I picked up a '79 w/a shot motor,trans seemed ok, I thought I'd tear the heads off a look around, got as far as the valve covers and saw so much sludge I figured I might as well go crate, so working on the removal,ouch,anyway surfing the net I came up with Five Star engine in Glendale,AZ. For $2000 delivered you get a 350/325, can't find anything bad about the outfit, has anyone here?

 

I'm not familiar with them. How's the warranty on that crate motor?

 

You could rebuild it yourself for much less.

 

... or
GM P/N 12499529 350/290 crate is Brand New Not Rebuilt ... available locally at any USA GM dealer for under $2K and has good GM warranty. FYI .. that motor is very close cousin to mid-seventies L82.

-- or --

GM P/N 10067353 350/250 crate is also Brand New Not Rebuilt ... But ... has an even Longer GM Warranty than above ... also available at any USA GM dealer for under $1700. This motor very close cousin to seventies L48.

 

IF you buy that motor, pull the oil pan, and re-torque all the main and rod cap bolts. I would also suggest readjusting the rockers, as it seems they are not adjusted properly and the motor is not run to check everything.

 

I pulled the motor today, ya'll have a good point with those GM engines, I'll have to call on those, living in soCal I have smog laws so I think I will want to reuse my exhaust manifolds with all that crap hanging on them, intake is EGR and those GM's don't appear to include, anyway I 'll research,
five star warranty is 1yr/12k. Would you guys give up the HP for a longer warranty?

 

GM has many performance levels to choose from. Look at all of them first.
If you have a problem with the GM motor you simply go to the dealer for satisfaction. If that fails you take him to court.
The Five Star motor you will have to travel to Glendale and hire a lawyer from Arizona.
Your call.

 

To give information out like this on a warranty engine is plain ignorant.
Obviously you have never been to an engine assembly plant. To know first hand what is done in the manufacturing process. And yes some of the motors are tested.

 

Hi Spooky, finally see someone from louisiana.

 

Jackson: on that motor equal to the L82, what the HP rating on that? it's got a pretty nice lope in it huh? i'm thinking about dumping the cfi and going with a crate motor.

 

I have not been in the engine plant, but I have purchased THREE GM crate motors over the last ten years. The first one started up with some knocking. The mechanic, at the behest of GM via the warranty work, checked, and NONE of the main caps were torqued properly. On top of that, it didn't look like it had been run much if at all, and some of the rockers were too tight and some were too light.

Needless to say, the next two I bought I had the same mechanic check the same things and all needed adjustment on all motors.

I wouldn't call that ignorant...I would say I learned a lesson from the first motor to check these things before driving away with a new crate motor.

 

well sludge in and of itself is bad, have you done any other testing?

not to talk you out of a crate motor, but you really should verify what ya got, meaning how does it run

compression test
vacuum test
does it smoke
good oil pressure
how do the plugs look
change the oil and how does the old oil look?
etc

details my man details

half the fun can be doing your own work

cheers


tim

 

I've experienced the same on two crate motors 1 GM and 1 non-GM - since neither use any form of sealant on the oil pan you can remove it and check torque without leaving any clue as to your checking.

Besides, the warantees arent the greatest anyway and I'm sure as hell not going to wait for a motor to grenade and then wait for the kind folks at my nearest GM dealer to replace the thing, after of course they dissassemble it to see if they are responsible in the first place.

And I venture to say that engine testing amounts to picking one or two random motors off the line and filling with fluid and firing it up.. it doesn include tuning or any significant engine pulls..as such unless the rods bolts were significantly loose such as test finds nothing.

to the OP:
All that aside the GM crate motors are good deals, I personally would build one myself but I enjoy that sort of thing, if you want that car on the road soon then a crate is probably your best bet. I concur with others who have advised keep your engine source as close as possible to home just to avoid any complications. If you are in soCal keep in mind that there are almost no smog legal crate motors from GM. Most use Vortech heads which have no heat crossover and thus you will not have a functional EGR. Of course you could buy a ZZx (is it 3 or 4 now?) shortblock and top it off with Edelbrock aluminums or some other iron head with heat crossover. If buying a crate motor from a vendor other than GM - make sure that the heads have the heat crossover.

 

fauxrs2, set me back in my chair on the vortec head egr info, I found a set this morn and almost called on them, so now here I set again. scared to change the exhaust manifolds cause all the crap hanging on them,scared to change intake same reason. Would it be worth boring the block on this '79? using What for heads? that would allow me to keep my current manifolds and develop closer to 250+hp, legal is #1, hp is #1a, budget is in the middle. So I guess I need help building from the top down,see the $ the compare to ?

 

Hedman makes a set of headers with AIR tubes that will pass smog on your car. I have them on my 78 and have had them for over 10 years with no issues from even state run inspection stations. They arent terribly cheap unfortunately, but you dont have to feel married to your Rams horns if you dont want to.

There are many good and fairly inexpensive heads in both iron and aluminum available on the aftermarket that have EO numbers, I run a set of edelbrock performers again with no issues. World Products SB-Chevy S/R Torquer Heads is a decent set of iron heads for the fairly low price.

Your 79 block is just fine for rebuilding and the L-48 internals are more than up to the task of 250 or so HP. Edelbrock makes a perfectly good aluminum intake with EGR compatibility, the benefit over your factory one is mostly just weight. (assuming yours is iron, but i think many 79's had aluminum std. not sure if that was L-82 only like 78). Its not a major undertaking getting 250 hp out of a small block. just a bit of research and ask lots of questions

 

Speaking of World Product heads, I believe the Sportsman II heads are one of the only heads that is 50 state emission approved.

 

Both crates I referenced have exhaust Xover ports.

As said, they each have a good GM warranty; includes coverage for loose rod/main bolts & the like.

 

Yeah both of those crates are fine in that respect. The 1st is probably the best of the two since its cam is better. Both have heat crossovers, though neither will give you the 250hp installed you are looking for i dont think.

But if budget is #1 then they are a decent start. I've know two guys with the 2nd choice and they were both really lackluster - but got them down the road just fine.