Crate Engines & Long Blocks

Crate Engine or Long Block? Same Thing, Two Names

People search for both and mean the same purchase, so it is worth saying plainly: on this page a crate engine and a long block are the same product. We use both terms ourselves — the Stage 3 is listed as a crate motor and a long block in the same breath.

What you are buying is a complete assembled engine from the oil pan to the valve cover, ready to drop in. What it does not include is the accessories you move across from your old engine: carburetor or EFI, intake, exhaust manifold, distributor, alternator, starter and water pump vary by kit.

How Complete Do You Want It?

Everything on this page replaces the bottom of your engine or all of it. The choice is how much assembly you are doing yourself.

Crate engine / long block — the most complete

Block, head and everything between, ready to drop in. Every one is hand assembled by one person per engine from oil pan to valve cover, then run on our dyno for cam break-in and shake-down before it ships.

Short block kit — the bottom end

Block, crank, rods and pistons. You supply the head and the top end. The right choice if your head is good or you already know which head you want.

Builder Series engine kit — you assemble it

Everything in a box, machining and assembly are yours. The Street Engine Kit is our Economy Rebuild Kit plus a Street Performer cylinder head with your choice of camshaft, OE rocker arms, billet wire loom, LCE valve cover, billet oil cap, PCV K&N breather with adapter, water pump and head bolts — enough to rebuild your engine as a Street Performer. The Pro Engine Kit steps that up. We recommend running either with our Crank Scraper, part 1013022.

The One That Surprises People: A Brand New Crate Engine

If your block is beyond rebuilding, or you simply do not want the machine shop round trip, the All New Street Long Block for 1985-1995 2WD and 4WD is an all-new cast iron block and cylinder head, with a crank, H-beam rods and a Pro Torquer cam. Not a rebuild of someone else's core — a new engine.

Two things make it the sensible default for a daily-driven truck:

• It does not require stand-alone engine management for an EFI setup. It runs on your factory ECU. Every other route to this much engine tends to drag a Haltech and a wiring project along with it.
• Rated 120 HP and 150 lb/ft on pump gas, with a one year unlimited mileage warranty.

There is also the All New Street Turbo Long Block for the 22RTE.

Stroker Crate Engines

More displacement, more torque, and the reason most people are on this page — the stroker is our best-selling 22R crate engine. Split by drivetrain: 4WD 1985-1995 and 2WD 1985-1995.

Pro Crate Engines: Stage 2, 3 and 5

The staged engines are built for progressively harder use, with upgraded valve train, port work and a cam selected for the application. Each is assembled and dyno tested individually.

• Stage 2 Pro Street — the street build.
• Stage 3 Pro — extensive port work and a wide cam choice, so it can be built for stump-pulling low end or a high-revving top end. Strong mid-range; a proven performer on 1/8 and 3/8 mile circle tracks, and genuinely quick on the street.
• Stage 5 Pro Race — the race engine.

Worth saying plainly: a higher stage is not automatically a better truck. Stage 5 in something that tows or crawls will be worse to live with than a Stage 2. Buy for what the truck does.

Short Block Kits

Street and Pro, by year and by application:

• Street: 1985-1995 · 1981-1984 · 22RTE turbo 1985-1988
• Pro: 1985-1995 · 1981-1984
• Pro stroker: 1985-1995 · 1981-1984
• Street stroker with H-beam rods: 1985-1995 non-turbo · 1981-1984 non-turbo · 1985-1995 22RTE turbo

Note the turbo and non-turbo versions are listed separately. Order to match the engine you have.

Motor Mounts

A new engine on tired mounts is a false economy, and the mounts are far easier to change with the engine out.

Standard replacements: OEM motor mounts and OE mounts as a pair, both covering 1984-2004.

For harder use, the Hard Core motor mounts, and above them the Trail-Gear Bomb Proof motor mount kit. That last one exists for a specific reason: on a crawler running dual transfer cases and 4.70:1 low range, factory rubber mounts are a known failure point, and when one snaps the engine shifts and puts the fan blades into the radiator shroud. It is built from a 1/4" steel plate frame base and a 3/8" engine surface plate, with a Class 10.9 bolt mechanically locked to the mount plate. If that describes your truck, this is not overkill.

Swaps and Adapters

Going to a V6: the 22RE to 5VZ conversion motor mount.

Going to a Chevy transmission: the adapter plate kit and the flexplate on its own.

Also here, because it bolts to the engine: the Rock Assault power steering pump bracket kit.

What Else You Will Need

A crate engine is not a complete engine install. Plan on a header, a flywheel and clutch if the mileage is up, and a look through the rest of the 22R catalogue while the engine bay is empty. Everything is cheaper to fit now than in six months.