Buying an engine sight unseen - what questions to ask the seller?

[markseven]

There are a few S50/S52 engines with transmissions available from private sellers across the country. Aside from the obvious, are there any "special" questions should I ask the sellers to ensure the engines are in good condition to ensure the engines are in good condition?

[Jean]

You can start with where it came from? history such as mileage/records/carfax?

Wait...nevermind these are obvious questions... lol

[george graves]

Try and get a compression check if you can - but if it's low miles and the carfax checks out, you should be good to go. Other than that, you'll find out when the pallet arrives.

I'd say the sellers reputation would be a nice thing to know.

[Iain]

Comp test is always good.

Is the engine local to you? Far, far easier to inspect an engine if you're able to do it on-hand.

[markseven]

You can start with where it came from? history such as mileage/records/carfax?

Wait...nevermind these are obvious questions... lol

Actually, I didn't think about ordering a CARFAX!

Try and get a compression check if you can - but if it's low miles and the carfax checks out, you should be good to go. Other than that, you'll find out when the pallet arrives.

I'd say the sellers reputation would be a nice thing to know.

Some of these are listed on CL, so rep and selling history are unavailable. I have been asking for compression numbers...

Comp test is always good.

Is the engine local to you? Far, far easier to inspect an engine if you're able to do it on-hand.

Unfortunately for me, there are very few available in SoCal, so...

[blunttech]

id never buy another front hit car unless you see pics and confirm no contact. mtriple ended up with a bunch of cracked aluminum castings and carl ended up with a bent crank.
ive been lucky, knock on wood, but carls motor was in and converted and ready to fire when we saw the bent crank while spinning it over. i remember the look on his face. man, that sucked

[markseven]

id never buy another front hit car unless you see pics and confirm no contact. mtriple ended up with a bunch of cracked aluminum castings and carl ended up with a bent crank.
ive been lucky, knock on wood, but carls motor was in and converted and ready to fire when we saw the bent crank while spinning it over. i remember the look on his face. man, that sucked

Good point, mang... I will add that to the list. Sorry to hear about what happened Carl. That must have been horrible.

[Turf1600]

id never buy another front hit car unless you see pics and confirm no contact. mtriple ended up with a bunch of cracked aluminum castings and carl ended up with a bent crank.
ive been lucky, knock on wood, but carls motor was in and converted and ready to fire when we saw the bent crank while spinning it over. i remember the look on his face. man, that sucked

Can you describe to us the look on his face?

[Turf1600]

I bought a 1600 motor sight unseen and it was surprisingly awesome. I thought it was just a normal used motor but it wound up being a sub 20k rebuild with documentation and a tii distributor. After selling some parts I net gained on the deal and still have a rebuilt longblock.

[AlarmedBread]

id never buy another front hit car unless you see pics and confirm no contact.

Another thing to check for is broken mounting tabs on the block such as transmission bolt holes etc. :(