Spare Engine; Hoarding or Piece of Mind?

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Unless you want to come up to Michigan....

I'm probably not the best person to ask.  I have spare engines for cars I don't own.

As hard as you run your E36 M3, I say price of mind

porschenut said:

What a bunch of enablers we are.  Of course keep it.  Maybe buy another mustang with a bad motor.

My fabricator has this covered. He says build up the spare motor for the Mustang and then take the 240hp V8 and put it in the Datsun.

Ranger50 said:

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Almost 30 years now in abundance. Explorer in '99 was the last model but previous was the F150 in '96, Mustang in '95....

Back to the question at hand, it's only hoarding if you have multiples of the same for the same reason. On top of that, there is no reasonable expectation of use. I have a 300 i6 I'm junking because I have no vehicle to put it in nor any plan to use it in anything. Same with probably all the 2.3 Limas I have and associated t5's. Now the big block and stock 89 5.0HO.... I have plans for eventually.

I have a use for 2.3 Lima engine and trans, and In Michigan.

I can only speak for myself, but so far, firmly in the "hording" category.

Of all the engines I've had sitting on stands over the years, only 1-2 have actually made it into cars

I'm certainly not one to tell others how to use their space, but having a spare SBC laying around myself, they take up relatively little space vs the cost to acquire another in a short lead time. If you can make space on a bottom shelf, a small block V8 is easily tucked out of the way.

Now, having one vs needing one are 2 different things. I'm keeping mine because there's a chance it's original to my car. But given that I'm not hooning my car, it's only value is in its possible originality. I tell myself I might work it over some day, in which it will 9nly become more valuable. But it otherwise has little value on its own.

I'm rambling...my point is, small blocks don't inherently take up much space, and if it's even remotely valuable to you, then no, it's not hoarding to have a spare laying around, imho

If you are going to race the Mustang , I would think having  a known good V8  would get you back on the track  quicker than trying to chase down another V8 and having no idea whats inside it.....

In reply to 4cylndrfury :

I have gotten to the point where I am reflexively anti-clutter. We bought a 6x4 shed a few months ago for me to store the big items. I've decided the motor will end up in there.

My garage is also a bit of a man cave so I want it to look decent. The pictures below are what I consider bordering on cluttered.

Tom1200 said:

 The pictures below are what I consider bordering on cluttered.

Okay, that's enough outta you! 🤣

But, yeah, I'd hang on to a good spare motor, too.  Even if it's something that's super common now, you might not realize how uncommon and potentially expensive they wind up getting when you need one.  I scrapped a couple Neon transmissions because they weren't the "good" ratio ones and I could find several on Craigslist for $50 any time.  Now....  Not so much.

In reply to wae :

I understand; the super abundant Datsun stuff has now become rare. Granted we bought the car 40 years ago.

I really like driving the Mustang, so I may well keep it a long time as it checks so many boxes. I likely won't have it in 40 years but should I live past 100 maybe I will. If I do the spare motor the spare motor will probably be in the shed.

Interesting timing, I was just having a look at a spare engine for my Willy's. It currently has a Buick V6 odd fire engine in it. Which means custom engine mounts and a adapter to mate it to the T90 transmission. I already have a spare transmission and transfer case. My engine runs, but I know nothing about it, and it leaks oil on the regular. I was thinking of getting a spare V6 and doing a rebuild of it so the whole power train is ready to be swapped if needed. Storage is my biggest concern. 

In reply to octavious :

Those were some my issues as well.

After the posts here I've decided to work out the space issue.

The motor in the Mustang has some leaks as well. I'd like to give the spare a refresh and add some minor upgrades. The timeline is 2-3 years but I am not married to that.

Not to pile on but...

They're only abundant until they are suddenly not....

Insurance also seems like a massive waste of money until you need it. 
 

I think fox bodies are going to get very popular in the next 10 years. I was born in 80, and very much disliked them growing up- but they turn my head now. 

My 5.0 experience was this.  Acquired aluminum heads, rockers, cam then decided that it would be best not to touch the perfect motor that was in the car.  Acquired a short block with improved pistons but needed fresh bearings.   Sold it all before getting to use it, but had lots of fun researching and hoarding.

Also hoarded a torque arm, coilover set, bolt in cage.   At this point found a great deal on my S197 and a buyer for the Fox and most of the hoard.

Short story, build the spare engine and get it installed before the good tuners are gone, save the stock motor for the next guy.

My HCI setup on someone else's car made the as expected 350hp and more importantly pulled strong from idle to redline.   The custom cam that was matched to the chassis and flow numbers of the head made all the difference, and cost about $150 more than an ABC cam.

I'm looking over at the shelf that contains spare engines for my F500 and Sprite. The sprite also has a spare OE 4 speed and a Datsun 5 speed I need to install. And a spare sprite rear axle...  

In reply to Apexcarver :

If you ever want to rid yourself of the Datsun 5 speed let me know.  I am sure it's the same 60 series that's in my car.

In reply to Tom1200 :

Nope, I had a long hunt for that! 

Looking forward to my sprite being able to cruise at faster than 60-65mph.