Where should I buy a spare cm870 ?

[tree98]

I think i want to buy an 870 to have rebuilt by one of the guys on here (mr. Hag or gearhead) so that I have an engine ready to put right into the truck when mine shits the bed. It's an 06 with 400k mi. And 22,000 hrs. It's a log truck with a log loader mounted to it so it has hours on it from loading and unloading. As far as I know it's never been apart and I just have a feeling it's gonna blow a head gasket or who knows what and then I'll be down for weeks or longer. So should I buy a running engine from a place like Adelman's and have it redone or should I buy a long block from cummins and have it taken apart and liner height, piston rings checked etc. Opinions anyone?

[Rawze]

If your going to have Mr. Hag do it, get one at Kerns junkyard in atlanta so you can save the shipping costs.

[dhirocz]

I thought about doing that too. I wanted to do one nice, cut the deck just enough to get an ideal RA for the head gasket (maybe 5 thou), set the liners, balance the crank, clean it up all pretty and new on the outside, etc...have it complete and drop in ready...

But how would the regular Joe schmoe put it in? I kind of lack that kind of space and equipment and I'd have to find someone I 'trust' with my truck. Hmm.

Gotta also think. Those parts under 'warranty' (good one) will run out maybe before you even get to start it. Still, not a bad idea. I have a number of engines in my garage...just none quite that large!

With as much as those things cost, find a good deal and a high mileage used one and go that route. Complete, high miles, still running. Cummins is PROUD of their remans. I don't know why. At least this way, you can have it done by a reputable shop correctly without paying twice technically for assembly (once by Cummins, once to correct it) and it might be cheaper depending on the cost of your core.

[Chamberpains]

I personally wouldn't go High mileage used. You might find a lot of core parts junk because of stress cracking because of it's unknown extended use or abuse it may have. If I had the chance to have a drop in ready one sitting around I would take a chance on and search for a low mileage wreck with a guarantee from the salvage yard in case it's found to be cracked upon disassembly and tear it down myself to save on labor of paying your shop of choice labor. Or buy a guaranteed good block and crank assembly (short block). Then I would take all the pieces and parts that could be potentially salvaged and drive them personally to the shop of choice. Even if that meant a 1500 mile trip one way to Georgia or Pennsylvania to save on shipping costs, after all most of us are truck drivers, why not pay yourself to do the job at the best rate on the market!
Let the shop you trust get a brand new head and cut the block and assemble it to the advised specs and procedures on this site. That way you know it was assembled correctly and with the best parts available.
Then if you don't have the facility to lift the whole engine in and out, call a tow truck (couple hundred $$, relatively cheap) have everything towed to a shop to have it installed. or better yet go rent a fork lift for a day or 2 (couple hundred $$, still cheaper than paying a lot of shops) and do the swap yourself.
Doing it this way ensures that everything is up to your standards and you can take the time and care to make sure it's done right.
All warranties are parts only warranties thru Cummins, no labor included. Save the labor by doing it yourself and having it assembled by trust worthy shops (GA and PA) and have faith that Cummins makes damn good parts, they just don't put them together the greatest all the time. That's where the trust worthy shop comes in to play.
This is only my way of thinking cause I was bit quite hard by letting other shops do the work. Now I'm redo'ing what I paid some monkey to do once already.