Time for a rebuild :(
 

Well while changing my plugs and wires I noticed I can pull the crank in and out quite a ways(inches), and today its "cutting out" like no tomarrow between 1500-2000 rpm and its knocking to.

How much does it cost to rebuild an lt1 back to basicly stock (for daily driving) if im paying someone else to do it. Sigh this sucks, gotta do it though.

Depends, are you going to pull the motor or have a shop do the whole thing?

I think we are going to pull the motor. Have shop do rest, we may buy the rebuild kit.

Do you have a shop that you can trust? If you do you might want them to help pick the parts. They prefer that over bringing your own and that way if they purchase the parts they make a few bucks off of that which makes them happy. And if they help pick the parts, if somethings not quite right, it falls on them and not you.

I asume we can trust them, I just need a ball park estimate.

For a fully forged bottom end figure about $4-5K for parts and assembly.

-B

^^^^Need stock rebuild thanks.

IMO just buy a low milage used one.
But stock rebuild I know I had $800 in labor for mine plus reconditioning of the rods and crank plus new bearings, pistons, etc. Im figuring you can do it for around $1500

I just rebuilt mine for 2200. But I spun a rod bearing so there was some machine work required as well. So I'd say probably around 1500 to 2k.
If your buying the rebuild kit and pulling the motor yourself maybe cheaper. I had them pull it and they got the parts.

Ok thanks guys thats cheaper than I thought even with some machine work.

If that kind of price doesn't bother you, then why not call VRE and see if they can put together some type of cheap shortblock for you?

You can get a budget 355 build from VRE for a tad over 2 i believe. Actually, around 2500 it seems.

www.victoryracingengines.com

I forgot all about vre, ill take a look at some of there prices.

Building a short block is not exactly hard nor is it rocket science. If you have the ability to take out the engine you can build a stock shortblock for your car. I would get a core shortblock somewhere that is in reasonable condition. If the parts check out and the bores are within spec just have the stock parts machined and slap it back together with new bearings. It's cheap and will be reliable and not take that much time to do.

If the crankshaft has noticable front-to-back movement, the thrust surface of the crank or the bearing has been compromised. Significant movement isn't common, even on high mileage motors. I'd be very careful about using that crank until a reputable crank grinder has addressed this issue. Also, try to determine what caused the thrust problem in the first place. If there is an alignment problem with the converter or the clutch (depending on which trans you have) it will do the same thing to a new crank very quickly.

Good luck.