A friend of mine has some money and wants to do heads / cam on his 95 Z-28. The problem is that the car has 168k miles on it and leaks oil from absolutely EVERY place imaginable. The previous owner also didn't use synthetic oil, so to say the least it's pretty nasty inside.

I've got him convinced that installing heads / cam on that engine is a deathwish without doing a budget rebuild first. I figured if the block was in good enough shape it could just be honed and re-ringed along with new bearings. Of course this assumes that everything is in good enough shape. He could then use the leftover money to get his heads / cam. If there was any money left he should then use that on a set of headers because we all know heads + cam + stock manifolds = turd.

I'm trying to gather up some options for him. I know a few people who can do the work for a reasonable price, he was just hoping to have something with a warranty. I can see tons of places that sell 383 and 396 forged packages, they are just a little bit out of the budget. I was wondering what options there are for a basically new LT1 of the plain old 350 displacement. It could be a crate motor or a rebuild, just looking for something that is already assembled and has some kind of warranty on it.

Naturally if nothing exists we'll persue other options, I just didn't know what was available.

 

rebuilt LT1s ain't cheap. no matter how you cut it.

This will give you an idea....

http://www.sdpc2000.com/catalog/1580...Assemblies.htm

 

Here's (2) LT-1 & (1) LT-4 383 longblocks, with a warranty:

http://www.golenengineservice.com/

Look under Chevy LT1/LT4 > LT4 Corvette

It has several short blocks, different displacement.

 

www.hpsalvage.com

They are quite a ways from KY, but they have good parts, prices, and good tech support for people who aren't the most mechanically inclined.

 

I would say I'd just sell him mine, but I'll need to pull it out of the car first. Oh, and then there's the slight vibration issue...

But it doesn't burn oil, and it hasn't blown up yet! Still pulls hard, too.

 

I would do more than just hone and re-ring it. I would have a .030 overbore (to 355) and go with forged pistons and better rods. That would be enough to support any kind of top end buildup he might want to do later.

And start over with Mobil 1 so it lasts.

 

With 93,000 miles and good Mobil 1 maintainance I was able to rebuild to standard bore. But with the miles you mentioned and the use of substandard oil there's not a snowball's chance in hell you'd be able to get away with it and still do a good job.

 

might dig around here http://www.gmpartsdepot.com/

 

Nathan,

MORE Performance had a pretty good deal on new LT4 blocks, and they also have a budget 355 rebuild for around $3k incl all machine work. Something to look into.

http://www.moreperformanceinc.com/

You might have to call them on the blocks as they might not be on the site. 704-393-8241.

Thanks,

Ron