11 Best Engines For Engine Swaps (2023 Updated)

Extremely min. And basic info. Basically just a basic parts list. No actual proof no how too, I still dont understand why its called a k swap book if it dose not instruct that or anywhere near demonstrate.

No color pics, mediocre print, and fragile, not as good as the books they made in times past. Id recommend Motorbooks Workshop books instead.

Exactly as described. Excellent book for obtaining good info on Kswaps

My son really enjoys building stuff and taking stuff apart. I looked at several engine models for him as a birthday present. This one seemed like a good value, had a battery / motor to run the engine (not a hand crank), had lights for the plugs in each cylinder, and had good reviews.

It arrived fast, despite the warnings that it might be delayed by Covid 19. He spent the day by himself building it. It turned out great! He had fun time building it and is proud of his accomplishment.

Now we talk about what each part does and why. Summit, thanks for producing such a high quality product.

Assembly is pretty easy and we’ll illustrated. Most parts either press together or put together with screws. No glue is required and the parts are molded in color, but can easily be painted if you want.

I was very happy with how it runs and it even has engine sounds and “spark plugs” that light up. Very nice kit. Excellent display piece. Requires 3 AA batteries to run.

This whole project is high end from start to finish. Well engineered, and nothing broke or was missing from the kit. If you want a true understanding of a V8, here it is. The instructions are well laid out and intelligent.

You will not be disappointed with this one!!.

This is not your average engine model kit. It is very well cast and very durable. When it is completed and you run it, it runs effortlessly and each part stays in place- not moving around and wobbling like some of the lesser quality kits do.

So – went back and forth over whether to have a BBC done local and ran into this cool 396 on summit. Was worried about parts backlogged for a local build – summit had this ready to ship/free shipping and cheaper than on Bprint website and vs other competitors.

I just pulled the trigger. Got here w/in 48 hours. Six weeks later – it is in and pretty well tuned in my 78/4speed Z28. Now, to be fair, I’ve got 3. 73 gears – but this screams. I did go kinda easy for a week or so (and still am) but runs really good.

Off idle, cruise, WOT. It’ll tear through 1st/2nd gear with 28 cooper cobra’s. Am running 1 3/4 doug’s (i’m a pontiac guy by trade – we dont’ run 1 5/8’s) and just 2. 5 pipes/xpipe. Only minor issue is I don’t know chevy’s and correct flywheel/clutch/H balancer and bolt – were not fully clear – but I figured out okay with a few tech calls.

Am happy w/ power, quality and happy with purchase. Nice motor!.

I looked all over for an engine and am glad I went with this blueprint engine. I have had installed and running about a week now and it runs and sounds awesome. My dyno sheet was above the advertised numbers.

Mine came in at 504 HP and 511 ft pounds of torque. I had several questions and every time I called BluePrint I got through pretty fast and they were helpful. I was a little worried that the HEI distributor that came with wouldn’t fit in my 69 Camaro but it did.

Didn’t have beat the firewall like I have heard some people have had to do. They only changed I made is I didn’t use the 850 Holley that came with it. I am using a 750. Way better response with it. I would definitely recommend this engine and company to anyone.

This engine was put in my 1965 Impala SS convertible. Car had frame off restoration 6 years ago. Had to replace the 396 big block in it. This small block 396 is amazing! Way more power and performance.

Looks and sounds great too! Summit techs were great in answering questions. Been a great experience.

Purchased to replace a broken B&S engine on my old DR lawn & leaf vac, at half their price and significantly more power. Shaft diameter, key way, and length was just right. Took some modification on my old frame to mount the engine properly, but it works great, and the resulting vacuum suction is terrific.

The engine started on first pull. Brand new install, so I can’t comment on durability. Oil fill ports are low down and nearly impossible to access without a long-stem funnel. It would be nice to have an oil fill tube extending to the top of the engine, but that’s a minor complaint.

Overall, highly satisfied and recommended, pending more use with it.

The original Robin engine on my log splitter ran good when it wanted to, but would lose spark, even after a new coil. I believe the Robin had a weak flywheel magnet. A new flywheel would have cost nearly as much as this Predator engine, and I was tired of messing with it.

This engine bolted right in after cutting the shaft to mate to the pump on my log splitter. I can’t speak to long term reliability yet, but I did install an hour meter with the new motor. It starts easy, usually in one pull, and is reasonably quiet during operation.

Power is very good, even at lower RPMs. Hope this lasts a long time with proper maintenance.

32 ton Husky Log Splitter needed a new engine (had a Tecumseh). This engine worked perfectly I just needed a Pump Mount for Hydraulic Log Splitter 8hp-15hp so I could mount the pump to the side shaft (it was vertical before).

I have been splitting daily for 2 years now and it has always started and ran perfectly while providing all the power I need to split even the largest gnarliest Hard Woods. I used an old Toyota Corolla muffler mounted to a straight pipe.

I maintain religiously and always use VP gas treatment to keep the gas fresh and ethanol at bay. I would advise you to throw out the sparkplug that comes with it and put in an NGK. Other than that zero complaints- buy it!!.

I left my first negative review of this company in March of 2020. My update is as of January 2021 I still have not received my engine, nor have I been refunded my money. Yes I have emailed and emailed and emailed and the engine while still for sale on their website seems to be on backorder.

I would highly advise anyone considering making a purchase to find a different vendor as this company is aweful. I can not be convinced that they are “doing all they can” for me. Tired of waiting. will begin leaving weekly negative reviews until this has been resolved!.

The Lifan engine with 6:1 gearbox is a great engine for my use. I use them in a small racing car class for kids. The engines are, in my opinion, on the better end of the quality scale, than some other similar engines I have used.

I have had three running last year and will have three more this year.

Everything brand new for a great price. There was a small dent in gas tank but most likely happened in shipping. My application didn’t need the tank no big deal. The shipping package was well made with wood liners.

The best thing about this engine is that it came with a bracket that bolted on the bottom of the engine and the holes in the bracket fit the base of my three wheeled Sears edger model # 536. 796525 with holes roughly in the corners of a 3 in.

by 6 in. rectangle. I didn’t have to redrill holes in the base of the edger to move the engine a 1/2 in. in any direction. I didn’t need to add spacers to increase its height. The only thing I had to modify were holes in my old belt shield: their centers needed to be about 3/16 in.

wider, but the old bolts fit the threaded holes in the new engine. After adding oil and gas and a gentle pull or two the engine started easily. Be careful of the muffler it gets hot, and it is in a different spot then my old engine.

I burned my arm on it by reaching over the engine to tighten the bolt that holds the front wheel on. Improvement suggestion: paint the muffler with something that changes color when hot.

Engine arrived at my house within 2 days from the time I ordered it. This was with the standard free shipping mind you. The engine was also packaged up very well. The dyno sheet came in at 430. 7hp and 470.

6ft/lb which was more than advertised. My engine did not come with the valve covers or intake manifold shown in the picture. The valve covers were actually much nicer than the picture and had the blueprint logo stamped on them.

The intake manifold my engine came with had bolts that went straight down into the heads instead of the standard ones that bolt in at an angle. (See Image) This is not an issue for me but it could make factory accessory brackets difficult to mount.

Summit needs to update the pictures on to reflect this. Distributor was very nice however it was black instead of red. It also had the firing order painted on it. Worth mentioning, the distributor had the #1 plug marked where the #2 would normally be.

This does not mater though as the firing order was still correctly marked they just decided to rotate the plugs one space over from the standard configuration. Not sure why they do this but I plugged the wires in where Blueprint had marked them and the timing was perfect.

Another thing to note is that the spark plug holes where not in the exact same location on the Blueprint heads as the were on my GM heads. I was unable to fit standard length sparkplugs without them hitting the headers at Cylinders #5 and #6 so I had to buy shorter plugs designed for headers.

This will obviously be dependent on what headers you are using. 2 of the bolt holes on the front of the drivers side cylinder head are about 1/4″ lower than the standard GM location on my 350 from 1982.

The brackets still bolted up fine they just sat lower on the head. Because of this, I was unable to mount my factory A/C compressor. This is not important to me though so I just removed the A/C all together.

I know that most aftermarket accessory drives will bolt up to these heads no problem but the factory accessories will likely be difficult to re-use without modification. The only other thing worth noting is the Mini-starter I have required about 1/4″ of shims to engage properly with the flex plate.

This is no big deal just note that a standard mini-starter will likely require some fiddling to get right.

I installed this engine in my 69 Camaro. I wanted to stay with the original size 350. Engine came as pictured except it had painted valve covers. Engine started on the first crank, good oil pressure, no leaks, temp runs at 180F.

Installed a 2500 converter. All it needed was idle, float level and choke adjustment. Ran the 500 mi break in, no problems. The engine is very smooth and runs strong. The cam does not have a lot of lope at idle.

After the break in I replaced the stamped rockers with 1. 6 roller rockers and that gave it a nice lope at idle, plus a little more power. The engine sounds great and runs even better. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another.

Very good choice for the weekend cruiser.

This engine is still in the crate and not yet installed in my car that is undergoing a complete restoration. Based on the recommendations of the shop doing the restoration I am expecting a HUGE upgrade over the bone stock 190hp 350 that is being replaced.

With everything I have researched and learned about these Blueprint 383 stroker engines 5 stars might not be enough! Surprised engine was not painted already needed to be done by shop installing it.

Break in oil was causing it to smoke. It took a couple of stressful days to get the answers we needed, but it appears to be ok now.

This is a nice powerful engine, I’m still going by the break in guidelines but after that I sure this motor will last for quite some time.