Remanufactured Engine Shops

[btrbill]

Anyone have any good or bad stories about buying a remanufactured marine engine? I think that is the way I am leaning and want to make sure I get a quality motor. I am looking at a 5.7/350 4-bolt main for an 87 Senator.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[winter]

Anyone have any good or bad stories about buying a remanufactured marine engine? I think that is the way I am leaning and want to make sure I get a quality motor. I am looking at a 5.7/350 4-bolt main for an 87 Senator.

Thanks,
Bill

I'm not too fond on remans from big corporations like Jasper and others. To me, i think they build decent motors but just decent enough to get you through their warranty. I've had good and bad experiences with places like this. Personally, I'd look into two options. #1, take a peek at your GM parts catalog and see what's available. GM sells pretty good stuff with a good warranty. Otherwise, take a trip to your local drag strip and start asking people who comes recommended to rebuild or build one from scratch. That's what i did for my old camaro and found a guy who is well known for putting together some stoudt engines. When i walked into his shop, a kid was dusting off all the machines and i said, "weekly clean-up"?? He looked at me crooked and said, "no, twice a day". I was sold at that point.

 

[btrbill]

I actually looked on the internet at a lot of places like Rapido in Miami and some places in Renton, Wa. They all seem to be get 'em out at all costs type places, though. The one I THINK I like is Tidewater Machine Shop in Norfolk, Va. The owner seemed very knowledgable, and he told me most of his blocks come from Hendrick Chevrolet. No core charge and including shipping was around $1775.

Around here, no one will touch my motor since it was submerged for 5 months and there is a lot of water in it. And while there are some engine builders, I can't find a local that rebuilds/remans Marine engines.

 

[NF22]

I have an 88 Senator. I went from a stock 350 to a remanufactured 357 mag and gained over 12 mph, going from around 60-62 mph to 72-74 mph.

All my work is through Lakeside Restorations and I have had nothing but great results.

 

[wca_tim]

Have a bona fide marine builder (there is a difference!) build a 383 for your boat. You won't be disappointed...

Or if you want stock, look into who's selling new long block vortec set-ups these days. they can be had for not a fortune... add an aftermarket intake and carb, tin exhaust and you're off to the races making a good bit more power than you were.

 

[winter]

I'll second NF on lakeside. While he didn't do anything to my motor he did do a ton of work on my Persuader. I saw some pretty sweet motors laying around his shop. Dunno, it may be worth the trip to Pa.

 

[ezstriper]

I would look at one of the new vortec 350 engines, better deal in the long run a lot of the time....ran into to many horror stories from places like jasper....Rob

 

[Gimme Fuel]

Mercury Marine also has a reman division.......check them out too. They have stock remans and remans that have had a little tweaking on them. I don't know how they are on price though.

 

[Chris E]

Mercury Marine also has a reman division.......check them out too. They have stock remans and remans that have had a little tweaking on them. I don't know how they are on price though.

i sold quite a few of the mercury remans, never had an issue, and they have a one year warranty on them. they priced marginally more expensive initially, however, every reman engine we got had an issue with, so, the actual cost of the motor and labour was cheaper with the merc than it was with the reman, that's why we went the merc route. might be worth checking out. at least if you have a warranty issue with it and you're travelling, any merc dealer can look after it for you.

 

[sclemons]

Do you have any performance marine dealers / shops near you.
If you do, chances are they will have a few low hour used engines laying around that they pulled out of boats of owners that wanted to increase or decrease performance.