So as some of you know I have a 71 camaro that I am beginning the process of building. I am planning on putting a crate motor in the car but have yet to decide on a particular engine. I'd like to know which engine you think I should go with and why. Or if you have any other suggestions for crate engines/builders I would like to hear those too.

As of now these are the ones I am looking at:

1. https://www.patriot-performance.com/...&cat=69&page=1
2. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CHEVY...t_17100wt_1099
3. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...ht_2273wt_1099
4. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/383-4...#ht_2064wt_875

Thats kind of the order which I have them rated right now but its by no means set in stone. I'd like to have an engine with around 450HP, small block, 4-bolt main, a warranty, and something around or under $5000. Thanks in advance for the input.

 

well gm performance has all kinds of crate motors from the baseline 350/290 which is what i got and it comes dyno tested at 290 hp and 330 lb ft of torque with a few minor parts mines up to around 315-325 and a about 340-350 lb ft. and its only about thirteen hundred buck for a motor minus headers an intake and carb. they havem up to 572/720 hp. for around 16k and every imaginable big block or small bock and any ls motor even the ls9 powerplant from the new zr1 and the best thing is they have financing options and can be ordered through your local gm dealership

 

I'd also reccommend a GM crate engine, as the warranty is the best around, and you can pick it up locally, plus any warranty work will be local too. I'd hesitate to buy a engine from Ebay, and not sure about mail order engines in general.
If I wasn't able to build my own, I'd buy a GM or find a local builder to assemble one for me.

 

well the ross automotive engines seem reliable and they have great feedback so I'm sure there not a scam or anything and they use great parts so i couldn't count them out

 

I'm not inferring that Ross, or anyone else is bad. I just don't feel comfortable buying ANYONE"S engine off Ebay, and don't care to make a purchase that large and not have someone I can talk to face to face.
Just my personal feeling.

 

I would like to go local if I could find a good engine builder with good parts/service/etc. I just havent been able to find one yet. And so far the engine builders I found online seem to be good companies. I spoke to someone with Patriot Performance and they were more than willing to send me info, spec sheets, prices and anything else on their engines.

I was looking at a company called Speed-o-motive which is somewhat local, but a few people have told me they had bad experiences with this company such as them using lower quality parts and having poor customer service. So I don't think I'll be going with them.

If you guys have any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

 

at gmperformanceparts.com you can build your own motor as in select heads cam intake carb distributor rocker arms just about everything minus pistons yeah and as 1971bb427 said if you dont have the time or the money to build your own as in my case i built a 350 for my car and about 3 months later i found out that there was a problem with the crank and i spun a bearing i didnt have time to build another one and i needed a motor right then it is my only vehicle and had no money (i was sixteen at the time) but i bumed a ride from my uncle to my local gm dealership and it was there the next day and they set up a payment plan and everything and 6 months later it was paid for and i had a pretty strong motor

 

Where do you go on GMPP to build an engine? I cant seem to find it. I mean I see how to select a crate engine, but I cant find the place to build one.

 

http://www.gmperformanceparts.com/Pa...l.jsp?engine=0
copy this link and you can only build certain ones i was mistaken but there is still several in big block, small block, and ls categories you can build

 

just click on them and it will say engine detail and if you can build it it will say build and dyno