Are there any crate engines available that will swap into an '86 without a lot of adaptations? I'm tending toward replacement of my 100K L98 rather than rebuilding and upgrading it. What about short block assemblies?

Thanks

 

1st question how much will you spend
2nd question how much power do you want to make
3rd question what's your goal with the car, what kind of mpg & milage, life etc.
4th how do you drive and use your car, do you like torque or horsepower? do you spin the engine up or drive mildly most the time. also where do you want your powerband? mid rpms like 3200-5000 or high 5000-6800

answer those questions and i'll have a great recomendation.

 

You can buy just a ZZ4 crate engine, and swap over your intake if you like.

You still must swap the camshaft also, because the ZZ4's wont run as good with that intake.

 

Mitchell Hardcore 427 SBC 650 hp and 750 ft/lbs of torque! Complete engine ready to drop in. $10k.

If I would not have spent all that money last year on the upper end stuff that is the route I would have surely gone. That is a pretty tough engine to beat.

My Dad has one of there 509s in the below seen Chevelle. It has 540hp and 637ft/lb and its only 9:1 compression. He churls out 11.4 sec 1/4 pulling the front off the ground. Imagine if we got the CR up to around 11:1 and put a heavy duty cam in there! Easily low 10's.

When he bought his engine 3 yrs ago it was only 6500! I don't care who you are you could not build and engine that is that stout for that kind of money. Oh yeah incase anyone is wondering, EVERYTHING is forged and rollerized.

I will easily have 10k in this 406 when all is said and done... :cheers:

 

I'm basically interested in an engine that's a good low rpm torquer like the stock L98 but wouldn't mind a mild performance upgrade with a nice street hydraulic roller cam and better heads. I just don't want to have to change a lot of electronics and exhaust components to make it fit. If I could find another L98 that was brand new I'd drop it in. I could have my short block machined and rebuilt but the cost can approach a crate engine especially if I go for new heads.

 

I don't know where all you have looked for engines, but check out http://www.allchevyengines.com. They have your basic engines up to the big block 700hp. I'm looking at the 383/360 hp to upgrade my worn L98. Good luck with what ever you decide. :D :seeya

 

Note that whatever bottom end you buy, you will still be choked by the TPI intake. So if you bought a 385hp crate, you wouldnt be making 385hp with your stock intake if you switched it over.

 

there's a few different options, first do you want aluminum heads or can you spend less and do iron? if you go iron the vortech crate engines aren't bad deals at all for a couple grand, all you need is the scoggin doggy base. the zz4 cam will work just fine on TPI but it will work better with some prom work. there are a lot of places selling engines, crates and the like but you get what you pay for. a real well built bottom end will be very time consuming and that's what makes it cost a lot. crate engines and most mail order engines with the exception of well known designers are just bolt togeather jobs. there are many exceptions to this, someone above named bill's engines, those are great however you might not want to spend that much. jim pace has factory L98 short blocks for $1200 right now, you could get one of those and a upgraded cam like the comp xr270hr which will work great with a mild head, 10:1 compression and a tpi manifold. a big base and runners definatly would help though. there's many choices on heads out there, the iron vortech are a great deal but they are iron & i'm not really too fond of cast iron weight. some people like them though, if you have some D-ports you can rebuild those with great stuff for a few hundred bucks, roller lifters can be had for $100 on ebay. edelbrock makes a nice head for TPI at $1000 a set assembled if you want something out of the box. how much can you spend again?