i'll tell you what....if you have had a high mileage z28 and you rebuilt the motor, along with all the necessary changes, then i'll listen to you....then we'll compare notes.

but, as i said, i JUST have gone THROUGH building a 355, and i know EXACTLY what all is involved...like skaradom said, if u want it to be done right, i can guarantee you that it'll be much more than $3XXX.

when you're building a high power motor, the motor isnt the ONLY thing that you have to worry about. matters of BRAKES, SUSPENSION, ACCESSORIES, TRANSMISSION, TC, FUEL delivery, TIRES, PROGRAMMING, HARMONIC BALANCING....and the list goes on....all of these become important.

as i said before, i just went through building a motor...and because of my mistakes, i lost about $2k...

 

amen!!

 

sooo rage exactly how much did it cost you....... because when i finally save up enough money to get my engine like i want it it will be a high mileage car.

 

remember, you cant use your OLD shyt on a brand new motor....
if reliability is what you want, then you'll need:

new/rebuilt tranny
new rear end
shocks
upgrade for your brake system
new optispark
new waterpump
new starter
new alternator
new harmonic balancer
new fuel pump
new 02 sensors
new radiator (do u really wanna use ur old one on a fresh motor?)
suspension upgrades...with that much power, you'll need this...if u wanna live.
spark plugs
wires
hardened push rods
rockers
headers....you'll NEED headers.
machine work
head work (assuming u dont buy new ones)
you'll need a new battery
tyrods...yeah, they're worn out


THE LIST GOES ON!!! the point is that these things are parts that most ppl dont think about...but THEY MUST BE REPLACED...and replacing costs LOTS of money.

and unless you have lots of experience with lt1's (and no, driving one doesnt count)...then dont try to do it yourself...

LABOR COST-----whole lot of money!

and assuming you have enough money when you're car is ready...you have to get it tuned...dyno-tuning ? MORE MONEY!!

i didnt mention alot of other costs...so dont think that's all.

if you're lucky, you'll be done with the car if you spend about $8000.

i've spent about $14000 on mine...but i made some mistakes on the way, and i also spent some money on things u probably wouldnt.

the moral of this long letter? HAVE LOTS OF MONEY!!


these cars will break your heart...and your wallet.

 

$3,500 parts+labor doesn't include anything other than just rebuilding the motor... I expected it to be more in the $5-$6,000 range, but this shop says they can do it. They aren't some hole in the wall ****ty shop, the day I went there they had several projects going, including, oddly enough, an LT1 rebuild.

I'll call them up tomorrow and get some more details.

Does not, as far as I know, include anything higher performance. I was surprised to hear that they would give me low comp pistons/cam.. I'm just looking to revitalize the engine and get it running like the day it rolled off the showroom floor. Other parts which aren't associated with the basic operation of the engine (exhaust) I'm not so worried about, because I will replace those when I have money devoted to getting the best parts I can.

 

uhm....oooookay. good luck to ya.

 

First off- you've got to pay to play.

I just blew a headgasket, got an LT4 HOTcam kit for $485, homeported heads, labor to machine the heads were $300, valves were $180, gaskets fluids and other items were about $200.

You can see how much it adds up, and I didn't touch anything other than the top end.

Plus you have to look at how much your time is worth, because it's gonna take up a lot. You can do the top end stuff, but you can't do machine work(at least I suppose you can't). Also might want to leave assembly of the motor to a pro if you've never done it before.

LT1 is a cheap way to go if you want to make some power. But if you want to go forced induction, especially on a car that was not originally designed for it, get ready to pay. The stock LT1 is not known for holding boost, so you'll need some forged parts, and a well thought out setup.

Good luck to you.
John

 

Does anyone make a high-strength head gasket, or am I safe just going with the OE part?

HKS/other high performance manufacturers make metal gaskets for imports... but the mopar gasket on my car is supposedly good to 30psi... so i didn't bother..

 

i havent had any driveability problems with mine (modded and un-modded). be prepared for optispark problems though. that is the worst part of the LT1 IMO.

 

Ive had two and plenty of buddys have owned LT1's...there reliable if you take care of em

 

i'm not rich enough to buy the cheap stuff... suit yourself.

with that said, you dont need billet bottom end for a 400rwhp motor. then again- play like that yorkie guy did with the dirt cheapest crap he could find ($130 crank ) and your motor will be knocking too

 

Getting the nicer optispark will fix this problem?

What exactly IS optispark? What does it do?

ignition related I'm assuming?

 

I live in Oakland If your still lookin for a z, i have a 95 z with a bad rear end $3500 o.b.o.

Motor and tranny are good
body in good shape

 

check your hotmail account, I'm interested

 

the optispark is the distributor