Buying a used 604

[RacerX10]

I'm in the market for a used 604 engine.

How do you typically determine when it needs a rebuild ?

What does a non- "blueprint", vanilla no-damage rebuild on a 604 cost, assuming I will reuse non damaged parts (crank/pistons/rods/etc) ?

Thanks

[chevy30]

Stay away from used, alot of misleading people out there.

[RacerX10]

Stay away from used, alot of misleading people out there.

My heart and my brain are saying "he's right"

My wallet is saying "nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo"


:)

[Matt49]

By the time you buy a used one and have it rebuilt (even if no major parts need replacing) you could have just bought a new one. Save yourself a lot of frustration and just buy a new one.

[RacerX10]

By the time you buy a used one and have it rebuilt (even if no major parts need replacing) you could have just bought a new one. Save yourself a lot of frustration and just buy a new one.

That presumes it needs rebuilding when you bought it.

If you buy a lightly used one (which I just did today), race it for a couple seasons and then only need a $1,500.00 rebuild on it, you've come out WAY ahead.

[Egoracing]

Buy a used one that has been tampered with run it once and get popped and you are out a year with most sanction bodies and tehy keep the engine or parts! Also you know ZERO history about it, what RPM was it run, did they change the oil, did they change the springs, did it run hot....... And a typical rebuild averages closer to the $2000 mark and slightly over with NO damage and using all the original parts which you can throw out the window if there are any issues from one of the items I mentioned above.

[RacerX10]

Buy a used one that has been tampered with run it once and get popped and you are out a year with most sanction bodies and tehy keep the engine or parts! Also you know ZERO history about it, what RPM was it run, did they change the oil, did they change the springs, did it run hot....... And a typical rebuild averages closer to the $2000 mark and slightly over with NO damage and using all the original parts which you can throw out the window if there are any issues from one of the items I mentioned above.

I'll get back to you at the end of the season and let you know if any of your gloom and doom predictions were prescient :)

After my conversation with the engine's current owner (and it's local certified re builder) this afternoon, I'm confident the engine will be just fine. I specifically asked all about all the issues you pointed out and am confident in the answers I received.

The builder estimated $1,500 for a no-damage rebuild to me today (when it's ready for one in a couple years)

I know many (most?) of you guys here on 4m take all this racing stuff very seriously, but I'm just out screwing around and looking to have a good time. Investing a bunch of money in something that's just a occasional diversion for me doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but I understand that's just me and doesn't necessarily apply to anybody else.

If I save $2,000.00 on my engine purchase, that's $2,000.00 I can apply to a trip to Spain, or maybe a Quarter Midget for my little girl in a couple years :)

The builder said most guys are doing 50 nights on an engine before they are ready for a refresh.

Does that sound about right ?

Thanks for your comments.

[crate late]

I have heard of several with 100 races on them and still strong

[Egoracing]

We ran our first one 3 years running from February to December about 3-5 races a month.

[RacerX10]

Wow that's great news, I hope I can get similar mileage from mine.

I'm pretty good on the upkeep (oil changes, setting valve lash, etc) and I don't spin them very hard.

[BPRacing29]

57 races and counting on my 604!!

BPRacing29

[9WRACER]

alot of guys are getting 100-110 nites out of a fresh one

[rubbinsracin]

we are allowed to run an 11-1 GN motor with the crates. we have to weigh 75lbs more than a 604 and we can run right with them.

most of the crate guys here get about 2 MAYBE 2 1/2 competitive years out of a crate then you basically throw them away because our rules say if you "rebuild" a crate you have to add 50lbs IN FRONT of the motor plate. so no one rebuilds them here because you have no advantage in weight anymore.

we built an 11-1 GN motor for quite a bit less than a new 604 and let them inspect and "seal" it for $50. all we had to do was ask a track official to be there when we bolt the heads on so they could see we used flat top pistons, no roller cam, and he picked up our spec head that he CC'd to make sure was in tolerance and then we bolted them on and he "sealed" it with a 2 adjacent bolts with some 1/8th holes and wire with a tag. we run our motor for 2 years and then freshen it up at little cost to us. we have ran the same block and heads for 4 years now. we dynod our motor after our first rebuild 2 years ago and we made a much more usable power band than then crate dyno sheets we saw.

another thing that was nice was that we were allowed to use severe duty parts and not just the stuff that comes in the crate.

also, our track has no problem making the highest finisher and another crate trade motors from time to time. they usually do it 4 or 5 times a year. i sure dont want someones motor that you have no idea how hot its been or how often the oil and springs are changed....not cool. only thing they do with us is make us pull a head off once a year....if they have reason to believe that someone has tampered with their seal

[9WRACER]

Let me know where they throw them, we will buy them

[rubbinsracin]

lol...by throwing away i mean they sell them to someone who wants to rebuild it or someone in another class that can run it rebuilt without weight penalty. the track down the interstate has a pavement road coarse that allows 604s that are rebuilt or not in a couple of their classes.