I believe Clifford have discontinued their special motor. Forum member "Powerband" bought one, unused, some months back. Several of us are keen to see how it turns out.
The reason exchange crate motors aren't offered is that the menu is too tailored to a person's budget, vehicle and driving. The market is presently not large enough to support a generous inventory and occasional stock writedowns on slow movers.
Some people have had decent results with local reconditioning firms; others experience poor to indifferent outcomes. The motors aren't hard to build but there are some sticking points:
• Torque plate honing is a darned good idea for these sixes. Sadly the plates aren't at all common in rebuild shops (and they either try to tell the customer it isn't needed, or decline the work).
• Dialling in the advance vs carburetion curve is more difficult than the bent eights. (Or maybe we are simply less beset by manly pride.
)
• Block type varies at the bellhousing - small bell, dual drilled bell, big bell, SBF patterns all appear on different spec sixes. There are variations in heads which also affect choosing to suit an application.
Everyone starts at the beginning - go easy on yourself as it's a lot of info to soak up the first time around. Quite often, a camera can come in handy to identify something you're looking at to buy or fix.
You can also look at some of these "hurdles" as the last traces of old-school hotrodding where you had to do your own scavenging and mix/match to get it all working out.
I realise that these aren't probably the answers you wanted to hear, but it's better to present an honest picture. Most of us here are in for the ride as much as a destination, and will help you with experience and other input.
Regards, Adam.
