Crate motor prices, Who's smoking crack???

There are huge differenecs in quality in engine building. I thought MP had started paying a real performance builder to do them, rather than a mass engine supplier. That will add a bunch to the cost, and it's why the initial Hemi crates were really expensive. Then they went to CUmmins and the pricing stayed the same, but quality died. However, if you do use a good shop, and they really do build as opposed to rebuild, the prices are in line with a brand new, custom built engine. (Ok, the 340's really pushin it...especially with a cast crank...lol)