Crate Engine Suppliers and Reputation?

[snailwagon]

My 22R had a sudden issue and a screwed up cylinder wall. Instead of rebuilding, I was considering getting a crate long block. The engine is 30 years old and the truck deserves it.

The only people I am familiar with so far are DOA and LC Engineering. However, all the bad crap I read online scares me and makes me want to just drive down to Ontario and pick up a long block from a Mexican engine shop. It's a shame we remember the bad but forget the good, but I can't find positive reviews.

Can anyone give good feedback on long block suppliers? If they don't pack em' and shipe em' it needs to be California.

 

[NorCalBorn]

Not too sure about crate's but IMHO...

Central Nor-Cal: YODAMAN
So-Cal: YotaMasters

Larry @ Yodaman has built engines for a lot of people I know and does solid work.

 

[4x4 Station Wagon]

There are quite a few here in oregon. you will have to search but I think enginebuilders.com or something like that is yota only and I have heard good things about them. Several friends have bought some from Eugene OR, I think it was for around 800-1000 for long block with clutch and they are very pleased. I can get info Monday if you are interested

 

[rebelcruiser]

I have a cyl head on the way from 22REPerformance in Chico,CA. I've heard good things about these folks. Might be a good source for a long block 22r.
http://22reperformance.com/22RE Performance - Rebuilt Engines.html

 

[bryan89]

FWIW,
i went ahead and rebuilt my own because i did not like what i found out about anyone making reman engines.

From what I found they basically all do the same thing. they get a core engine in and regardless of what shape its in, they turn the crank down to the minimum allowable diameter, open the rods up to the maximum allowable diameter and put the biggest set of oversize bearings in there.

will it run? yeah probably. but here is the thing, you have no room to rebuild the engine again if you want/need to. its already maxed out. and from my personal experience, my "worn out" engine still had plenty of life left in it. I rebuilt mine myself and there is still room in there to rebuild it at least once or maybe twice more if you are careful.

on top of that, I find that the reman places use cheap garbage rebuild parts a lot of the time. dont get me wrong, it will probably run for quite a while with those aftermarket parts, but I found that factory parts arent that much more expensive. (rod bearings, crank bearings etc..)

finally, toyota surprisingly has pretty tight tolerances in their engines, as far as ring gap, and piston to wall clearance, bearing clearances etc.. many rebuild shops build with much wider tolerances than the factory too avoid problems with their inferior parts. hell, even my machine shop that bored my block kind of looked at me cock-eyed when i told him i wanted only .001 piston to wall clearance. i told him toyota did it like that and it ran for 200k just fine.

in the end, build it to toyota specs yourself. i had fun doing it and my motor is much tighter now for it.

 

[Sam Stewart]

I know a couple but they're in the Southeast... The best quality IMO is Jasper Engines: Jasper Engines or Jarco Jarco Inc. I've used them both for dealership customers. Both have a bunch of complaints online tho. I think you're going to get that with anybody.

 

[bryan89]

i know for a fact that jasper engines does what i was referring to with taking everything to the max. i called and asked the builder. i was going to use them before i found that out.

 

[Combat Chuck]

Not too sure about crate's but IMHO...

Central Nor-Cal: YODAMAN
So-Cal: YotaMasters

Larry @ Yodaman has built engines for a lot of people I know and does solid work.

X2

Larry does some amazing work, he has a 4500 dollar premium engine, and a 3000(?) dollar budget engine option, plus he can consult as to other add-ons, like cams, etc, etc.
This fall, I'm planning on going for the premium motor, The Mule's ticker's burning oil like it's going out of style.
If you head over to SR for this, I can meet up with you and we can run out to a taco truck or something.

 

[fjfodee]

Bryan is right. I found that out on my long block that developed wrist pin slap after about 20k miles. Everything on that engine was maxed out. Luckily I had kept the original engine that was unmolested.

If you have the time, I vote rebuild yourself. Then you'll know what you've got. Plus it puts you in tune with your truck.

 

[Sam Stewart]

i know for a fact that jasper engines does what i was referring to with taking everything to the max. i called and asked the builder. i was going to use them before i found that out.

I'm just throwing out my 2 cents. I've used them many times.

 

[dubsb]

How about davezoffroad ? Anybody with any experience with his motors ? 1300 bucks sounds like a heck of a deal.

 

[OGBeno]

Another vote for Larry Kitahara.

Yodaman is the man.

 

[Sam Stewart]

How about davezoffroad ? Anybody with any experience with his motors ? 1300 bucks sounds like a heck of a deal.

My personal experience has shown that you get what you pay for. Cheaper usually is not better.

 

[snobdds]

I share other's beliefs that Toyota made a good product from the factory and I wanted something similar. So I had Jim at Putney's / 22re Preformance build me the closest thing to factory I could. I went with all OEM internals, which means having to find a block that does not need boring out. Just a good torque plate honeing was all that was needed to fit OEM pistons, bearings etc.

Here is my build thread for more details...

https://forum.ih8mud.com/79-95-toyota-truck-tech/528573-new-22re-preformance-engine-instal.html

 

[pappy]

My dos centavos.

I have two DOA engines. The 22re has 140K miles on it. It has developed what sounds like piston slap, but it was probably my fault (leaking injectors washing oil off the cylinders).

The second engine was a very custom 2FE (2F block, 3FE injection, balanced to zero). It blew the head gasket right at 10K and I had issues with the cylinder head requiring a rebuild. Since fixing the head gasket, and the cylinder head, this engine has been fantastic (work done locally). It's by far my favorite engine in about 35 years of car ownership. Currently it has over 20K on the clock.

My recommendation would be to shop around locally. If you live in a town large enough you should have a few great shops that do performance rebuilding (we have at least 3). If I decide to pull my 22RE in the future it will be taken to a local shop. That way I won't be dealing with somebody many miles away if something goes wrong, and shipping will simply involve a buddy's pickup. They are more likely to make it right.

The 22R is a very simple engine and it doesn't require anything special to make them purr.

 

[fjfodee]

Shameless Plug..."not really"

Ok, so i'm a NAPA jobber. I've never sold their engines, but I know other jobbers who have. ATK is their builder, and for an 81 22r long block i'm showing 1760.00 + a 350.00 core. I'm sure there would be shipping involved also. That comes with a 3 year unlimited mile warranty. From what I understand, If something happens ATK will have you find a certified shop to find out what went wrong. If it turns out to be a defective part on their end, they will have the shop fix it. Here's a link to the warranty info that I have.

http://partimages.genpt.com/partimages/1131298.pdf

 

[GRM]

Not too sure about crate's but IMHO...

So-Cal: YotaMasters

Larry @ Yodaman has built engines for a lot of people I know and does solid work.

I've used yotamasters before. Those guys know their stuff. They are busy enough to stay in business, but not so busy so that they rush through projects. They take their time, and have great customer service. I'd go there.

 

[Sam Stewart]

My dos centavos.

I have two DOA engines. The 22re has 140K miles on it. It has developed what sounds like piston slap, but it was probably my fault (leaking injectors washing oil off the cylinders).

The second engine was a very custom 2FE (2F block, 3FE injection, balanced to zero). It blew the head gasket right at 10K and I had issues with the cylinder head requiring a rebuild. Since fixing the head gasket, and the cylinder head, this engine has been fantastic (work done locally). It's by far my favorite engine in about 35 years of car ownership. Currently it has over 20K on the clock.

My recommendation would be to shop around locally. If you live in a town large enough you should have a few great shops that do performance rebuilding (we have at least 3). If I decide to pull my 22RE in the future it will be taken to a local shop. That way I won't be dealing with somebody many miles away if something goes wrong, and shipping will simply involve a buddy's pickup. They are more likely to make it right.

The 22R is a very simple engine and it doesn't require anything special to make them purr.

I like the idea of a local shop as well. I've rebuilt a few engines myself and I've always used a shop in Covington, GA (Pro-1 Machine.) The guys there are great and always do really good quality machine work. Typically, I would have them do the machine work on the block and head, build the block, and then I would do all the assembly from there myself.

 

[Joe_E]

i know for a fact that jasper engines does what i was referring to with taking everything to the max. i called and asked the builder. i was going to use them before i found that out.

Put a jasper in a 94 mini.
Never buy another from them.
Burned oil from day 1.

 

[dubsb]

Jasper dosent even rebuild 22re's anymore. I tried them since there's a supplier 30 minutes from me.