Engine has one day to live. What to do?!?
 

My engine's bearing is blown along with a worn crankshaft not to mention a bad oil pump....essentially a dead engine the mechanic says. :rolleyes:

Opinions on what to do with a dead engine? How much for a rebuilt engine? How much for a used? How about from a junkyard?

The thing was running rough for quite some time then I replaced the wires, plugs and ignition coil and it was a beast and ran great for four days until it went bad again.

I am trying to sell it too by the way...so this was bad timing. I just want to replace it with a running engine and sell the thing.

Thanks.

dont drive it any more and rebuild it, that way you can still re-use some of your parts.

It's always cheaper to build a motor if it hasn't suffered catastrophic failure. You should be able to find a used motor for between 600 and 1000.

If you're smart, pull it and fix it.

If you're not, or loaded with money, see how hard you can run it before she blows a hole in the side of it.

Thanks for the input. The mechanic is quoting $1800 for a rebuilt motor and $1100 for labor. Does that sound reasonable? Should I go to a junk yard and get an LT1 for $800 or so? I assume there would be no problem or extra labor cost in swapping my hotcam, rockers, etc. and other mods from the old engine to add to the rebuilt one, right?

LSx swap it.......

Or go cheap and find a u pull it LT1...

That's what I would do,
Ivan

I see the LT1's go for less and less every year. If you put $2800 into a new engine you would be putting a lot of money in and probably not get it all back. I saw one on Ebay go for $4800 and it was in nice shape with below average miles. I would be sure the engine is really shot and needs a complete rebuild before dumping good money after bad. Does anyone know what the car is worth with a bad motor? Maybe someone wants it to do a LS1 swap or put in a racing motor. Let them spend there money and you walk with some cash.

How much should I pay a mechanic for install labor? He is quoting me 1100.

Sounds reasonable. Some shops charge that for plugs and wires so it sounds very good to me.

Wow, I didn't know you could get a LT1 rebuilt that cheap.

Yeah, went back today and he said more like 1500.

So with installation I am going to have to pay aroun 2700 for a rebuilt engine. The problem is that swapping my cam, rockers, lifters, valves, etc. will cost more. Shouldn't it be easy to swap a cam from an engine after it has already been taken out?

I am going to sell the car but want to sell it with the better parts.

sell the car and parts seperate. You will get lots more.

Stock and mildly built cars go for roughly the same.


I would put a different motor in it, wherever you can find on the cheapest and return the car to stock. Sell the mods on the FS section and ebay, far and away the least costly/ most profitable option.;)

you can probably pick up a used LT1 very cheap
when I did my 3.4L - LT1 swap I picked up a wrecked 97 Z28 from just north of Pittsburgh for $1000 and it was $230 to flat bed it back to my home town.
The engine was extremely strong running, got a decent tranny, rear end, all the accessories, computer and most of the wiring harness (had to have a few spots custom fabbed) even got to use the straight pipes that were on it

not bad for $1000

If you can't do the work yourself you may want to let the car go as is. Or you will end up with more money in it that its worth.