MustangEater82

iTrader: (1)

Alright guys, might have to accelerate my plans.


My DD was down, and I was driving my 1985 z28 with LG4 and 5-speed alot.


Either way, seems like I have been getting a little bit of valve noise. I intend to investigate it more, but I had planned to upgrade the engine eventually anyways.


I want to stick to a crate motor, instead of a build. I like the reliability of a crate, and will go later on into upgrading to make it faster.(head/cam swap)

My current eventual goal is 400 hp, and a T56.


Right now I am on a budget, and if my engine is not worth fixing I want to make the swap over. I kind of want to do ALOT of new parts as my car is mostly original, and not trusting alot of 27 year old stuff.


My plan was a GM crate...
http://sdparts.com/details/gm-goodwr...gines/10067353

I want to do convert to do a single belt conversion. (I want to keep AC, but willing to leave it blank for now) Off hand 4.3L serpentine setups should work too, if I can't find a 350s.

Any good tips on a decent fuel pump?

Any tips on a decent "affordable" dizzy?

Also looking to get a decent aftermarket intake manifold, but a key is I want to keep the stock hood.

What about a good starter?

Alternator?

How about the swap needed for powersteering?

Decent set of headers?




I am researching myself some just trying to get an idea of what others are doing as well.

Z28ricer

iTrader: (2)

Should be able to get a complete 88-92 serpentine setup cheap.

Why not a slightly newer one with 1 piece rms ?

For the extra $500, one of the vortec crate engines would be well worth the extra expense.

Headers see about dyno don's

Intake manifold for the vortec engines : http://www.summitracing.com/parts/NAL-12496820/

Alternator you should look into the serpentine caprice ones, I believe they are around 130-140A and go into the thirdgen serp bracket.

Distributor you should just reuse yours, put a good cap kit and coil on it.

MustangEater82

iTrader: (1)

I am considering it, but I am also on a budget. No plans of a engine upgrade for awhile. I have a kid on the way and wife isn't working now towards the end of her pregnancy.

Z28ricer

iTrader: (2)

If you are on a budget then a crate engine is a terrible idea.

That same vortec engine at the junkyard for $200, $500 tops in rebuilding stuff to rebuild it yourself including having the heads rebuilt and getting the block honed.

$700 easily for the $2k engine.

Marine_Marauder

I was in the same boat after my last deployment. I just recently got a decent career that pays me enough to do what I want to do with my toys, and still handle the mortgage and the bills.

You may not want to hear my advice, but I'm going to give it anyways.

Divert every penny you make to the wife and kid, ignore the car until the cash flow picks up. For five long years I did absolutely nothing to my cars and it was worth it. It was hard enough keeping up with the wife and kids when I was on limited income, (They are DAMN expensive) and I could have gotten myself into A LOT of trouble at the bank. I barely made it through.

If this is your first, then you haven't even experienced the chemical imbalances that will lead you and wifey to squabble over every single penny, and every moment of attention you pay to anything other than her and the baby.

It sucks to hear that, I know, but that's the best advice I can give.

MustangEater82

iTrader: (1)

Its our 2nd kid.


The car isn;t my highest priority don't worry, it was actually purchased just before we found out she was pregnant again. I have a good job, she usually has a good job, just was an unusual situation of moving from working contract to direct witht he schools, so there was a 3 month wait in schools, and interviews popped up again with her showing..

And well being 6 months pregnant isn't exactly helping in the interviews.


I have a beater DD, I bought for $2k, its a decent car, but still will have its problems. The idea of the 85 was a fun project car and a backup to the DD. Wife has a good car. We were actually considering getting a new car and I get my wife's car back. Plan was to evaluate that idea in November.


As for building an engine, I have looked into it numerous times, I want new.. I have looked into rebuilds and machine work I woudl want done, cost wise its not much different in cost ,and I put some faith in machine shops work vs GM.

Z28ricer

iTrader: (2)

You shouldnt have to really do anything if you bother to get a good rebuildable engine, machine work wise other than have the block honed, decked if you really want to go overboard. This really should cost you half or better than the crate equivalent.

I dont know how much faith you have in engines that are likely assembled in mexico, but personally i'd much rather build one myself, I know the tolerances would be far better.

Marine_Marauder

Well good to go then. I'm not a big fan of building L98's. Max realistic potential naturally aspirated is 400-425 RWHP. Anything more radical would severely limit the life of the engine and it would be a pain in the a** to drive if your DD went down. I never saw one last for long that was pushed that far anyway.

If you can get comparable power with a warranty with better potential reliability, then go with the crate motor. The last thing you want is more headaches. At least that's what I would look at.

Marine_Marauder

Not everybody has the time or skills to build a motor like we do. I see where you are coming from, but If he doesn't know what he's doing, he's better off not trying and wasting the money if he fails.

MustangEater82

iTrader: (1)

I can rebuild an engine, I actually worked in an engine repair station for recip aircraft engines, but I have not rebuilt a car engine, other then pull heads, and it wasn't a sbc. I don't have alot of the tooling I'd personally want to do the job. I have torque wrenches, and most hand tools. I'd still have to go to a machine shop.

I'd want at least a good set of mics, t-gauges and maybe ball guages. I also would want alot of the parts carbon stripped so i could inspect them. Also time is more of an issue for me.

Alot of the junkyard engines are really high mileage and old. If I was going into the rebuild route I would look more into the 5.3, 6.0 route. But that gets expensive once you start getting into dealing with converting over to fuel injection, and also requires a transmission swap.