[Barry_R]

I'll let the photos do the talking first...but will say that it is very much a buyer beware world out there.

This engine came in from a customer who wanted me to check out his ebay acquisition. Truth be know, it's not that bad of a deal money wise. But it is definitely not anywhere near being what the ad claimed it to be.

The ad - with the seller's ID obliterated in case the guy is one of those lawyer types...very clearly states that this is a 428 engine with a buch of very clearly claimed parts and dimensions. No gray areas.




The customer was charged roughly twice the normal shipping costs, plus a $150 crating fee. At least the box is nice, and the engine arrived in good condition.




Once we started taking things apart it became very obvious that this was not looking like a 428. No "A" or "C" scratch in the bellhousing, no "428" cast in the water jackets either center or ends. Actually has a visible "352" cast into the end interior front jacket floor. All the date codes and casting numbers have been removed from this "service" block... We noticed a lot of hone grit/dirt in the cylinders. We did not run a full range of sonic tests, but spot checked it assembled and found a bunch of readings around .102 to .120, along with a few under .100 - notably .082 on the front wall. Just to be confident we calibrated the sonic meter against the machined "china wall".
Would it run - yes. Would it be durable - who's to say. Is it a 428 - no freaking way.




Since we know the block is bogus we checked the crank. It really is stamped "1U" and appears to be a real 428 crank. Cool. Ad claimes it is standard on both rods and mains - that is not true. Both bearings are clearly marked as .010 under Kings. A decent .010-.010 428 crank is worth half the sell price of the engine so I cannot understand the reasoning behing the "standard" claim.



The rods were said to be factory 428 parts with ARP bolts. They are factory passenger car rods - might have come from any non-CJ 428. But the bolts are standard rebuilder stuff - definitely not ARP. And the ones we removed just kinda fell out of the rod. I took a picture of ARP parts for comparison.



Heads are said to be GT390 and they have the exhaust pattern to match, along with some rudimentary port work. Valves were claimed to be Manley Severe Duty 2.06 and 1.65 and they are definitely not. Stampings match up to $4 rebuilder parts and they are stock sized 2.03 and 1.56. Guides have bronze liners installed and exhaust I examined have had the seat replaced. Springs were said to be doubles at 1.55 OD - they are single with dampers (an honest mistake?) and stock sized, with factory 2 piece retainers. I thought all my old GT390s came with CJ style single retainers - can somebody correct/check this? Pictures tell the tale:






I have LOTS more pictures, but its safe to say that this ebay 428 is not anywhere close to being legitimate - please, please, please be careful out there. There are not very many "super deals" in this hobby, and NONE of them are coming from ads like this!





Barry Rabotnick
Survivalmotorsports.com