Well theres oil in the radiator and theres water in the oil pan and theres a click coming from the drivers side of the motor and theres white smoke coming out of the driver side exaust. Heres the deal this motor was supposedly reabuilt 5k miles ago with a total of 90k on the car. Should I go with a brand new motor or get this one rebuilt? I'm looking to spend as little as possible.

 

If you are just looking to get it back on the road I would go with another used motor from a junkyard or something. If you plan on modding the car at any point I would say rebuild it and put some forged rods and pistons in there.

 

whats that gonna cost me? also how long would it take?

 

Depending which route you want to choose would depend how long it would take and how much cash you have available. A simple motor swap would take a day if you did it yourself and are very knowledgable. On the rebuild, it just depends if you did the rebuild or if someone else did. There is a company that charges around 2500 for a build shortblock. This includes all forged components. Just use the search feature.

 

Say I had 2 grand?

 

are you pulling the motor yourself or having someone else do it? if you do it your self 2 grand should cover your actual rebuild but if someone else does the install that would be some serious money and the quality of work might not be there. also you might be able to find a GM LT1 crate motor for around 2 grand and comes with a warranty of like 3 years or 60k if installed by a company and 1 year or 12k if installed by yourself, something of that nature.........since we are on the subject of LT1s and all can someone explain just a little more in deapth to me on what my performance shift button in my 94 formula does in comparison to a shift kit, also how would the button work with an aftermarket shift kit?

 

Well from the sound of it you're current motor is junk...The one thing that has me worried the most is coolant displaces water, which means you're bearings are probably done for, it doesn't take much to do so. If you feel competent enough to under take the exercise you could probably rebuild your motor for about $2K if you do ALL the labor aside from machine work. Or I could do it for that price without a problem, but that would mean the car needs to be near Chicago, and you'd need the garage. But for $2K you could probably get away with a stock rebuild using as many stock parts as possible. You'd need new freeze plug, bearings, rings, and an oil pump. All the Gaskets, adn the machine shop to install new cam bearings, hot tank, and a hone, to make sure the cylinders will mate to the rings. That is assuming that the block isn't tapered, or have a huge ridge on it, of course....Just some food for thought.

Chris