5 HEMI Crate Engines You Can Find For Under $4,000

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The HEMI nameplate is arguably one of the most famous in the automotive community, with the name a reference to their hemispherical combustion chambers (although modern HEMI engines aren't "true" HEMIs because the combustion chambers are elliptical). As a Chrysler — ergo, Stellantis — trademark, the name has mostly featured on the company's vehicles. And there are many to choose from, with several different configurations of the modern HEMI dating back to the 2003 model year, with different displacements, induction methods, applications, and more.

Modern HEMI engines are colloquially known as Generation-III HEMIs, as opposed to the first-gen from the 1950s or the "Elephant Block" 426 HEMI from the muscle car era. If you have a $4,000 budget, you will basically never find a decent 426 HEMI for that kind of money. And the only way to get a 331 FirePower (the first-gen HEMI) is to buy a junker and hire a shop to restore it; that likely won't be cheap, either. But there are ways to get that coveted HEMI under the hood that don't involve breaking the bank, so let's look at a few.

A quick disclaimer before we continue: You'll have to scour the used market to find these engines at the prices we discuss. We won't name specific engines because availability will vary, of course, but we'll do our best to give you a ballpark estimate for what you should expect to pay.

If you just want an engine to shove into a car and don't care much about longevity, this is likely your best option. Independent sellers on eBay and various websites regularly sell used or refurbished complete 5.7-liter HEMIs for around this price, either with an extremely limited warranty or as-is. Some may not even consider these crate engines, because you're likely not going to find any remanufactured engines at this price-point. Most also require a core deposit, meaning they will ship you a refurb in exchange for your old HEMI engine block.

The key difference here rests in the difference between a remanufactured and a refurbished engine. To keep it simple, engine refurbishment is a less intensive process than remanufacturing. Refurbishment involves completely stripping down the engine, cleaning everything, replacing perishable components and anything obviously broken or deteriorated, and putting it back together. Refurb engines aren't returned to factory spec, and major components will still have the original wear.

A glance at various auction sites reveals multiple sources and configurations for these engines, but the cheapest and most plentiful are the standard 5.7-liter HEMI, and that will largely apply to the rest of these engines as well. Prices tend to fluctuate, but we've spotted complete engines on eBay for as low as $1,850, albeit in original, unrefurbished condition. This is certainly a buyer-beware scenario; you'll get what you pay for here, so it's not the ideal engine for any sort of serious build. If you're shopping for a basic track thrasher or garage experiment, however, this may be a good starting point for you.

This is the lowest price we found for a remanufactured HEMI crate engine, but it isn't a plug-and-play solution. For this price, you're looking at an engine block with internals and not much else. The cheapest option we could find from an actual company (as opposed to a private seller) comes from the appropriately-named Cars and Trucks Engines 4Less, offering an early-model Gen III HEMI crate engine bereft of any accessories and external hardware.

Why would someone want to purchase a more expensive product if it comes with less, though? The answer lies in the remanufacturing process. Unlike a refurb, an engine remanufacture is a far more involved process. It involves dismantling the engine and replacing or repairing everything until the engine is at (or better than) factory specifications. Such a procedure typically commands a higher price, being that it's effectively making a brand-new engine out of an old one, but this also comes with a warranty measured in months or years, as opposed to days.

This particular HEMI is the oldest variant of the new-generation HEMI, built during the Daimler-Chrysler years, and should fit in any vehicles that came with it from the factory, car or truck alike, with the appropriate parts. Options like this, therefore, are perfect if, for instance, you have an early HEMI-powered car with a damaged engine block. This particular company mandates a core return, meaning you have to ship them the broken block, to keep a steady supply of parts for rebuilding into more engines.

These are the engines you'll typically see inside light-duty pickup trucks like the Ram 1500, Dodge Durango, and so on. Truck HEMIs have a different configuration from the car HEMIs, though the internals of the 5.7 are largely identical. Codenamed "Eagle," the second revision of the Gen-III HEMI typically varies from model to model to accommodate different engine bay layouts; trucks ride higher than cars, so their engines will have different proportions when fully assembled.

Long block engines come with various internal components and sometimes accessories like the alternator. By comparison, the term "short block" refers to a crate engine that is effectively the block only, meaning you have to buy most of the internals and accessories yourself. For the rest of this article, we will only be referring to long blocks — otherwise, you'll be adding in the various components to the final price, and that can vary drastically.

Truck variants of the 5.7-liter HEMI with no Multi-Displacement System (MDS) can be had for around $3,000 from FL Engines 4 Less on eBay. MDS, for the unfamiliar, is a proprietary name that just means cylinder deactivation; these engines will run on all eight cylinders all the time. These will be remanufactured engines, albeit ones still missing most of the associated components apart from the block, heads, and internals. So, these will be better suited as replacements for a broken block. This particular model is the most basic of them all — a workhorse truck engine, built in large numbers, with good parts availability, albeit with a relative lack of features. Moreover, the linked engine comes without accessories, meaning it'll only replace so much.

This model is likely the option that pops into the layperson's mind when they hear the word "Hemi." It's your basic 345-CI HEMI that came in vehicles such as the Dodge Challenger and Magnum, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Commander, and Chrysler 300. This car variant (as opposed to the truck variant) features MDS, improving fuel economy at the cost of additional complexity and initial expense.

Various companies, such as Powertrain Products, offer this particular engine for around $3,600, featuring a generous 7-year, 1-million-mile warranty, effectively making this the equal of a super-low mileage OEM engine, albeit with a price to match. Such an engine must, by definition, be subjected to a wide battery of tests, cleaning processes, fabrication, and machining work, to ensure this level of quality. Alternatively, if you're willing to splurge for the true OEM option, Mopar sells rebuilt versions of this engine, in the same configuration, for $4,495;too pricey for the list but still reasonably affordable, all things considered.

This engine comes as a long block without accessories and is, for our money, the best option for someone looking for a reliable daily-driver. Something like this is theoretically perfect for the individual looking to preserve their vehicle for future use, bearing in mind that these cars aren't getting any younger; in just a few years, the earliest modern HEMI models will be considered classics. Alternatively, this option also suits people looking to restomod their vintage vehicles, being a viable alternative to the usual LS engine swaps you see everywhere else.

This HEMI crate engine comes in at just 50 cents of $4,000 from Summit Racing. The ATK 5.7 crate Hemi, also offered on the company's website for $4,799, sits at the upper echelon of our price bracket, but with the performance to match. These are early-pattern engine configurations, built out of Daimler-Chrysler core components. The difference here is the power output; the highest standard power figures, as seen on the likes of early Dodge Challenger and Magnum R/Ts, sat at 350 hp. Conversely, ATK's offering bumps that number up to a healthy 400 hp and 400 lb-ft torque.

Featuring a reground crankshaft, hypereutectic pistons on remanned conrods, and new aluminum cylinder heads, this engine option is best suited as a base for building a higher-performance street or track car. It has respectable power figures right from the gate and has a two-year, unlimited-mile warranty from ATK.

This option would likely suit a DIY tuner looking to add a little beef to the base HEMI and isn't afraid to fix the engine when issues crop up. Of course, like the other engines we looked at here, this model also doesn't come with accessories. Moreover, the block requires ECM tuning along with a full check of the fuel system to avoid any issues when swapping from a standard block. Otherwise, this is one of the best options out there for someone looking for a HEMI with good power potential on a relatively modest budget.