I just acquired a 1988 Chris Craft 375 stinger. As of right now it has a blown coupler. The engines are 454 mags, and the hour meters read 875. I dont know if they were ever rebuilt. I would like to put fresh engines in it. I want to stay with mild 454's or 502's, beacuse I want to keep the silent choice, and idle smooth. I prefer long blocks, I dont want engines stuck in a machine shop for months getting rebuilt. I would rather get long blocks and sell the running engines I have.

Who has the best prices on longblocks? I would like 502's, but it seems they are 2-3k more, and I would rather save the 3k to put towards new transoms.(sloppy gimbles). Thanks, MT

A few words of caution...I am not so sure I would fully trust long blocks that are mass produced from a factory---especially if it (or they) are for a marine application. The short blocks or engines really need to be assembled with clearances in mind for a marine application.

I am not saying it is that way with every one of these mass produced short blocks. What I am saying is just be careful of what you are buying, and WHO you buy from. Do yourself a big favor and use a precision machine shop that you KNOW has been in business for a while, has a good reputation for their product, and the ability to back up their work-----a shop that you can walk in on any time, and be able to see the progress of your stuff.

Within the past two years or so, I had a guy who oringinally lied about his real name right here on OSO and then smooth talk me by telling me he worked for Hendrick's Motorsports building NASCAR racing engines. Despite the reg flags, they were able to smooth talk me and I decided to trust him/them with my engines which turned out to be a disaster. These guys were wolves in sheep skins and they were some real deceptive smoooooooth talkers. I see that you are a relatively new member here. So make sure you do your homework and be very careful of who you entrust your stuff to, and who you make your purchases from. I hope your boating experiences go well for you.

How about long blocks from 1800runsnew.com? I would love a set of custom built engines, but turn around time is usually poor. I had a guy rebuild my 540 last year, original quote was like 4500, then when i picked it up it was 6800! Dont wanna go thru that again.

Mild thunder , I will have two 502's coming out of my boat, one of them has about 10hrs on it the other has 280, I'm replacing with 540's. You can call me at 262 820 0423 for details if your interested.