Been a long time since I posted. My 1994 Z28 has been sitting since May with a blown engine (father did it, don't ask for the story, it's long and I'd rather forget it). Now I need to decide what route to go for rebuilding then engine. Rest of the car is fine, just the engine is the problem.

Now, I'd like have her up and running again without too much time and extra cost. My father is footing the bill for the engine since he blew it, so I've got 2 routes.

1) Get a rebuilt LT1 and throw it in. Very quick, about $1000 (give or take), and simplest option. Then I can either sell the old engine or save it and begin some type of build-up on it. I can take as long as I want and I have my Camaro running again.

2) Take the money and use it to rebuild the blown engine into a stroker/supercharge/nitrous/whatever. This will take longer, but will end up being a much more powerful engine than a lightly modded LT1 (the current state of the blown motor). I'll be doing the work myself so no need to worry about paying anyone to do it. Of course, this means I might not get done as quickly as possible, since I have other stuff to do beside just work on the car.

Opinions? Ideas? Please post them, I'm trying to get a final decision for what to do at this point before I get started buying things.

 

Anyone? Still trying to decide what to do.

 

It all depends on if you have a daily driver? If you do then I would build the motor the right way once and call it good. If not then go with option 1.

 

Build a nice strong bottom end.

On mine I'm going with a Callies Dragonslayer crank, Howard's PM rods and a Mahle Pro-Pack piston/pin/ring kit.

Spend the money to build it right. That means that you want it line bored, honed with torque plates, the reciprocating assy balanced and attention paid to the oiling system. Take a little time with the block at your place and smooth out the lifter valley for drainback. I've actually seen the vally polished to a mirror-like finish, although just smoothing it out nicely will do.


You can actually run a completely stock top end on top of a shortblock like that. Not that you'd want to, but the point is that doing the block right NOW will give you flexibility later on and preserve the widest possible range of options.

 

take it to someone who knows what they are doing if u rebuild it.. If u buy it used u have to worry about if its already broke or worn...

dont skimp on the rebuild and make damn sure that person knows what he or she is doing..

 

Since the car has been down since May, I will assume that this isn't your only car. That being the case I wouldn't spend the time or money on stock re-build.

Figure out what your budget looks like, and then look at your overall performance goals and determine the best way to reach them.

 

Thanks for the responses. I probably should have added in that I do have another car that I'm currently driving, so there isn't a worry about getting it done right away. I probably won't be able to start on it for a few months still at least (currently stored in a garage until I can start).

Budget-wise would probably be between $1500-$3000. The current block should still be ok, but I still plan on having it sonic checked just to be sure. I also plan on doing most of the work myself, aside from the big stuff that I can't do in my own garage.