99/00 engine ran with no oil, usable for rebuild?
 

I'm looking to build a an engine with forged internals and I have found a '00 engine. However, it was run without oil for some period of time, long enough to develop a noise, from the bottom end (supposedly). It is just a bare longblock (block/head/valve cover). No fuel rail, intake or exhaust.

Is this worth buying and at what price?

I can inspect it and disassemble it a little if there are any checks I can do, short of tearing it all apart. I do not have enough experience with what actually fails under a low oil condition, I can imagine that everything is suspect.

I will be replacing the rods and pistons. The finished engine will live in a '99, with an engine that runs great so I can steal parts.

You want to pull all the main caps and rod ends to check for damage to the crankshaft. If there's no crank damage, you're good to go.

What about the head?

Pull the cam caps. If it was ran with no oil (depending on how long) it would damage your crank and cams which are your main worries right now. The cam journals may be so wore out that the head is trash.

Do as Savington says, pull the caps and see how your crank is, both main and rod caps, and don't skip one before buying bearings! Check them all out and be 100%. Don't ask me how I know this.

Start off by pulling the camshaft caps and inspecting them. If the caps are not damaged, it is unlikely the rest of the head is damaged.

Even if the cam caps are okay i'd still suggest pulling all of the caps. If everything checks out okay then polish the crank, new bearings and you're set. After you buy forged internals of course :)

I think I can pull all of the caps, main caps and rods apart.

How much can you polish off the crankshaft? If it is requires any regrinding, is it not worth the investment?

Polishing won't take much off of a crank, it just smooths out the crank journals.

If a crank has scarring, it's not worth using in my opinion. We have several cranks just laying in the shop (chevy 350's)

If the crank is good I usually use like 2000 grit sandpaper, with chemical solvent used a dealerships, and wet sand my crank journals. Not as good as polishing but it would work if you planned to just throw together a rebuild.

cam caps would be the easiest check. every other bearing/bushings will have to be replaced.

Cam caps are furthest away from oil pump, etc. if you pull those and they look good, chances are crank is ok

I think this is a good reference but I passed. Sometimes saving $100 can cost you $200 in the long run.