Yeah, so my car has been having major issues lately. I took it in to Pep Boys for a diagnostic and they said it seemed to be an issue in the valve train, but they recommend getting a new engine since that is a sign that the engine is in rough shape, and a head job would most likely be very expensive and in the end not worth it. So, I discussed it with my pop and he's gonna be fronting me the money for the engine.

Talking with a gentleman who worked at Pep Boys, he told me he would be able to get me a brand new engine for $1600. However Pep Boys wanted to charge me $4500 for the labor! I was like, "Wait is the engine included in that estimate or something?" He said no, and printed out a sheet of all the cost. Basically the labor was about $3500, there was another like hundred bucks in misc. parts like spark plugs, and another like $500 for the warranty. WTF IS THAT?! My dad rebuilds boat engines all the time and he's never charged anyone $500 for a warranty. And that's a rebuild, which means it's more likely to go than a brand new engine. So, I paid the bill for the diagnostic and walked away with a good chuckle.

I then called my mechanic and he said he would swap out the engine for $550. So, now I'm basically going to shop around for engines and see who offers the best price. Meanwhile, I have about $700 worth of parts for a head job sitting at home, so if anyone wants some parts for a good deal and wants to fund a fellow f-body owner getting a new engine, let me know and I'll hook you up. They're mostly good stuff like Beehive springs, Comp Cam Magnum roller rockers, and a custom grind billet cam.

Well, thanks for reading, and I'll keep you guys posted with how it goes.

 

I have almost everything needed for the head and cam job. Cam is a custom grind billet cam 226/234. Only thing missing for the head job, I believe are pushrods, and lifters (which I have LS7 lifters way anyways), and the misc. parts like the timing set and gaskets and stuff. So, check out my for sale post if you're interested. Thanks.

 

You are actually basing your decision on advice from "Pep Boys"..... you can't be serious.

 

I woukdnt let pepboys change the wipers on my fbody. Get it to a REAL mechanic and see what they say. How many miles are on your car? What problems are you exactly having?

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I would highly advise more opinions (preferably not from chain stores that are notorious for recommending unneeded work).

 

My mechanic recommended the same thing a while back. But I figured she would hold up. Had pretty bad lifter and valve noise. Now, it's got a real bad backfire and loss of power, and as it warms up it gets worse and worse (shooting out flames and puffs of black smoke) then eventually it quits out. It's not even driveable anymore. While it's still cold you can get it up to speed with some difficulty and lots of backfiring, but once it warms up, she starts puffing and popping like crazy and it gets harder and harder to take off. Then eventually she just doesn't want to go anymore and just quits. Honest, I had planned on rebuilding the engine a while back, and had gotten most of the stuff for the head and cam job. But say I spent the money and have the heads removed, reassembled, and put back on, then the bottom end can't handle the compression and gives in. Or I remove the heads and find a busted piston or something. Honestly, it'd be lighter on the wallet to just put in a new engine and forget about it. With 3k oil changes and not beating on it, that thing should stay pristine for a good while longer.

 

Honestly before you go through with all of this you should take it to a good mechanic and have them do a compression and leak down test on the cylinders to be sure that's where the problem lies. The fact that the engine runs progressively worse as it heats up points to other issues.

 

Yeah, but why spend all this time, money, and effort fixing a bunch of little issues which will continue to rising up over time, when I can just spend a bit more and have a fresh engine to work with? Then I won't have to worry about the internals at all. With proper maintenance, it will last me forever. Then I'll get a fresh paint job and wheels and tires in the summer and slowly start working on the interior. By the end of the year, it should be like a brand new car.

 

Shoulda told the guy you'd give him the car and $1000 for payment to swap in the new motor

 

I would say 1400 to 1800 labor should be close to labor depending on where u are at. 500 for extended warranty sounds reasonable depending on where u are at. Golen makes good turn key engines or look at a jasper. 3year 100k mile warranty. We have done alot of jaspers and are great for reliability. pep "BOYS". not mechanics

 

ummm probably because little issues are the ones that can be the most important. An engine swap (why not a rebuild since your dad rebuilds motors for a living?) won't be worth squat if you put your bad opti back on

 

Yeah, but after I will no that the engine will not be the problem for sure, so I can just replace the little parts that break down, like the opti. And yeah, if I had a garage or backyard, me and my pop would take the engine out and do a full rebuild. However I live in a apartment complex where they already don't like us doing oil changes, so that's not an option. He's rebuilt 350 Chevy smallblocks before.

 

Opti swap time!!

 

By the way there is a OPTI check at the beginning of these problem lists which is very good.

 

Ha those aren't cheap IMO........Before I had a scanner I had Advance run a DTC scan on my car and it came back left bank lean.....They said I need a new MAF sensor.....Turned out to be a leaking exhaust manifold gasket which was only about 13 dollars for both gaskets and then several hours and broken knuckles to replace....If money isn't much of a big deal, or are looking at keeping....Why not opt for an ls conversion?