Obviously a little detective work is required on your part, meaning checking spark plugs, oil, coolant, and even popping a couple of valve covers (or oil pans) to determine the internal condition. Given the sheer production numbers, this is hardly surprising, but the icing on the cake is that having this many to choose from means you can almost always find something in ready-to-run condition. A little recon through the neighborhood wrecking yards should reveal more small-block Chevys than any other American (or import) V-8. Where on earth (you ask) can you find deals like this? The answer starts off in your local wrecking yard, as small-block Chevy motors are literally a dime a dozen. Besides, how can you go wrong with a complete, aluminum-headed small-block for around $1,000? That's right we said a complete small-block Chevy topped off with performance-oriented, aluminum cylinder heads for $1,000! While we might expect to pay that for a single set of cylinder heads, we discovered sources that allowed us to purchase not only heads, cam, and intake, but a complete small-block to go with them. It might be true that many classic truck owners already have some sort of small-block just begging to be built, but covering an entire assembly aids both current and future small-block owners.
Unfortunately, picking and paying for said combination were two different stories, especially since we decided that the buildup would cover not just power upgrades to an existing combination, but the entire engine assembly. With available crate motors scattered throughout the Internet, picking a combination that offered an acceptable power curve was just a mouse click away.
Obviously we were in the mood for a small-block Chevy buildup, but before getting started, we had to define both the build budget and the proposed power output.