$15,000 for an LT-5 motor?

[Vette73]

Just saw an add on eBay for a 93-95 LT-5 motor for $15,000 dollars....I feel like messaging the seller saying " Ahh,you realize you can get an entire ZR-1 for that price"......I don't know, maybe its me....

[Dynomite]

That would be a crate 405 hp engine with zero hrs.

Your $15K ZR-1 is a high mileage ZR-1 with issues

[Karl]

Originally Posted by Vette73

Just saw an add on eBay for a 93-95 LT-5 motor for $15,000 dollars....I feel like messaging the seller saying " Ahh,you realize you can get an entire ZR-1 for that price"......I don't know, maybe its me....

$15k for a motor that has been in a box for over 20 years?

I've seen that eBay ad. Another $5 to $10k you can have an entire car.

I don't mean to sound ignorant but I can't imagine a valve spring or anything being compressed for so long and not needing to be replaced.

I doubt you can just install that engine and drive off into the sunset.

[A26B]

Originally Posted by Karl

$15k for a motor that has been in a box for over 20 years?

I've seen that eBay ad. Another $5 to $10k you can have an entire car.

I don't mean to sound ignorant but I can't imagine a valve spring or anything being compressed for so long and not needing to be replaced.

I doubt you can just install that engine and drive off into the sunset.

Valve springs, or any other good springs do not incur any fatigue during static conditions which do not exceed yield strength. Fatigue is eventually caused by cycles of torsional motion.

Actually an LT5 crate engine properly stored can be installed and driven off into the sunset, provided they were properly stored & prepped for running. LT5 new crate engines were prepared for long term storage.

I shipped a new crate engine to Japan & the customer had no problems with the engine. Another went to a customer in New Mexico who did not encounter any problems. I know of other instances with the same trouble-free results.

[spork2367]

I think we've got awhile until crate engines are going for 14-15k. Prices on cars aren't going anywhere, so I'm not sure why some sellers decided all of the sudden that crate engines were worth 3k more, a 25% increase over where they had been. Not that there may not be a buyer out there at that price, but I would venture to guess that the majority of the crate engines produced still exist...as crate engines.

While you may not get a low mileage 405 hp car for 15k, you can buy a mid mileage 375 hp car for 18k, do some easy mods to get to 400-410 HP and enjoy a whole car instead of just an engine. Especially since the engine wear in a 50-75k car is going to be nothing of any consequence.

Crate engines don't include an ECU either do they?

That said, a member here thinks their worth that too...

http://www.zr1.net/forum/showthread.php?t=30194

[efnfast]

Good to hear Jerry. I hope he gets every penny for it.

[Vette73]

Here we go....Maybe I shouldn't of said anything.....I can maybe see someone who has some coin to throw around maybe, maybe, powdercoating this and dropping it into an older resto mod vette.....The eye appeal of an LT-5 in a build like that really stands out......I have seen it in a 50's resto mod and it looked great when the hood was popped open....

For someone of regular interest to buy it at that price, to me, is a long shot...Like an OP said earlier, you can pick up a 375 HP Z for a few thousand more and enjoy the entire car.....

[Dynomite]

Originally Posted by Vette73

Just saw an add on eBay for a 93-95 LT-5 motor for $15,000 dollars or Make Offer....I feel like messaging the seller saying " Ahh,you realize you can get an entire ZR-1 for that price"......I don't know, maybe its me....

You forgot to mention the Or Make Offer.

You should be talking about the Offer the Seller Accepts and then you can critique the Buyer


95' Crate Engine which will go into my 95 with ZFdoc Rebuilt 91' Trans with Short Shifter sometime when I am short of work

[spork2367]

Originally Posted by Vette73

Here we go....Maybe I shouldn't of said anything.....I can maybe see someone who has some coin to throw around maybe, maybe, powdercoating this and dropping it into an older resto mod vette.....The eye appeal of an LT-5 in a build like that really stands out......I have seen it in a 50's resto mod and it looked great when the hood was popped open....

For someone of regular interest to buy it at that price, to me, is a long shot...Like an OP said earlier, you can pick up a 375 HP Z for a few thousand more and enjoy the entire car.....

Then buy and ECU, if you can find one, for 1500-2000. Or a megaquirt for 2700 (plus tuning costs). Then headers, then a transmission.... I estimate that if you paid 15k for a crate LT5 you'd have over 20k till you had everything you needed to install it.

Or you could buy a car with less than 50k mileage for that same price and have every piece you needed.


The only time I can see the crate engine making sense for anywhere near that price was if I had a 93-95 car with a catastrophic engine failure and I wasn't patient enough to get the original engine fixed. The crate engine is technically not "numbers matching" even though it is an exact period correct replacement. So, it's not like it adds any real value over a rebuild.

[Dynomite]

Originally Posted by spork2367

The crate engine is technically not "numbers matching" even though it is an exact period correct replacement. So, it's not like it adds any real value over a rebuild.

You are saying a Crate Engine is the Same as a Rebuild