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im thinking of buying a 1940 buick special 2-door and i want to put a crate engine in it (preferably fuel injected). could somebody tell me what engine will work, i have no experience working on cars and would hire the work out obviously, i would just like some basic info and maybe a best guess on the price of the engine and any necessary components plus labor.
cant wait to have a sick @$$ prize winning ride.
First, welcome to CHR.... That is a wide open question. Depends on what you want and how much power. An EFI crate engine can run anywhere from $5,000.00 to $50,000.00 depending on what you get! Labor rates in a Hot Rod Shop will run between $50.00 and $150.00+ per hour. Putting the standard small block Chevy into your frame is going to require a lot of fabrication work, some frame reinforcement, updated suspension and brakes, etc, etc..... The list of accessories and other components you need with a crate engine again depends on what you get for an engine.
Might be best to talk with some folks, exchange ideas, and come up with a plan for what you want to build. Lots of good folks to help you out here on CHR with many years of experience in building cars.
Welcome to CHR! Dave's right on as usual! I suggest that you invest some time at shows and cruise-ins looking at the cars and talking to the people to hone in on what you want to end up with. I salute you're intro statement that you will not be building, but instead will be "...hiring the work out" instead of "posing" as a builder when you know you're a check writer (and there's nothing wrong with check writer's!!) I will tell you that for the type of car you describe (existing old iron, crate engine, new suspension, tricked out interior, etc) you can buy a finished car a Whoooooole lot cheaper than you can have one custom built paying shop rates for everything. The added benefit is that you can have a car much quicker, too! If you do decide to have one built from scratch, and have the ready cash to fund the whole project up front (probably $150k minimum, I'd say, paying for all the labor considering your "prize winning" statement, and add another zero if you're talking the BIG prizes) then I would suggest you research the builders, find a guy who you trust to do it all, or at least to do all of the fab, mechanical and electrical in one shop, define the end car he's building and turn him loose. If you try to shop around for bits & pieces from different shops you may end up with a camel instead of a horse, and it will be an OLD camel before it's done. Just my $0.02, being still involved with a first build, and loving every minute of it.