Pig in a poke - what is a disassembled engine worth?

[quadra]

I came across an A75 for sale, but it is fully disassembled.. there is no tag or logs, or history, as the previous owner has passed away. The Daughter believes it was a complete running engine when bought but that her late father ( who was a mechanic ) had intended to do a total rebuild before installing it in a pietenpol. the near complete plane was sold a few years ago without this project motor and the family is now clearing out the last of the shop. They have no idea what a fair price is and would be open to offers, so can anyone give me some idea what would be reasonable? ... I am assuming everything will need to be gone over and to expect normal wear... hoping the crank runout is in spec., no prop strike etc.
any thoughts appreciated!

[jaredyates]

One option is to pay to send off the case, crank, cam, etc and see if they are in spec. Agree up front to what you'll pay if the parts are good, and what to deduct if they are bad. If they have the patience for this, it will get them the most money, compared to you havinf to discount the price to pay for the risk.

[JimParker256]

For me, it would be a hard pass unless they wanted me to just haul it away for free just to clear the shop space. In my opinion, a disassembled engine, with no yellow tags, logbooks, etc. is worth exactly what it would cost to haul it away.

I believe that following Jared's suggestion above would be a VERY generous offer to the family on the part of the buyer. In the worst case, the "buyer" could wind up with absolutely zero reusable components, and would have spent a good bit of money shipping those parts all over the country to uncover that fact.

In the best case, the buyer would have a "field overhauled" engine of unknown heritage, with unknown hours since new, and with no logs prior to the overhaul. There are lots of 75-100 HP Continentals out there...

[geraldmorrissey]

I'd probably give them $750, and take my chances. If everything is bad, your not out much. Plus you have a case to use for a mockup for your engine mount. As a former C-150 owner, I can say with some certainty that 0-200's are not as plentiful as one would think. Even cores are not cheap, $15-20,000 for a overhaul.
Gerry
Patrol #30

[whee]

I bought my engine disassembled. The best way to do it is like Jared said, agree to have the send the stuff out for yellow tag which they pay for and you agree to pay some amount of money. If something gets red tagged you get to walk away or re negotiate the price. If that is not agreeable then $750 might be ok. I’m not sure how well supported an A75 is; last I knew cranks and cams were getting harder to find. That would make the risk higher and my willingness lower to pay much money.

[David Swartzendruber]

If you end up needing any parts, I have an A65 core with a flanged crank that I'm not going to use and many of the parts are interchangeable.

[Patrol28]

I have two A65's sitting around that I gave 500 each for on a gamble. I sent both crankshafts out right away and both checked out but it could have gone the other way. You can get a lot $$ wrapped up in a small Continental. If its a taper shaft look for a complete prop hub, they're getting hard to find in serviceable condition. Cylinders is another sticker shock part too.

[Bcone1381]

If you give the daughter a choice, then its likely she will feel in control rather than cornered or controlled by a $750 offer on something she believes might be valued with not 4 but 5 digits. So, Either a walk away price of $750, or $5000 with yellow tagged crank, cam, and case. In all likely hood, she just wants to be back to her normal life and will take the $750.

[quadra]

Thank you all for your thoughts👍 there is still not enough information to make a decision, but there should be some additional photos and info next week. The value in old engines is always greatest after they have been rebuilt to zero time, and I have seen 0 hour rebuilds advertised at $5k and a running high time motor would at least let me have a good guess as to value based on logs compression oil pressure etc.
I do not know if the family have considered yellow tagging the parts, but will suggest they consider it, either way it seems the best deal for all ( but the gamblers and bargain hunters 🤣) and should let them get the best price.