Hello,


About a year ago my 94 Z28 was running rough utnil the head gasket blew. Now it needs a new engine. The car has 152,000 miles on it. I was hoping that someone would be able to help advise me on what I should look for in a mechanic to do the swap and where I should look to get a good deal on an engine, or long block. I don't want to spend too much money on this, but at the same time I want to make sure things get done right so that I have a reliable car again.

Thank you,


Joel Bondorowsky

 

Where are you from?

 

I am from Orlando, Florida

 

Well, you're not that far from Daytona (as in Daytona 500). You are right on when it comes to finding a "good" mechanic. The number one thing you must consider is the experience in dealing with Lt1s and the F-Body.

Most mechanics, in my experience, do not like working on them and that is understandable. If you take it to a shop where there is lots of overhead and they thrive on turnover rather than customer satisfaction, you never know what they did to the car until its too late.

The most important thing is communication between you and the mechanic. If they give you alot of lip service without telling you what they are going to do and explaining what and why along the way then run as fast as you can.

You might want to talk to someone like CNC heads in Panellis Park Florida, they might be able to give you some information about where to pick up an engine and maybe the name of a "good" mechanic.

But I cannot emphasize this enough: you need to find someone who is experienced and will communicate with you AND stand behind their work.
Just because they say they know everything and joke around with you, doesn't mean that they will give you the time of day when the job is done. JMHO.

 

This shop near Orlando said they would do the work for $1300 in labor, and I would supply a long block.

http://www.realpagessites.com/russellautomotive/

I have little experiance dealing with mechanics since I used to do all the work on the car myself, but I don't have the time or resources to do an engine swap on my own.

I see that they had been in business for a while, and are members of the BBB, if that means anything. Does $1300 for labor seem like a decent price? Also, should I trust these guys?

 

Again: They say they will do the work and for a specified price, but do they have experience with the Lt1 F Body?

If they haven't worked on the F Body then you might get a really big surprise when they tell you its going to cost you 2 grand because of the trouble they had. And when they have the engine out already you are SOL if you change your mind about them doing the work.

As far as supplying the engine, you need to decide what you want and how much you want to pay. You might want to check out Sallee Chevrolet in Oregon. They have lots of GM replacement options, including an LT4.

It's simply a matter of them drop shipping the engine to your mechanic after the purchase. I bought a 4-bolt main short block from them and it was sitting at my mechanics shop in a couple of days. (Incidently that particular mechanic experience (s) is why I advise you to be wise in your selection: I believe that I am out around 8 grand for the lousy work and no warranty for their work.JMHO

 

I really appreciate the advice. I was hoping to spend $1300 which is what they estimated the price to be. I will call them and see what kind of experiance they have with the f-body. I am also not looking to improve the car any, just replace the engine with an original so that it could be a reliable daily driver again. I am hoping to find a long block for about $1500.