AMS/Turob240 Crate Motor?!?!?!?!? $4099

[Chris@AMS]

I have recieved a whole BUNCH of phone call in the past few days for a crate motor. Ask and you shall RECIEVE!!

I'd also like to let everyone know that I am back in stock with 8 sets of Crower Rods. These things have a tendency to fly off the shelves, so give me a call as soon as possible if you need a set of rods.

Heres a link to the crate motor in our cart with a little bit more information.

http://www.amsperformance.com/...=1042

[Florida240sx]

Seems pricey to me.......But with the proof that has been shown, everyone knows what they are capable of.....which is everything.Keep up the great work.

[GEO]

yeh thats pricey as hell for not even getting a port and polish, springs, crower rods or o-ringed block?

Whats the horsepower range for the block?

[j-z]

damn! that is ALOT for just bottom end stuff. granted, it does say racing valve job so prob 3 angle but thats nothing special. i think around the 2500 range would be alot more reasonable. but its not my business or anything so who cares what i say. ive got the exact same thing cept with crower rods that i purchased from yall with the cometic hg, new oem pumps, s13 cams, lightened and balanced flywheel, 6 puck, and complete t3/t4 jgs turbo kit for just a lil more than the price of the built motor. gonna say it again, that is ALOT of $$$$$$$.

[chad_KAT]

For that price i would think you would get Cams, springs and a port and polish...

[j-z]

For that price i would think you would get Cams, springs and a port and polish...

ditto

[Kaleo55]

I know I called a day ago and talked to Chris about their crate motor, but it wasn't a long block, they listed their short block, but pictured a long block for $2,548. I see it took a leap forward for the long block version, with the head being tanked, cleaned and a performance valve job? If you want metal head gasket add $, Crower rods add $, ARP studs add $. I was told they didn't have rods in stock, oh well... Ther are other shops out there that I have researching and this is not the best deal for wht you are getting. Even though TopHat doesn't seem to be selling their crate motor they had a better deal. Racetep, HRT and Barnett P and D have good looking KA24DE-T crate motors that they'll build for less... Here's the motor I'll be replacing...

[j-z]

why replace that clean looking motor? boost it till it blows or build it yourself and save mega $$$.

[AZhitman]

Wait til you pay for all the "little things" - It adds up.

That's actually not a bad deal on the crate motor.

And o-ringed heads? Please. None of you are in the NDRA, so settle down with that nonsense.

[GEO]

Considering the rods aren;t really costing them all that much since they are in house..

[Chris@AMS]

I think some of you may be a bit confused on what we are offering here. If all you need is a head and a block and prefer to do the rest of the assembly yourself, we have that as an option as well....

This motor already has a head bolted to it, with timing chains on it, cams installed, shimmed to the correct height, all clearances checked for you so that you don't have to do anything. How many of the other motors you are looking at have this, let alone an aftermarket set of rods?

j-zIt's not just bottom end stuff, this is a complete remanufactured head with a fresh valve job. You would have to take into account the fact that all these parts are already bolted together for you, this isn't a 'kit', it is a drop in motor.

chad_KATThere are stock cams in the motor, and you can upgrade to a port and polish on the head if you like. You can also add springs for just the cost of the springs themselves, or some Crower Cams for that matter.

kaleo55I encourage you to compare what you are getting from them to our stuff. You may find that it is just a tiny bit more expensive, however, I don't think we are talking about the same builds here. The other companies you listed use stock rods for the most part, don't inlcude factory cams, don't pre-time the engine for you or take the engine quite as far as we do. The ARP studs you see listed are actually an upgrade that don't need to be added until you are over the 450-500 hp mark, they are 1 mm larger than the studs that come in the motor stock. The crate motor does include the arp head and main studs. I was not expecting to get any Crower rods for quite some time so I was just as suprised as you when they showed up yesterday. Give me a call and we can discuss what you really need and a better price for it on friday. I can send you a quote via email for exactly what you are looking for with none of the extra things that you don't want.

AZhitmanthank you.

GEOI assure you that we do not make the rods in house. We pay someone to make them for us. I wish we had that capability. To answer your question about the hp range. I would recommend the crate motor for as far as you feel comfortable taking that stock headgasket (300 whp?). With a cometic in the motor, I would say the next point of upgrading would be the rods at 550 hp. After that I would consider upgrading to the crowers, 11mm head studs and some other upgrades.

ThanksChris

[Kaleo55]

Thanks, Chris. I returned your call and left a message and even emailed you, but I didn't get response. It's kewl I know you're busy, but I've been waiting a long time to get my ride boosted, sepnt a great deal of researching and buying the parts to build a killer KA. I was going to use a local builder to build it, but he's so backed up I'd be waiting till fall to get it. I would like nothing more than to build it myself, but my lack of experience leads me to the experts. I have KA's one in the car and (which has quarter of million miles on it and still running strong) a doner motor all stripped down and sitting on the floor dying for attention. Chris I appreciate your expertise, knowledge and capabilities, but for now $4k is juts out of my reach. Maybe yu can talk me into something else, but a decision and transaction is going to made today... Thanks again...

[fiznat]

Not a bad deal.. I wonder why you guys charge extra for a balance though. I imagine ANY fully built engine like that destined for 400ish horse should be fully balanced at assembly as a standard option. Never seen anyone put together a motor of this level and leave it unbalanced before.

[Chris@AMS]

Not a bad deal.. I wonder why you guys charge extra for a balance though. I imagine ANY fully built engine like that destined for 400ish horse should be fully balanced at assembly as a standard option. Never seen anyone put together a motor of this level and leave it unbalanced before.

The balance you see listed goes above and beyond a normal balance that you would see on every single motor that come through here.

The balance you see listed is for your entire rotating assembly, from your balancer to your flywheel/clutch assembly.

thankschris

[S13FX]

Hey Chris, I literally live 5 minutes from you guys, I was wondering how much would it cost, if I wanted something like that but in the SOHC version? And if I provided the engine my self? I built motors before but now I just moved into an apartment so i really have no place to rebuild my engine, which is sitting in storage of my apartment lol. And the wife almost had a cow when I told her I want to use the spare bed room as a work shop HAHAHA. Or would you rather have me stop by the shop with that question?

[TOPSECRT88]

I will be placing an order for one of these late summer.

[BlackHat]

I was wondering how much would it cost, if I wanted something like that but in the SOHC version?

x2

[AZhitman]

Like I said, when you look at the cost of the head machine work, block machining, balancing the rotating assembly, replacement parts, cleaning and tapping all holes, and motor assembly, this ain't a bad deal.

If you're skilled enough to break out the micrometer and torque wrench and do it yourself, you'll save some cash.

But my builder LITERALLY spent an entire day ensuring all tolerances were accurate to within the ten-thousandth, and at today's labor rates, that can add up.

Hell, just the machine work they're talking about would cost a grand (according to the shop that did mine).

[Florida240sx]

Like I said I think it's pricey, BUT the engine is very solid. No worried about anything, and they have proven themselves. It's jsut out of most of our ranges. I just spent 1500 on mine and it has stock rods. Got my v2 cams pistons bearings and hg from AMS.You get what you pay for, enough said.Perfect engine or do you want something less?

[op.tic]

I was wondering how much would it cost, if I wanted something like that but in the SOHC version?

x3

[Checkered-Member]

What about offering such services for an altima KA, you know the other KAT's

[Chezedik]

(1) the reality is that the tenths is unnecessary, at best. (2) it is a lot of money for all but the KA-t'ers who do not have the slighest bit of skill. (3) as I have seen, there is NO guarentee.

I can understand the price if you offered a reasonable guarentee.

[KATwo40]

Instinctively, I want to immediately say it's too much $$$, but after looking at the things included, I'm not so sure it is, even though my total build cost is somewhere around $2500, including the clutch kit and lightened flywheel.

I live in East TN and the labor rates here aren't as high as most other parts of the country. For example, I'm getting my block bored, cleaned up, every internal weight matched (within 1 gram), rotating assembly balanced (from crank pulley to pressure plate...that's right...even the pressure plate) and the bottom completely assembled. This will cost me less than $300 (not a discount rate...standard price), and I've seen on this forum that many are paying upwards of $500-600 for this...some are nearing $1,000.

Furthermore, my head was ported for free (it's great to have machinist friends!) and I know how to lap my own valves, install the stem seals and re-assemble the head myself.

So, yes, perhaps much of the cost involved in this engine they offer is to pay for labor, but keep in mind, it's most likely not just one guy doing the build. They have to run it through the machine shop, and that will require paying at least one more person. Keep in mind, we all work our jobs to make money. And some have chosen jobs they enjoy. Getting paid for what you know is equally as important for getting paid for what you do. None of the people on this board would have the information we currently have if it weren't for the guys that pioneer this stuff, such as Ivan and all the others who "try new stuff." Let's not make anyone feel like making good money is a bad thing.

I will be the first to say that I think O-ringing the block is overrated. Sure, a 6,000hp top fuel dragster would benefit from it, and probably a 1,000hp 4-cyl. would also, but for 400hp? No way. I've seen 1,000+hp V8's with regular old Fel-Pro gaskets and no O-ringing.

In the end, it's really all about perceived value. If you want an engine that was assembled by professionals who do this stuff every day and currently hold world record numbers on the cars they build, then you should consider this engine. Especially if you're the type who would be wondering all the time..."Did I torque that last main stud correctly?"

This is not an infomercial for AMS by any means. I'm just offering my 2cents on the matter. So far, I've had nothing but a positive experience in dealing with Chris and Ivan.

Just as a bit of a sidebar:

Get online and look for a fully built 350cid longblock, with mild headwork, forged pistons and rods, head and main studs, timing parts, etc. that is capable of putting out more than double the stock rated HP. I'm sure you'll find that it would be around $8-10k.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

^I agree with everything you just said. Theres nothing like just dropping a motor in and calling it a day. I remember when I was building my motor, I was thinking "damn, someone should really make a crate motor for this car" because after you strip a couple threads in the damn alluminum, you get pretty aggrivated. It might seem like a high price, but things really add up when your doing a build yourself too.

[240sxHitman]

how long will the build take and how is the payments done? like pay half or something at start and pay rest when motor is almost done?

[rlvq35de]

What about finishing the turbo kit first?

[Florida240sx]

lol Think I might be getting their turbo soon.

[pr240sx]

For me. seems to be a good price, not a bargain a good price for all the stuff, time and installation done.Now, will be great if you can buy the parts un-installed as a package.

[KATwo40]

You can buy the engine rebuild kits...basic and advanced.

[Chris@AMS]

What about offering such services for an altima KA, you know the other KAT's

Heh, just give us a call and I'm sure we can work something out for you. I will need your core motor however becuase I do not have any at the shop.