I am coming to the painful conclusion that the engine in my wife's bone stock 88 Vette is reaching the end of its useful life. It has 216,000 mostly freeway miles on it. We have gotten great service from that engine but nothing lasts forever. Some of the signs that the engine is ready for retirement are:
Blue smoke at startup (worn valve seals?)
Very noisy lifters on cold startup
Gradual loss of coolant but no visible leaks (cracked head or bad head gasket?)
Less than enthusiastic full throttle acceleration

So now I need to make some tough decisions. My wife is attached to her Vette. We can't afford to sink a ton of money into that car although we are willing to do the job right. I'm thinking I could buy a rebuilt short block and get the heads reworked and install them myself.

I have no idea where to start shopping for a rebuilt L-98 engine or how much it would cost.

I'm hoping some of you will share your wisdom and point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Greg / Canyon Lake, CA.

 

Its really a toss up, when I was looking for someone to rebuild my L98 block back to stock most shops wanted $1,600 to do the job. You can go online and get a rebuilt shortblock for around the same price.Personally I would rather have a shop (I trust)or one that has a good reputation do the work , when you get a motor online you don't know how good of a job they did on the rebuild. If it was me I would talk to a machine shop first to see what they say and then take it from there..You can save a great deal of money if you can do the install youself.Most garages charge between $500.00 to $750.00 to install around here.WW

 

I've seen a few rebuilt L98 short blocks for around $450. You could pick up one of those maybe in your area. That would reduce down time. Or pull it and send it off to be rebuilt.

It's possible all you really need to do is replace the gaskets and seals. That would be inexpensive but be a few days work.

 

With that many miles its rebuild time. Dont need to spend a bunch but do spend enough to get a quality rebuild, especially if youre going to keep it, R&R a motor on a C4 is something you dont want to do twice.

 

WOW....your wife sounds like my wife. She has a '94 Vette that she is really really attached to. It has about 275,000 kms (171,000 miles) on it as it is her only car......daily driver. We have had a number of really big repair bills on it ($2,500-$4,500) and she has not once complained or batted an eyelash in paying the bills for it.

As for your engine, I have two thoughts.

The first is to buy a crate engine from GM. You know it will be put together right, and IMHO they are about the same price as a decent quality re-build by a shop (without wondering what corners they cut that you do not know about........until sometime later with an engine failure).

The second is to get an engine from a salvage yard. We have used Corvette Generation in Florida to get parts for her C4 and they have been very good. This place specializes in C3s and C4s only.

 

Greg, I think first off you need to establish a budget. There are a lot of different options out there that run from the inexpensive and mild, to the pricy and wild. If you can do the work yourself you will save some $$, but having it done for you can give you some peace of mind, and its tough putting a price tag on that. I'm a do it yourself kind of guy and I'll always lean that way, so I vote for a rebuild. I'm sure some who are more knowledgable than I will weigh in here, so good luck with your project!

 

Just do a rebuild. There is always something unforeseen when you replace a block.

I have used a video to help with things I am rusty on. and when I went back together....everything fit perfectly.

Take the heads to a machine shop along with the Block and have them reworked. If they cut the cylinders or bearing journals you'll know then what to buy as far as rings or .0010" oversized bearings

Unbolt.....machine shop....order parts....Bolt it all back together....

 

I know that our C-4's are not collector items, But I still would rather keep the numbers matching block in the car.

 

As stated above, establish your budget. If you can remove and replace the engine yourself, way ahead of the game. Once removed, I suspect there is a local engine/machine shop that would check the components and see what is in tolerance. Once the assessment is completed, the decision matrix can bounce against your budget. I suspect your wife would be happy with a stock rebuild.

As I understand it, you could have the shop rebuild the bottom end, redo the heads, and you install heads, lifters, pushrods, install engine etc. Sounds like a good plan to me.

Exactly what I would do.

Good luck with your repairs.

dlmeyers

 

For just a basic back to OEM rebuild, I vote for finding a reputable local shop to do the rebuild. Talk to the gearheads in your city and find out who they trust. As stated, you can save a bunch doing the R&R yourself. You know the drill, take pics of how everything mounts before taking it apart, bag and label EVERY fastener, and if you're a rookie or haven't done it in a while, keep a notebook with step by step order of how you take it apart, and just reverse the process on the reinstall.

A good shop can build your motor back to where it will run another 200K plus. Good luck.

 

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the great suggestions and feedback. The Vette is still driveable - in fact it still passes smog tests. However, I know the engine is getting tired.

My preference is to keep the engine as close to factory original as possible. The Vette is my wife's daily driver and she is very attached to it.

I think I would do the engine removal and installation myself but would have someone else do the rebuild.

The heads and valve covers have never been off. The intake runners and plenum have been off 2 or 3 times to deal with minor coolant leaks.

In its prime, the Vette ran a best ET of 13.992 (102 MPH) at Pomona Drag Strip. Not bad for a stocker with an automatic.

 

The last rebuild I did, I used sandwich bags.

I placed all fasteners in that bag and then taped it to the component it belongs with.

That was, by far, the slickest system I ever used. When I went to put something on...there was no guessing...open the bag and use what is in there.

 

A digital camera, plastic bags,masking tape and a sharpie are your friends. I would pull the engine myself and find a GOOD machine shop to do the work and assemble the longblock. It really doesn't cost much to have a professional assemble it IF they are doing all the machine work anyways.

 

Well, I'd say it served its purpose quite well over the years. With proper maintenance, these engines are quite stout. A good rebuild now, and it'll take you another 21 years down the road.


I especially like the idea of taping it to the component.

When I was a young kid in the 70's, my dad took me through my first rebuild on a late 60's Ford pickup with a 302. We used sandwich bags and a felt tip pen, and marked every bolt as to what it came off of and the orientation (ie...top left water pump). We also took pics (polaroids in those days) of how the alternator, ps pump etc and their brackets looked to help with reassembly. And on my very first, he made me keep a notebook and write down EVERYTHING I did (ie... step 15, remove torque converter bolts etc). Also had to include any special stuff....like if a cable, fuel line etc is bracketed to a certain bolt.

When we went to reassemble, I started at the bottom of my list and worked my way back up. That way nothing got forgotten. He was quite **** on this method, and today, so am I. When I did the timing chain on my 84 I did this....took a little longer on disassembly, but it went back together very quickly and easily.....no missing bolts, no question as to what went where, etc.

Using this method, even a novice will put it back together correctly.

Good luck on your rebuild

 

 

I use that same system on everything from cars to door screens.

As far as the op's question. It sounds as though you want to keep the car matching numbers so I would get some prices from a reputable shop. If you are not a member of a club, find one and talk to them to see if they know a shop that will not rip you off while doing quality work.

 

You can spend a little or a lot. Tear it down, have a machine shop clean it, replace cam bearings, freeze plugs and bore it .030. Around $300. There is a good chance the crank is fine if its never been run out of oil. Hyper pistons, rings and bearings, $250. $90 for a good timing chain. IF you have a GOOD machine shop, I think the head repair will run $250. Another $250 for gaskets, hoses plugs oil and other odds and ends should get it ready to go. Lots of choices though if you are willing to spend $$$$. Maybe you could get PeteK to do a motor for you, another option.

 

IMO for a stock engine replacement I would go for a new GM crate motor! Their price is actually less than you might spend having a machine shop do a rebuild. If retaining the correct numbered block is important to you, then that would be the driver to send you to the local shop.

 

How much is a GM crate motor??

Can you get a new L98 crate motor?

 

Last I looked, no. You can buy a $3700 (plus tax) ZZ4 long block, then sell off the things that are not the same.

Those are:

Harmonic Balancer
Water Pump
Intake Manifold
Distributor

If op wants a stock cam, he can likely reuse his roller, and also sell the ZZ4 cam to someone. But, he will be running more spring pressure than the factory cam needs, but it should not hurt anything.

Of course, disassembling it will void the GM warranty. That is not the end of the world though, because GM service techs are taught to find a reason to void a performance motor, should there be a problem. In other words, in the real world, warranty is useless anyhow.