Cost of Crate hemi versus buying the parts seperatly?

[Daytona R/T SE]

So if you bought a new 426 based crate hemi from your local Chrysler dealer for say $14,000  and took it completely apart and laid all the parts out neatly on your work bench, inspected each piece and checked the tolerances,etc. and reassembled it-it would cost $14,000 plus a gasket kit, your time and a few $$$ to replace any defective parts.

If you bought all the parts from Chrysler necessary to build this same engine individually, plus the cost to machine the block,etc. How much would it cost?

In other words, if you consider the crate engine to be just a collection of parts to build your own engine, does it come out to be a bargain compared to buying everything separately?

I guessing it would.

Anybody done the math on this?

[daytonalo]

Last winter I built a 472 Hemi , new block , 440 source 440 stroker crank , I beam rods , Ross pistons , mopar alum heads , 11.1 comp , 2 x 4 intake , 550 hp and built it for around 11,500  that is the good news , Bad news is someone offered me 15 k and I sold it


Larry

[Ghoste]

A buddy of mine is trying to do just that and so far he is coming in well under the cost of the assembled crate.  He waits for parts to go on clearance sale though and scours swap meets.  He is saving money on it but so far he has a couple of years into this project and he is still gathering parts.  I'm not sure the tradeoff is worth it, not sure it isn't either but...

[daytonalo]

Who has time for that BS !!! I just picked up the phone and the parts were at my door in one week

[Ghoste]

Thats what I keep telling him, I don't mind saving a buck but there comes apoint where you just want to get the thing finished right?  He's never said but I suppose inhis case it's fairly evident that he is getting as much from his "hunt" as he seem to imagine he will from the finished product. 

[daytonalo]

Is you friend a Fossil ? Tell him to get a Computer !! He might be wearing a Diaper when he finally gets to drive it !!!!

[Ghoste]

I'm sure he'd love you too Larry. 

[WingCharger]

 

[Sublime/Sixpack]

Thats what I keep telling him, I don't mind saving a buck but there comes apoint where you just want to get the thing finished right?  He's never said but I suppose inhis case it's fairly evident that he is getting as much from his "hunt" as he seem to imagine he will from the finished product. 

Some guys never complete a project, seems that they're more content gathering parts, starting a new project, or trading for something different. I don't relate, but different strokes for different folks I guess.   

[Belgium R/T -68]

I'm planning to put a 426 in my chally vert once the charger is ready and thought about buying the parts myself to be able to spread the cost
during a year or two. I would never be allowed by my wife to buy a crate Hemi after what I spended on the charger.

[Sublime/Sixpack]

Sounds like taking your time and coming in under the radar is the best plan right now.

[max]

i built my 426 Hemi like that about 4 years ago. everything was new except for the crank, rocker arm assembly and intake.

i just shopped around for the best prices on the parts, but it did take me about a year to gather everything.

from the air cleaner to oil pan and from the fan blade to the convertor with me putting it togeather after all the machine work, the total price was $8500.00.

but you have to remember the prices of new parts have went up a bit.

[Daytona R/T SE]

i built my 426 Hemi like that about 4 years ago. everything was new except for the crank, rocker arm assembly and intake.

i just shopped around for the best prices on the parts, but it did take me about a year to gather everything.

from the air cleaner to oil pan and from the fan blade to the convertor with me putting it togeather after all the machine work, the total price was $8500.00.

but you have to remember the prices of new parts have went up a bit.

Thanks, Max. You didn't happen to keep a list of all the parts and where you got them, did you?

  I'm guessing Mancini would be a good place to start? 

$8500 sounds a hell of a lot better than $14K 

And I can do it a little at a time

[max]

i built my 426 Hemi like that about 4 years ago. everything was new except for the crank, rocker arm assembly and intake.

i just shopped around for the best prices on the parts, but it did take me about a year to gather everything.

from the air cleaner to oil pan and from the fan blade to the convertor with me putting it togeather after all the machine work, the total price was $8500.00.

but you have to remember the prices of new parts have went up a bit.

Thanks, Max. You didn't happen to keep a list of all the parts and where you got them, did you?

  I'm guessing Mancini would be a good place to start? 

$8500 sounds a hell of a lot better than $14K 

And I can do it a little at a time

i bought the heads from Indy but since then Stage V has better heads for about the same price. mine were complete except for rockers and they had harden seats. i paid $2075.00 to my door for them.

the block and other small parts came from a dealership in Omaha, Ne named Ron Olsen Dodge which i believe is now called Baxter Dodge or something like that.

the counter person John Cambridge was selling MP parts at 15% over dealers cost. i would have to see if i see if still have the phone # for the place.

another thing i did to save a bit of money is when i had the rotating assembly balanced i used a thin 361 big block balancer and used all standard big block pulleys and brackets.

i did buy a few parts from Mancini as well, which reminds me a friend of mine bought a set of KB aluminum heads from them last month at $800.00 for the pair, coarse there are 2 push rod holes that went into the runners that need fixed but that isn't a big problem.

the biggest problem i had was finding the stupid head bolts, i'm not sure if that problem has been taken care of yet but back then they were nearly impossible to find.

[Daytona R/T SE]

Thanks, Max! I'm in pretty good with the local dealer parts guy, guess I'll have to start making a list. Sounds like one piece at a time is the way to go 

[max]

Daytona R/T SE, your more then welcome. if you need anyother information don't be afraid to shoot me an email or PM me.

if it means anything, when i was building my engine a crate was running right around $10,500-$11,000 so you can see what i was able to save.

one side note and i wished i would have done this, check the price difference between the stock 426 v's the 472.

in my case the difference was in the price of the crank. my used crank was a factory Hemi and had already been checked and cut. i paid $300.00 for it so for a few $$$ more my engine would have been 472 cid.

check with 440source, they were listing a 472 Hemi rotating assembly alittle while back.

the most expensive part of a Hemi is the rocker arm assembly, which at the time is the reason i went with a used set. 

[Belgium R/T -68]

I made a very rough calculation of the most urgent parts and came up with around 9000$. No machinework, pulleys
or fasteners. What about the expensive rockerarmassembly? Could around 600$ be correct? That's what Mancinis catalog gives.

[max]

I made a very rough calculation of the most urgent parts and came up with around 9000$. No machinework, pulleys
or fasteners. What about the expensive rockerarmassembly? Could around 600$ be correct? That's what Mancinis catalog gives.

$600.00 sounds about right for the rocker arms only. if i remember correctly the stands are around $500.00 for both heads and the shafts (4 of them) are about $75.00 a piece. coarse you have to figure in the bolts that hold the shafts to the stands.

so your looking at $1400-$1500 for a complete stock rocker arm assembly for an engine.

4 years ago the original style head bolts were $140.00. i don't know exactly what they run now. it is possible to use head stud kit instead of the original bolts but if you ever have to remove a head you will never be able to clear the studs because of the cars fire wall.

as i mentioned earlier it is possible to use a thin balancer and use a standard big block crank and water pump pullies along with the standard big block alternator brackets.



   

[Belgium R/T -68]

Thanks Max,
Know anything about Rick Cassels, seems he sells a lot of Hemiparts?

[suntech]

I guess you can build a Hemi the money talked about here, but i would think twise about it. When building a hemi, i would put some more into it, and build something that will handle power, and last

[max]

Thanks Max,
Know anything about Rick Cassels, seems he sells a lot of Hemiparts?

Belgium R/T -68, i haven't read anything about the fellow you mentioned so i can't be of any help to you on that one.

suntech, actually the quality of parts is still the same as a crate engine. your just knocking out the middle man and lowering the price by putting it togeather yourself.

this is just something for you to look at if you have the time, but compare a complete "new" 500 cid wedge engine to the cost of a "new" 426 or 472 Hemi.

the new blocks for both engines run the same in price as well as the rest of the rotating assembly. if you compare the heads as in actual flow #'s they are about the same price as well.

so actually the price of the rocker arm assembly, valve covers and intake is the only true items that are more expensive then a simular HP built 440.

alot of us encluding myself would buy a good used 1966-1979 440 block as a base to start a good HP build. so that is one of the reasons alot of folks stear clear of a Hemi since you get into a major expense of the blocks.   

[Belgium R/T -68]

Is the quality better today on the crate engines? I see Jegs selling the 426 for 13500$ but then I need other valvecovers and the
2 x 4 intake. Looking at the bare blocks I get scared when I see that the lifterbores are not machined, I don't know a machineshop fixing that.

[Ghoste]

Supposedly it is Ray Barton who is building them now and he certainly has the experience and equipment resources to make a quality part but I don't know anyone who has bought one recently.  The reputation established by the previous suppliers has killed off a lot of potential MP crate engine buyers I think.

[Belgium R/T -68]

In that case it's kind of intresting for a guy from over the water, you have most of the parts at once saving you shipping and other costs,
not to talk about machining. since I only am looking for a stock build maybe it's the way to go?

[Belgium R/T -68]

Just talked to Tom Banning at FHO, very nice guy, and he stated that it's better to go for moore cubic inch on the Hemi because it will
improve idle, vacuum and throttleresponce and the best thing was: doesn't cost anything extra.

Got some pictures from him and it looks really promising, maybe I will get my Hemi afterall.