So....is it worth beefing up the car. When the gasket's are blown on the heads, is it worth upgrading the whole engine? how much of the engine would I have to get changed to get a "0" miles engine in there. The whole thing, or up untill the heads?

 

I'm assuming you blew the head gaskets in your Camaro (or think you did). A blown head gasket is easily identified by a mixture of oil and water that can be seen as a milkshake consistency on the oil dipstick or as a milky froth in the radiator.

Anyhow, here's how the engine rebuid works. If you want a "zero" mileage engine as you put it, you need a total rebuild to include new pistons, bearings, etc, etc. Replacing the head gaskets will not give a "zero mileage" engine, as the pistons, cam, main bearings, etc are untouched.

It sounds like you're not really mechanically inclined, which is ok. If the car really has blown head gaskets, it probably has warped heads to go with it from heat conduction. The heads will need to be milled to "true" the joining surface with the block at a minimum. The intake, heads, exhaust manifold, and a host of bolt-on parts will have to be removed to complete the work. If the engine is high mileage and you have the $$, best bet is to rebuild the entire engine. If you're near broke, then "truing" the deck and heads, replacing the head gaskets and head bolts will "fix" the problem. It will still cost quite a bit of money if you have this work done for you ($1000 minimum in Texas).

Good luck whatever you choose.

Schantin
2002 Camaro Z28 M6

 

...sweet jesus, that hurts, actually something is messed up, my low oil light keeps going on and my antifreeze is nice and oily. So which means somewhere somehow something's messed up. There is this shop selling LS1 core engines, no hoses or computer (use old) and they are charging like $1500 for it. The car still runs but the oil mixture is what sucks..... Yeah, I really appreciate the answer though. It gives me a lot to think about.

 

Yep, sorry to be the bearer of bad news. That info does hurt. In 2001 I roasted the head gaskets on a Crown Victoria I had just purchased. Took all summer to fix/ rebuild that engine. So....I feel for you.

If you have "oily fluid" in the radiator, it sounds like one or both head gaskets are blown.

Schantin
2002 Camaro Z28 M6

 

Check the heads and block to make sure they're straight and resurface/replace as needed. Add whatever performance parts you can afford and get it back on the road where it belongs. As long as you have not been driving for awhile with milky oil(oil in coolant is ok, just flush completly before finished) then there shouldn't be much if any additional wear on the motor.

I would only replace the whole motor if you have a high milage motor that is already getting worn out(not because of the head gaskets). Or if you have been driving too long with contaminated oil.

If you do replace the motor make sure its rebuilt by a reputable company. $1500 sounds cheap for a complete rebuilt LS1 motor. If its used then you already have a used motor, just fix what you have. Ask around at reliable shops what motors they reccomend or where they have them rebuilt. Just because it has a 100,000mi warranty doesn't make it a good motor. Keep the car on the road with a good motor, not in the shop under warranty. The reason I say this is because the shop I work at tried installing some 100k mi warranty motors for a year. 4 of the 8 came back with probmlems due to poor rebuild. Since we changed to a more expensive rebilt motor with only 36k mi warranty but in 4 years and 30+ installs have had only 1 problem.