I will be starting my project FINALLY in a week or two. I'll be swapping a 1987 engine into my 1986 vette (this motor overheated and is dead). Trans is good just has 47k miles on it. Gonna just do a gasket on it and put the fluids back in.
My question is...what should I do to the 87 engine while it is out? At a minimum I want to freshen up the gaskets (here's the kit I'm looking at). OR should I do the more advanced kit like this one and do a rebuild with bearings, pistons, etc.? AND do you think I'll need a timing chain? The engine has 94k miles on it. Any other LOW BUDGET ideas are welcome. When I say low budget, all I want to spend on the engine is around $300 depending on your recommendations. I can do some things on my own like port and polish intake/heads/etc but I've read that I shouldn't do that on some sites. My intentions are not to blow the doors off anyone, just want a reliable fun vehicle to drive and maybe put a little more fun in it over stock if I can. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

Yeah if we're talking cheap or easier stuff to get to while its out, the gaskets and timing chain would be what I'd do. Just because I wouldn't want to take them apart while its in the car.

I'd at least look over the valvetrain very closely. If the oil pressure was good in the 87 then I'd probably not take the bottom apart to change bearings. I may or may not take the heads off completely to have the '128s freshened or have a look inside. You might be over your budget if you just start replacing more than that.

I'd take the valve covers off, strip and repaint since its easy to do.

1.6 RR would not be a bad idea while you have all that apart, about $250 for a set, and you will likely need a dremel/bit to gain clearance with the stock covers.

 

I wouldn't change any gasket that doesnt leak. I don't think I would bother with the timing set since those rarely break. (Unless it's the kind with plastic teeth, then definitely change it.) Since you would most likely have to oil pan off I would probably change the oil pump.

Depending on your budget, I would highly consider swapping the cam and lifters since you A. have the engine out, and B. will most likely have the oil pan and timing cover off anyway. (You can't change the timing cover gasket without removing the oil pan) And I would skip the 1.6 rockers.

Oh, I would think it would.also be a great time for long tubes if you dont already have them.

 

How mechanical are you? Do you have the tools to do the R&R? A lot depends on your abilities if you want to save the money.

I would certainly look carefully at the 1987 engine and check things like the timing chain. The chains are fairly cheap. If the engine had good oil pressure then I would leave it alone and run it. There is a lot of work you can do but at some point you might need some professional help and with some phone calls you can find somebody who does good work at reasonable prices.

I wanted to rebuild the 427 for my 1968 C3 and I found a deal on a 1970 LT1 engine so I installed that in my Corvette while I rebuilt my engine over time. I liked that engine so much I had thought about leaving it in the car. If it wasn't for the difference in torque I might have, the LT1 doesn't have the power the 427 makes so after a year of building we installed the engine and the LT1 sits in my garage covered in plastic bags with some desiccant to help keep it safe.

Good used small blocks are available at good prices and once in a while you may find a real jewel like the LT1 I found. Having a spare engine makes life great if you want to rebuild the original as one can afford to. It is also a cheaper way. I had to put an exhaust system on the Corvette for a small block but that was easy to adapt to my exhaust system.

We spent a year working/building my 427 at a local speed shop here in Fairfax, Virginia. The owner was an accomplished builder and with his help and my purchased parts we built us a nice little 427. The deal was that as long as I bought the parts from him he would not charge me to help assemble the engine and that was clearly a Win-Win for both of us. He displayed my completed engine at his Christmas Party and promptly sold several engines to be built after mine was out the door.

Good luck and keep us posted on your plans as they get put into motion!
Best Regards,
Chris

 

If 87 is warranted , you need to know what you can do. I would look at a few bearings and for debris in oil pan first. That will determine it goes in at all. Grit and scored or excessively worn bearing need to contact seller. 87 should have roller cam. Seeping intake end sealer easier to deal with on a stand.

 

This is a good chance to ask a question I've wondered for some time. The 87 engine has roller lifters while the 86 didn't. With both being L98's, is it a drop and run situation or do you have to tinker with the ECM also? I would hope it was plug-and-play but I don't know either way.

 

Funny i'm doing this exact thing now. Except I decided to do a super budget rebuild. I found a rebuild kit on Rock Auto that included all rings, Bearings, and pistons for super cheap. I expected it to be all crappy made in China stuff. To my surprise most of the stuff in the box says Made in USA what isn't made in USA was made in Mexico or India. I'm trying to see how cheap I can do a solid rebuild and so far It looks like right $600 and I did pistons, hotter cam, lifters, and springs to boot. My engine specked out fine so I didn't need any machine work that I couldn't do in my garage. I'm doinf the budget rebuild to get me by while I'm building my higher end 383.

But for your build I would do front and rear main seals, Trans front pump seal, oil pan gasket while I was checking the pan for bad signs, oil pump (cheap insurance),valve cover gaskets, water pump, and timing set at a minimum. All of these things are cheap and really easy to do when the engine is out. If you still have budget and desire then I would move on to the heads and head gaskets, valve stem seals (umbrella and square cut O rings). If you want to really take it to the next level then you can do like I'm doing and replace the springs and lap in the valves to make sure everything is nice and tight. That only costs a $6 tube of lapping compound and a lot of your time. The springs, retainers, and keepers can be had for about $70 from Summit and is another good piece of mind thing. As springs age they lose their seat pressure and their stability. I would say they are optional if you don't change the cam and lifters but mandatory (since the engine has almost 100K miles) if you heat up the cam any at all.

 

This actually sounds like exactly what I'm looking to do. I think I saw that rebuild kit on Rock Auto. What cam/lifters did you get? I've not worked on heads before just remove and replace. How difficult is this or should I send them to my local machine shop to get worked on?

If I can do this for around $600 I think I'll be doing good. I'm parting out the 87 vette to hopefully find this project. I haven't put the parts car out there for selling g the parts yet but will soon.

 

I worked for a mechanic while going to college back in the day so I do have fairly moderate backyard mechanic skills. I have a pretty good set of tools and a decent compressor with a basic set of pneumatic tools. Wish I had a lift. I also have quite a few friends that are mechanics and access to a full garage/tools if I really need it.

I see you're in Firfax. I'll be headed up there in August for a Cyber Security conference. Hopefully by then I'll have my project done but wont be driving it up there.

Thanks for the info and advice. I'm sure I'll be reaching out to this community quite a bit in the coming weeks/months.

 

There are a couple of special tools that you will need besides basic hand tools. Some of them you can borrow from your local parts house. Some Like a ball hone and a decent torque wrench I would buy if you don't already have them. The heads are not hard and there are lots and lots of video's on YouTube and instructional websites that can be Googled that will explain how to disassemble the heads and perform the work. The most important thing is to clean everything thoroughly and take your time and be precise. As for the rest of the parts I used you already know about the rebuild kit on Rock Auto there is also a cheaper one that does not come with pistons. I had to change my pistons because I found cracks in my piston skirts but if your pistons check out then just clean them real good and save a little more money. I did decide to spend a little more on the top end and I selected a complete kit from Summit Racing. The part number is CCA-K12-268-4. It is a Comp Cams kit that comes with cam, lifters, timing set, springs, retainers, keepers, and the square cut 'O' ring stem seals. All in one box and matched by Comp. I hope this will perform well with headers. It will likely need a tune to extract the best it has to offer. I can do my tune myself but you can also have chips burned by tuners to your specs. My hope is that this set up will perform well for a street driver. More power then stock but it won't be a race car by any means. I'm hoping for just a little more fun to drive then my 86 was stock. Time will tell. I will finish assembly on mine this week but I have to travel for the next few weeks so I won't get to install and fire it until around July 4th. If you worked as a mechanic and you have a FSM and Cheltons manual, take your time, and ask on this forum, I have no doubt that you will be able to build your engine.It may not be a race engine and it may not even last as long as a crate motor would. But there is something really satisfying when you fire an engine you built yourself for the first time.

 

Thanks for the info. I'll check out those parts. You are right about the FSM, that's one thing I do need (FSM) almost got one a few weeks ago but someone snatched it before I could get it. I have a Chiltons but as you know they aren't the most detailed.

I also forgot to mention that apparently someone put a hyper tech chip in the car. Not 100% sure yet but there's a hyper tech sticker on top of the dist. That makes me wonder if they already put something in there and had a chip burned for it. Or if they just got one of those generic tunes.

 

They likely installed a 160deg T-stat and the chip to control the coolant fan around that setpoint.

 

I think you have the While I'm at it Fever. Just do the crank seals front and rear, new dampner and water pump. Don't touch the valve covers unless leaking but those can be done easily w/motor in car. Of course the exhaust and most likely the intake manifold gaskets will have to be replaced. Save the rebuild kit for the motor that comes out. Great experience and you will have a car to drive while you rebuild at your pace. The more you take apart the more chances you have to make a inexperience mistake and turn the car into a piece of garage furniture.

Rear main seal will require dropping the oil pan and rear main cap. You may want to skip this unless you can verify it needs a new rear main seal as this can be tricky and is error likely.

Good luck and have fun.

 

You can tell is the new motor was leaking. If not, cut open the oil filter. If it looks good, bolt it in.

 

I finally have the motor and trans out of the 87 and got the motor out of the 86 vette. I'm looking it over now. All the plugs check out fine and are all the same BUT they are covered in a lot of carbon buildup (see pic below). Could this be a result of the exhaust being gutted? The pre cars have been eliminated, the main cat was gutted and all that's there are two flow master mufflers.

I figured I'd leave the 86 trans in since it only has 47k miles on it and ran fine but that was 3 or 4 years ago that it ran. Any suggestions for checking it over other than checking out the trans fluid? I do plan on putting in a new filter kit and filling with new fluid.

As far as the engine goes, here are a bunch of pics of it out of the car. This is the 87 engine. Do yall mind looking it over (see more pics below) and tell me if anything looks concerning to you? I am still thinking the budget build. But I'm not sure if I want to extend this build and do more to it as funds become available or just do the essentials and get it on the road.

From what I see at minimum I need front crank seal, valve cover and oil pan gaskets. Maybe replace the freeze plugs? Water pump (and gaskets) should be done. So, now that you have seen the pics does it change what else at a min should be done?

 

little late here, but this is what I did to my 96, to freshen it up, when I got the car, with the engine in the car, if the engine had been out, I'd have done the rear seal too.

new rod and main bearings
new oil pump
new timing chain
new water pump
new cam and lifters
new valve springs
new valve seals
new distributor
new spark plugs and wires
one new catalytic converter
new pan gasket, intake gasket, front seal

on my engine, I was fortunate, all the spark plugs looked excellent and there was no sign of oil, excess carbon, etc.

also, with the engine out, knock out all the freeze plugs, flush out the water jackets and install new brass freeze plugs

 

No, a gutted exhaust will not cause the carbon buildup you have. It is an engine running way-way too rich for a long time.... That was a lot of carbon.

One of the first things I would do is clean the engine down thoroughly. While cleaning it try to identify the leaking gaskets and /or parts.

Maybe it might be worthwhile to perform a Leak Down Test on your engine. This test is far more comprehensive than the standard compression test. And since the engine is not cranking while the test is performed means you can do it to an engine out of the car. Leak Down tests are performed on piston aircraft every day and a very good way to test your engine.

A leak down test will tell you if you have air blowing by the piston, a blown head gasket or any major issue with the engines internal parts. If you are not familiar with this test find a buddy to help you when you do it. Basically you are pressurizing the cylinder and watching where the air goes. If you have air coming out of the oil fill hole then you have excessive blow by. The tools are not very expensive and you will need a air compressor to perform the test. While you push say 100 psi into the cylinder you watch what it will hold on a second gauge, the higher the second number the better the cylinder is.

After you test this engine we can look at what inexpensive ways to make it last longer. I would not make any plans until you know what the problems are. Any plans before testing would be guessing and a waste of time and resources

 

You sure have some leaks there, going to need a lots of gaskets and a good cleaning. Make sure the motor rotates.

 

It ran perfect a few weeks ago before I pulled it. It turns no problem

 

It has been a long time coming but I'm finally ready to get to work on my car. I'm just going with the basics for the engine due to it running so well when I pulled it. My question is will this gasket kit work for me? I wont be using the head gaskets in the kit because I just dont want to go that in depth. It says it's not for aluminum heads but will the other gaskets/seals work for my engine?