huh?.. what happened.. I must have missed something along the way. How did we go from a 347 to a "junkyard overhaul"? IMHO.. while it's true that some can get lucky with less worn engines that can be honed and re-ringed with a few new gaskets.. that's far from typical anymore and you roll the dice unless you're willing to get really dirty(some yards also frown on you disassembling complete motors.. core or not). When it comes to engines.. you generally get what you pay for. There's a reason why it's called a "junkyard overhaul" in the first place. It's quite literally only one small step up from buying a "good running" mule motor. In some cases.. you can even go backwards in durability by using new cheap aftermarket parts compared to the old factory stuff. Now, I have no issue with these types of builds on certain cars as I've done more than a few through the years as well.. but they certianly are a majorly cut corner without a doubt. Aside from it not lasting as long(how often do you want to pull motors and trannys out of your car?).. using more oil/plugs.. or making as much power as fresh motor?.. you can definately save some cash. Just seems like a hell of a lot of work to do for only mediocre gains that may not stick around too long.
The late 80's 5.0's came with low tension piston rings, nearly all I've opened up have nearly no wear whatsoever in the bores after 100K miles. That's how you can do simple overhauls on these. Besides, there are also a few of these that due to core shift, should not be bored. Last one I took down was one. It was best left at std, especially since the bores showed nearly no wear.
