Building on a budget = being cheap?

[1trickpony]

Any more you see a lot of people building on a "budget". And I have been thinking that its time to make a hard copy of my list and start shopping. We have a baby on the way, and it might be hard to build it the way I want to right now. But with that being said, I should be able to get something put together that will last me a couple years until I can buy better parts.
Does it make sense to buy second hand parts for your budget build? i.e cams. If seller A has a camshaft that will work for $75 and "has little run time on it", is it worth saving $75 over a new one? Will DIY porting and polishing heads be enough to get me by til I can afford the Aluminum heads?
I am all for getting free or cheaper parts but where do you draw the line on second hand parts?

[Scott Liggett]

I've got all kinds of second hand parts on my rides. Not one carb was bought new, nor intakes. I got a set of new Victor Jr heads for half price from a speed shop that closed. Headers, blocks, cranks; why not? But, used rods pistons, and especially cams, I stay away from unless I know the seller. Used cams are scary deal. You can buy a new flat tappet from Melling that has nearly all the same grinds as Summit's or the big boys for dirt cheap from a machinist. Their $49 from my machinist.

Used tranny's are scary as well. I treat all auto's used as cores. There is a reason why it's not in the car.

There are a lot of ways to be budget minded without buying junk. You just have to be a more savy buyer. And, patient.

[SpiderGearsMan]

roller cam .that is it

[DanStokes]

I'd echo to be careful with used cams although I've done OK with used roller cams - they get little wear and if they're beat you can see it. Melling is good and another source is my fallback - Delta Cams in Tacoma, Washington. Great to deal with and very inexpensive. I paid $150 for the cam in the Camaro w/new lifters and it's an inline six - which = expensive. If you have a good core their prices get even cheaper as they can regrind and re-heat treat for almost any grind. Know the specs you want and they can match 'em.

Dan

[Thumpin455]

Everything I do is on a budget, I have ran used cams before, had so so luck with them. Pistons no, I wont run used pistons. Pretty much everything else, I will rework or rebuild. I have bought 3 new carbs since 1992, a 650 Holley, 850 Demon, and a 1050 Dominator., usually I get carbs from guys who cant get them to run right, and they work fine for me. I get good parts and though I dont buy the most expensive, I dont get the cheapest unless it is known to be good or irrelevant how much it cost. No Oliver or Crower rods in my engines, but stock reworked with ARP bolts and Eagle rods are in them. Rods are one place Pontiacs usually need something better. I have one set of aftermarket heads, everything else is factory iron.

Building a Ford, well I will reuse whatever I have that is still good, and I have ported a few sets of 5.0 heads. The last 2v Cleveland I built has new pistons, new valve train including valves, and it has been balanced, otherwise it has stock parts in it. It should still run pretty damn hard.

My way of doing it is building the biggest engine possible, usually a 400 or 455, and making it grunt real hard with stock parts. Keep the RPM where the bottom end and valves can stay together and dont over rev it. Starting with a 289 or 302 is going to require a much lighter car, but it can still be done, but I would rather build a 351C since they have good heads to start.

[1970camaroRS]

I'm in the budget boat. Almost EVERYTHING go-fast was sourced as a used part. Since I'm using an LSx, there were a few parts I had to buy new...but my ported heads, which were killer 10 years ago, are still awesome today, but in the LSx world...old news. Got them for 1/3 their new cost and they are perfect (came from a known good guy swapping to the new more awesome heads on a known good motor). Cleaned some carbon and the valves and seats looked like they were freshly machined. Same with the cam and lifters (lifters can be easily inspected). Roller cam, as said before, is not an issue used. I had to go with a new intake as the used market was a little tough at the time for them, but intakes are normally ok as long as you check to see if they are warped. Used 750 dp carbs = $100 and rebuild kit is $50 (the good one). I will never buy another used carb after buying used and rebuilding. And the list goes on and on...electric fan, used from a ford taurus...ignition controller, used from a carb LSx going back to EFI after one season. Shop carefully, and used parts can get you going quick for cheap. Oh, and I got the nitrous system for fairly cheap (traded a refurb Dell laptop for it). Sometimes, the deals on used parts take imagination.

[squirrel]

thinking about it, it's been a while since I've built an engine, I guess I'm just too cheap. The parts I have for the next one in line, a 427, were mostly scrounged on the cheap. One free head, the other I bought as a cheap single (bbc rect port). ebay almost used pistons, found a set of big rods cheap, got a nice cross drilled steel crank out of a 396 that spun a main, found the intake at the swap meet, vette pan off the LS-7 that's in my 55 where it won't fit, slightly used L88 cam and lifters I removed myself from a 396 20 yrs ago, block I got cheap from someone who needed money.

If only I had the gumption to spend the $$$ to get the rods redone, crank ground, and the lower end balanced....I could have this thing together pretty quick.

[yellomalibu]

Scary buying parts used. I have to agree with what Scott said. Carbs... unless the bozo drilled holes in the butterflies, usually putting it back to its stock specs will "fix" it. Intake manifolds... look for obvious damage, and pay accordingly. Roller cam - if it looks good, it probably is - use your fingers to feel for any bad spots. Roller lifters... now we're getting into scary zone.

Many other parts are more scary to buy used. Even a close inspection could miss stuff that is crucial. When I buy a used block/heads/ engine, I won't pay much for it, because I assume at least some part of it is bad and can't be used. The more I pay, the more angry I am with myself later if it turns out to be bad.

[yellomalibu]

And I will say that building on a budget does not equal being cheap. It is wise, prudent, (and a bunch of other adjectives) to set a budget and stick to it - especially when you have a baby on the way.
If you have Bill Gates kind of money, go all out - buy the 2 of the best of everything.

Planning and patience will reward you. Impatience and a credit card will haunt you later. Ask me how I know.

[dieselgeek]

I use junkyard parts like mad - there is some awesome stuff out there. Crank & Cam sensor assemblies, some ignition parts, relay packs in nice clean mounts, etc. If you know what you're looking for you can build a kickass EFI combo for cheap.

[FoFittyFoSS]

"Some bozo drilling holes in the butterflies." I have done that and it has solved all my problems of over exposing the idle transfer slot in the base. Turned my truck with a solid lifter cam into a new, easy to tune, animal. What are the other options? Not trying to argue here but trying to learn. Holley 750 DP in my case, 4150. Scott

[tardis454]

We love used in auto salvage. It's nice when a car like yours comes in with tons of new parts. I reuse brake, exhaust & suspension parts if they're new. I've been known to reuse plugs & wires if they've been replaced. I treat all axles, motors & trannys as cores unless I've run them 1st. I built all of my projects & kept my fleet of daily drivers going for years this way. Nothing beats a good parts car.

[Barry Donovan]

internal engine stuff used.

that could be a monster.
it is not just steel and materials that goes bad. there is chemical cans of whoopass.

you must remember cleaning up an old engines insides...it is never good.
changing the continuity could set it off...and yet where it came from had no problems. Not worth it.

[yellomalibu]

"Some bozo drilling holes in the butterflies." I have done that and it has solved all my problems of over exposing the idle transfer slot in the base. Turned my truck with a solid lifter cam into a new, easy to tune, animal. What are the other options? Not trying to argue here but trying to learn. Holley 750 DP in my case, 4150. Scott

I didn't mean to offend you... I didn't think before typing. Glad you were able to get your truck running well.

I've heard and read too many times that there shouldn't be any reason to drill the butterflies. No, I am not an expert - I was just echoing what I've heard from experts: Something else is/was wrong and drilling the butterflies is a band-aid to get it to run "right".

Some of the possibilities: Wrong gasket installed during a rebuild, warped metering block, secondaries closed too far, casting flash or a piece of debris in an air bleed circuit... timing issues... vacuum leaks... who knows.

[Mater]

roller cam .that is it

this. i have bought a used cam for my grand prix with 5,000 miles on it.

i would not buy a flat tappet though

right now the grand prix build i have going is 80% used parts only thing new is the headers only becuase new was not much more