Well, I just hit 100K miles and guess what happened 600 miles later...
I think my engine blew a head gasket and also needs a new intake manifold gasket since it is leaking fluids and stuff... so basically im looking at ripping 1/2 the engine apart...

SO!.. my boss offered to help me rebuild it since he knows about engines and has built many engines and rebuilt many as well. He is a ford guy and knows his stuff, but is not familier with all the Chevy aftermarket performance parts as he is with the Ford parts, but still says they are simple enough for him to work on if I could find out from you all what is good and what is not worth messing with...

he said minimum he wanted to get a rebuild kit with all the gaskets and stuff and mentioned something about rings or something to rebuild also...

Here is what he asked me to find out from you gear heads: (ill probably sound dumb here since i have no clue what half this stuff is)

Since we are going to rip the engine apart anyway to replace the bad gaskets, what are some of the best bang for the buck mods I can do to it while it's opened up?

He was thinking we could bore it out, port and polish the heads and beef it up a bit so i can get some more HP out of this rebuild that the stock setup had.

He didn't know if some parts in the stock L98 motor were already premium GM parts or if there could be better ones out there that we could replace the old worn parts with to make it better, or if we should even bother replacing certain parts at all if they are already "good enough"

Things like lifters, valve springs, etc, etc (i dont know anything from here)... and anything else that some of you may have put in that increased the performance and all... brands, sizes, etc...

I am not looking for CRAZY horse power or a race engine, this will STILL be a daily driver, but I would like to beef it up enough that i could pull some nice dyno numbers when I am finished and be able to kick even more butt than i did with the stock engine, but still keep it cheap enough and not kill my gas milage too much...

Prices and info and links of things that you all got would be good. I could look things up myself, but I have ZERO clue what I am looking at... so any and all help would be VERY MUCH appreciated...I can then just print out all the suggestions and let him read over them...

Thanks guys! I really do value everyone's opinion and really could use the help! We are looking to start opening it up this coming weekend...

 

I IM'd you this list.. I wanted to post it so others can add correct or delete

My opinion on your post.. Port and polish the heads as well as a 3 angle valve job
Go to a full roller setup (sometimes pricey) this means roller rockers, cam etc (your boss will know what I am talking about). I would bore it .030 over which means new pistons (again can get expensive but there are ALOT of options for you out there) go with a mild N.O.S setup and go from there. all of these mean nothing without a freeflowing exhaust, chip , injectors and alot of tweaking on the computer. but you will be MORE than happy with the results and this can be done for relative short change since you are already in the guts of the thing.

Also check around the JEGS catalogs and others like it they offer full kits supporting these mods.


[Modified by Madmikeee, 7:33 PM 10/28/2002]

 

Sure you blew a head gasket? You don't seem real sure, best to post the symptoms and folks here are pretty good at guessing at the cause.

You need to give us an idea of your budget. Spend as much as a great PC and top of the line 18" flat screen (600 contrast ratio) and that D port engine can haul.

Doubt you need to mess with rings at 100,000 miles unless you don't really change the oil very often. Not sure I'd mess with the bottom end unless you know it's messed up.

Good Luck

Pete

 

a 100k bottom end is a time bomb, plain and simple, espessialy a overheated one with a blown gasket. no one even knows if the deck is true anymore. here's a list and some options. this is suited to a budget / performance build.

1. crankshaft. either buy a scat cast steel crank for $200 off ebay or from some of the cheaper online vendors. you also could turn your stock crank 10/10 for roughly $100 if your not going too crazy i'd probably turn and polish your stock one.

2. rods, have yours resized and stress relived $120-$140 with arp bolts, you also could buy the $200 eagles like i did which hold a good deal more power but you'll have to resize those also, they aren't true out of the box.

3. pistons, right now you can buy a 4 valve relief speed-pro hyperutectic set of .030 or .040 pistons off ebay for $85, get those & also the hastings plasma moly rings a guy has been selling on there for $50, those are great rings for the dollar.

4. use clevite 77 or federal mogual bearings

5. fel-pro makes the gasket set you want, use a .039 headgasket & leave around 1cc of deck quench on your d-port head for 11:1 compression. you'll also have to take at least .005 off each head deck to insure a flat surface. you can use a .051 gasket if you want slightly less compression but keep in mind you want your quench as small as possible. slightly dishing the piston may be the best bet if you want 10:1 compression.

6. use the manley pro-flo valve 1.94/1.50 $152 for all the valves from summit racing. have a 3 angle job done on your seats and some bowl clean up & smoothing of the short turn radius.

7. cam choices, this is where it gets tricky, you can use your old cam & limit the hp & not have to do any computer work or you can spend more get a strong cam & do some prom work. my sig shows the choice i made :lol: the manifold you choose & transmission you have really dictate which cam to use. larger duration cams like my 224/230 grind are good for upper end hp & also more friendly to compression on pump gas as they kill some of the bottom end cylinder pressure. most detonation happens under 3000rpm if you didn't know. the smaller grinds like the accel 211 has better low end torque & will wake up early but it will be gone by 5500 rpm. if your using a stock TPI this isn't a bad choice at all but you will have a torque monster. at least buy the accel high flow base if you keep the TPI.

8. roller lifters, federal mogual 87+ hyd roller lifters, now on ebay for $80 a set new. buy those, don't think twice.

9. get a new balancer, a $50 gm one should be fine.

10. ask questions about anything your unsure of.

 

Geeeeeese! Modern engine with decent maintanance is no where near melt down at 100,000. My nephew is still driving an early 80's F body with over 250,000 miles and passes the California tests every year. Used the cheapest motor oil he could buy, but replaced it every 3,000 miles if he remembered. He did blow a head gasket, but pulled the head and installed a new gasket. That's it. Not what I would do, but what the heck.

Now I do agree if you push cylinder pressure you have to understand that you are pushing the engine and results will depend upon the condition of the botton end.

I stand my my post, if this engine is not pushed and has been maintained, it has lots of life. The poster has not presented any evidance of a blown head gasket or intake manifold gasket - thus my position.

Pete

 

how many people drive corvettes & don't push them :D i do agree if you baby a V8 250,000 miles is possible, i just haven't met anyone who drives like that in awhile :hat

 

If youre looking for the cheap way, try one of Summit's 383 Rebuild kits.

Pick an appropriate cam for whatever intake you think you will put on it.

 

I think i am keeping the stock intake and cam...

I just want to rebuild all the nessary parts and freshen it up a bit with some added HP parts... Id like to do a new cam and all that, but lack the fundage ;)

All the suggestions are great... keep em comin!
Thanks so far guys! Ill let this go a few more days and then print it out for my buddy to read over...

 

Summit has 383 stroke crank that works with your 5.7 rods for @ $320. :crazy:

 

Joe, Summit sells 350 rebuild kits for just shy of $1,000... Check out http://store.summitracing.com/produc...earchtype=ecat There are so many options.. Its all a matter of how much you want to spend.
:)


[Modified by quiksilver458, 11:15 AM 10/31/2002]

 

400 crank
forged pistons
good connecting rods and piston rings
Felpro gaskets
Block bored 30 over
Xe 330/336 cam
heads ported by someone reputable and your set :cool:

Do yourself a favor and dont half butt this part
if you going to get a new crank, might as well get a stroker crank, costs the same more or less...

383>350 :cheers:

 

better prices exist for engine parts than summit, espessialy for rebuilds. really getting into a engine eats up funds fast. if you stick to a basic rebuild like my above suggestion you can keep it around $2500 & still pick up power. new cams, making a 383, spending $500 on pistons + the extra machine work + the prom work + the fact you won't make much more power with tpi still on it = an idea not even worth considering. the engine in my sig, all said and done with a new clutch & nick nacks ran nearly $7000 & i didn't pay retail for anything except machine work which i was very **** about. in my situation i was crazy for not making a 383 but i didn't get the miniram till the last minute :crazy: