I finally got someone that is going to do the head gasket job. Is $1200 labor good? They work on american sports cars so I think they can handle an LT1. I know someone in my town that will resurface the heads for $150 including cleaning them and inspecting them.

Question is the car sat for 9 months with 93 octane should I have the shop drain it or is it easy for me to do?? Are the injectors clogged? There was some coolant sitting in the fresh mobile one oil will that rust any internals? There are no leaks from the car sitting for 8 months!!


What parts do I need to do a good job?. If someone wants to take there time to list what I need it would mean a lot. I want to do this right! I will be buying the parts and having them install it.

TO ALL YOU GUYS ON HERE: You were right my old mechanic sucks. He started the job and gave up. His price was $800 and gave him $280 up front and then he pushed the car out of the bay! He got into coke real bad and might be loosing his business. I would love to sue but I don't care. I hope I get my $280 back even though he just pulled the y pipe and cat.

 

the water may have caused some rust

 

There is a small chance I may leave it in my warm garage over the winter. Will that make things worse for the car or is it too late since it sat for 9 months.

if I leave it in the garage in my house I will make sure I remove the gas and change all fluids. If I wait till Spring I can afford better parts and maybe even a port job.

What is the worst thing that could happen if it sits through the winter? Ruin the fuel pump or clog up the injectors? Will the seals dry rot?

If you can answer these questions quick it would mean a lot. Basically what would you guys do?

 

I wouldn't loose any sleep over it, my car sat for over a year waiting to be worked on, I started it and drove it on the trailer. It smelled a little funny but ran fine with a blown head gasket and more than a year old gas. I did dump about 8 gallons of fresh gas in it to mix with the old gas before we fired the new engine.

 

my car sat with 87 octane for about 11 months. Didnt seem to cause any problems

 

Thanks guys for the advice. I was going to sell the car the way it is then buy a street bike. But everybody doesn't want me want to buy another bike. I have a depression problem once in a while where I would ride my ZX9R drunk. I was young and stupid and learned my lesson. I hit a car on the highway........ I had a dream that I had another bike and I died. As long as I have the camaro I won't have a bike. I lost a good girl after 5 years (engaged). She dumped me 3 days before christmas and ended up doing low end modeling in Cali. It's been a tough year and the Camaro seems to cheer me up.

 

A Camaro is your friend Seriously, look up the meaning of the word if you havn't Glad to hear your wanting to proceed and get suggestions. Hope it goes well for you. We are here to help. My Z28 sat for about a year before I got it. They said it was locked up, and I bought it from a shop...... I had to do a few things to it, but it was definately NOT locked up, got it to start by cleaning battery cable ends real good and cutting the rubber off the terminal ends. Other than a stuck relief valve in the oil pump,(which wasnt too hard to change) all I need to do to make it a driver is an Opti. It'll still roast both tires on command. Point is, It'll be worth it, its not always as bad as it seems. And after sitting for a year+ they don't usually need a whole lot to be back on the road. I have no idea how old the gas was in mine, but it ran ok on it with a bad opti. Better with fresh gas and dry weather lol. Once you get bit by these cars, the effects are long lasting and you crave more.

If your going to store the car before fixing it, I would drain the oil and antifreeze out of it, all of both. Put some cheap oil in it and run it for a little bit if it will run, and change the oil again before putting it up, and not put any water/antifreeze in it at all. There are drains on the side of the block for the water passages.

$1200 seems a little high, but it also depends on your location, the quality of the work, how quickly the get it done, etc. I do all my own work and have a small shop, I'm fairly cheap I guess, I have tons of return customers that usually tip on top of the job. :P I'd probably do the job for around $650, but it also depends on what else needs done once in there to see the damage. That includes having the heads cleaned/checked/milled if needed, etc though also.

 

The old mechanic took some of the parts off and gave up. I am having someone else do it. One guy said it takes 16 hrs. I doubt that. I don't have traction control and GM says to take every part of the intake which you don't have to.

I will be buying new lifters since the old crappy mechanic and I heard the light ticking from the lifters.


What are good stock lifters? Auto zone or go through GM? Comp cams?

 

For 1200 you better be putting on some LE heads lol. That seems really high. Have you tried to post up on the forums? I'm sure someone would come out and work on it for a lot less than that man.

 

It took me about a month to do the heads/cam on my camaro and I am far from a mechanic! Just an hour/2 here and there and I was done. I did have an extra bolt left over and tried to keep everything organized in my garage. If you have time learn to do it yourself, buy the Hanes manual or some other manual and go at it. It will get you closer to your Camaro. I've got blood, sweat and tears in that thing. If you don't have tools, Sears always has sales on their mechanic's tool sets. I "borrowed" my dad's tool set though, still in my garage :P.

My other car sat outside in the heat/cold for 3+ years without running it at all. Bought a new battery and couple gallons of fresh gas and it started right up to get it onto a tow truck (moving unregistered car sucks).

 

12 hundo seems a little high- but that is just me. Get yourself a decent manual and some friends willing to work and a decent tool set. You will save yourself a bunch of money and learn some things along the way.

 

having a shop do it for $1200 is a good deal for both head gaskets. It used to cost damn near that for one on a FWD turd...I think if you don't know how to work on the car, it's a good deal....only problem is it's a stock head....lol