebuild brings the engine back to like-new condition. And doing less than that requires experience and judgement, but a used engine can be just fine. And there are lots of 4.3L cars out there ... which means that your chances of finding a bargain are even greater.

Also, you can find the T-90 adapter on the used market. BTDT. Should be about half-new or less. Even new, the T-90 adapter is about 1/2 the price of a transmission adapter. No custom gears needed... From a purely economic POV, an engine swap may make sense.

 

I hear you, but what I am concerned with is with the 4.3 is having to change steering, brakes, moving the trans from stock position if the old t-90 can handle the increased HP. As it looks now, I can get her back on the road with a used f-head for 600.

 

Not an unreasonable idea.