i have a olds 330 high compression engine that needs rebuild. jus wondering if anyone knew what it is worth. thanks in anvance
About $80/ton delivered to a scrap yard.
i thought that motor was kinda rare?
An Olds engine from the '60s–like yours–has value only to someone who owns a car from that era, and that is a limited market. If it needs rebuilding, it has less value.
If we were still living in the early '50s, when young guys put Olds and Cadillac engines into chopped-down Model A Fords in order to race them on the dry lake beds in California, the engine would have somewhat broader appeal. However, some 50 years later, those same guys have given up their old sport, and their grandkids are more interested in Hondas and the like.
If you want to have a chance of actually selling it, you need to place an ad in Hemmings Motor News, since that is the publication that all car collectors turn to when they want to buy a collector-type car or parts for that older car.
VDCdriver makes a good point. That engine likely has value to someone somewhere. But you’ll need to do the legwork to find such a person.
Do some research and find out if it is really rare and what would be the group looking for one, then direct your advertisement towards that group. I somewhat disagree with VDC as a collector would desire a “unmolested” that is not rebuilt engine more. They like these things done to their own standards. It would be good if you had carb and all else also.
Did you think asking Cartalk was doing reasearch?
Shipping costs will exceed any value it might have. Hemmings is worth a try. MAYBE you can find someone willing to pick it up. Try e-bay too, for a world-wide market…
I actually had the same thoughts. Unless the OP can find someone in his state, or perhaps an adjoining state, that is able to personally come with a truck to haul away that engine, it will be very difficult to find a buyer.
Another possibility would be going to one of the big swap meets for owners of collector cars. The famous one at Hershey, PA is but one example, since I believe that these swap meets also exist in other parts of the country.
thanks guys. just wanted to see before i took it for scrap
If I remember correctly, this 330 was out of a 65 Cutlass and the 330 had a short production run. This means it’s a hard to find engine and worth something even if it needs a rebuild.
A collector car yard in TX has some of those switch pitch transmissions from this era (hard to find and basically a TH400 with a twist) and they get 400 bucks for a rebuildable core.
I know that if I owned a mid 60s Cutlass, and since stone originality is a huge plus in my opinion, that car would have a 330 before a 350 would even be considered during a restoration.
What about running an ad in Hemmings Motor News? That’s pretty much the Bible of collector car enthusiasts and they have an entire Oldsmobile section in there too.
You may find that one of those big time Olds parts suppliers in there may even be interested in it; especially if you live near their operation.
thanks for the info. i might put it in hemmings and see what happens
I would just hate to see a comparatively rare piece of history lost at the scrap metal yard and would prefer to see someone use it.
Quite a few years ago I bought an old Harley Davidson motorcycle engine out of a guy’s basement. This engine was in pieces and was totally worn out to the maximum. Everything on it was at the worn out limits. He sold this engine to me for 50 bucks and told everybody he took me to the cleaners on it.
Fast forward 15 years and I sold that engine (still in pieces and with a few of those pieces already sold) for 1200 dollars.
Great profit margin, BUT if I had kept the engine and sold it today it would probably bring 10 grand and a good likelihood of 20 grand if I rebuilt it first.
True, but the market for 330 Olds engines is a tiny fraction of the Harley market. Good luck to Toolbox9, I hope you find a buyer.
I know its a little late for a reply (thread necromancy) but I was the one with the 330 Olds engine out of 65 cutlass, and I bought it after a previous recent rebuild for about $500.00 from my local body shop. It was in good running condition and needed no internal work (just some bolt on stuff like water pumps and the like)
I would say there is definitely an interest, though small, in this engine and that in the southwest where these 60 era cars are somewhat more common I would say it could even be desirable. Wouldn’t suggest shipping it though.
Just an afterthought!