How much is my A motor worth

Popeye31

Popeye31

Senior Member
I've decided to sell one of my model A projects. the rolling body is spoken for .My question is what do you think my motor is worth. a guy in my A club needs a motor and since I am selling my four door I don't need it and could use the money for the other A projects I have. so the rundown on the motor is . its all stock and runs good . don't know how many miles are on it but I did clean it and paint it so Its ready to drop in . I'm going to sell it to him minus carb distributor and water pump. He will probably give me his old motor also . his runs but the block is cracked and he doesn't trust a weld so that's why he wants a another motor. any Idea on what I should ask.
 
Not enough information.

New babbitt? Who did the babbitt (does he have a good reputation)?

What level of balancing was done?

How accurately was it all machined?

New cam/ used cam - what did it measure?


The list goes on.

To me, a running motor of unknown condition is in the $100 to $400 range depending on how much risk the person who is buying the motor is comfortable in taking. There are plenty of "running" engines out there which would be considered scrap if they were taken apart. The value is mostly in guessing how good you think the motor is inside.

I spent $50 for a motor once (that was the high end) because it was clean and was used for pumping water. I guessed right that it had minimal wear inside with about .001" wear in the cam and standard at the bottom of the cylinders that will clean up in the .020 range. The last few engines were left in front of my garage by people wanting to get rid of them.
 
Well cleaning and painting looks nice but not worth much. I would at least do a compression test just to get a basic idea of the engine . Then you and the buyer should decide the price minus the scrap value of his old engine since you are fellow club members and will most likely see each other again.
 
compression test tells a lot about the engine! I think the other guys are around the approx. price $250-$500
 
I made a simular local deal about a year ago, except I knew the internal condition of the engine. This one had just had a valve job, new rings, babbit had been reshimmed (still had enough left to reshim ateast 2 more times) and thuroughly cleaned inside. I got $900 out of that one and it is a strong running engine. Rod
 
Compression test doesn't tell you every thing you need to know about an A engine...

Won't tell you whether there's deck cracks between the valve-seats and cylinder bores, for example.

I'm not buying A engines for anymore than current scrap price (running or not), unless I can pull the head and check the deck for cracks...

Babbit can be re-done, valves ground, etc, but from what I've been told here ( an elsewhere), "deck cracks aren't worth fixing on Model A engines"...

So far, I've got three engines ( one of which is running, and came with my coupe, and has deck cracks, and 58-62 lbs compression on each cylinder), and two of them have deck cracks.

Not trying to low-ball what you've got there, just offering my thoughts on what a used engine might be worth, paint not withstanding.
 
If its going to someone you know, give the engine somewhat of a warranty and then charge a decent price. It would be easy enough to pull the pan and have a looksee at things. After determining that it is tight and has some shims left, it should be worth $850 or so. If it is out of shims etc, maybe $450 if its still fairly tight. Tell him if it doesn't perform well for 3 months you will give him 1/2 his money back. Should make you both happy and keep future relations good. Make sure, whatever you decide, that it is perfectly clear, NO ambiguities. It doesn't take more than a hundred miles or so to get a pretty good idea about condition, especially on a hot day.
 
I sold mine pretty much the same as you but with carb, dizzy, water pump, and radiator for $500. I'd say around $300 for an engine that hasn't been professionally checked.
 
I definately agree with that. I bought a running chassis with matching numbers for $500. I was hoping the engine had more life left in it, but for $500 it was priced right. Upon inspection of the engine I found it was on the edge of needing a full rebuild. Still a good purchse. Rod
 
Deck cracks aren't necessarily the kiss of death according to an old Model A guy I know. He got an engine with a crack between a valve chamber and a cylinder years ago and had a local machinist put in a single screw in the deck through that crack (cost 10 bucks). he's been running that engine in his pickup for 20 years and has never had a problem with it. Says he never lost any coolant either, (but I guess there would likely be any water jacket located there anyway, would there?)
 
I'm not trying to sound like an attorney, but I've written many contracts for mechanical and electrical building services and construction, and taught contracts at a Technical College. So here's some advice.

If you sell to anyone, friend or not, put all the details in writing, ie. warranty, money refund, known or unknown conditions. I think you get the idea. Leave nothing out that could be a possible item of contention. You might be able to keep a friend and your reputation. Don't just specify months, but also milage within those months, ie. two months or 500 miles, whichever comes first.

The number one thing I would pound into my students, "always use your contract, never the other guy's contract".
 
I have been offered fresh rebuilt engines and transmissions pulled from fairly recently restored cars for a few hundred bucks. I have also seen a dozen good late B cores out of some farm equipment get smelted because no one would pay a dime over scrap for them. You would think the supply would be getting low by now but still supply exceeds demand.


When you buy a rebuilt A/B engine you are paying for the build and who did it and how.

A bare clean machined block that can be inspected for bore and no cracks is worth more than an entire core put together.
 
Rock Hornbuckle said:
I'm not trying to sound like an attorney, but I've written many contracts for mechanical and electrical building services and construction, and taught contracts at a Technical College. So here's some advice.

If you sell to anyone, friend or not, put all the details in writing, ie. warranty, money refund, known or unknown conditions. I think you get the idea. Leave nothing out that could be a possible item of contention. You might be able to keep a friend and your reputation. Don't just specify months, but also milage within those months, ie. two months or 500 miles, whichever comes first.

The number one thing I would pound into my students, "always use your contract, never the other guy's contract".
Click to expand...

Good advise for anything between friend or foe.
 
A contract between friends and neighbors for a 200 dollar engine is an insult ! A car or a house is fine but lets not get overly efficious ! It borders on being ridiculous !
Al
 
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