Here we go, new to this forum as of today. Just acquired my first Corvette recently. 87 convertible what's an automatic tranny . It was a barn find been sitting since probably 2013. Don't know much about its history or mileage excetera. Didn't have seats or carpet in it but pretty much everything else is there. The top is in really good shape. Under the hood everything looks to be stock except for an Accel super coil and a Cat- back MagnaFlow exhaust. I was told that they thought it ran when it was parked but nobody was really sure of anything. Got at home cleaned it up a little bit on the exterior just to see what I was working with, then open the hood to try to turn the motor over. Nothing doing. Locked up tight. So I went ahead and pulled the spark plugs, dumped in a little tranny fluid and diesel fuel, long story short three days later it's still not moving and I mean not at all. Now let me go back a little bit here. Stoked as I was to get this vehicle and couldn't wait to get it running just to be able to drive it, I made the decision that I would get it running get it cleaned up maybe even give it a quick paint job and give it to my dad. He's done a ton for me in and I'd like to do something for him. He used to race back in the day a little bit. Bought a brand new 68 Chevelle SS off the lot in 68, took it home added a few mods and some slicks and was racing it with less than 500 miles on it. I'd like to give him something to play around in during his retirement. Now back to the vehicle at hand.
I pulled the drain plug on the oil pan and the first second or so was water then came out what some might call oil. Lot of metallic particles. Then drain plug itself had a ton metal stuck to the magnet. I will try to post before and after pictures of the drain plug when I cleaned it off. Is trying to decide whether to pull the heads off with the motor in the car or take the whole thing out and check it over. I'm trying to do it as quickly as possible to get it to him but also on really strict budget. So I had all kinds of scenarios going through my head. I decided to pull the motor, pull it apart see what I had. Put it up on jack stands, slid under the car to take a look see what I was up against as far as getting out the transmission to motor bolts and also to try to figure out how I was going to get the motor separated from the transmission when it's locked up and won't turn. That's when I discovered something that made my decision on what I was doing with the motor, a lot clearer. Needless to say this motor well, at least the bottom half is shot. My question is what are the chances that the upper half is still good? Another question is as I said before how do I pull the motor without the transmission if it's locked up? Lastly yeah, I'd like to keep the tuned port injection, as well as be able to keep the stock gauges intact. That being said I would like to be able to get 375 horsepower minimum out of the motor when I put it back together. I have no emissions restrictions, and I have done some motor work before but I don't know a ton about the in depth "numbers" portion...enough to be dangerous I guess. I'm wondering what my best options would be to get it back on the road fairly quickly and as I said before on a pretty strict budget. Also I want to get rid of the air pump completely and try to find this set of used headers. I haven't checked into it for sure but I had a DiabloSport Trinity some years ago that I really liked on my 06 GTO. I was thinking of looking into something and those lines as far as being able to tune it. Am I we are faced with that? And lastly with the motor being in the condition that it is and how it obviously had to meet its demise, is the transmission still going to be good? Thank you in advance for your help.

That is the drivers side of the engine where it meets the oil pan

 

The heads might still be OK, but you need at least a short block. You might be able to pull the motor with the torque converter still on the flywheel, or drop the trans out first, then pull the motor

 

I wasn't sure if there was enough room to slide the motor forward enough to get torque converter off the transmission

 

Right, idk either, there might be enough room if you take off the accessory drive and rad, but idk from personal experience. If not, you can drop the trans out first. This will be a bit more effort either way. Hopefully someone that's experienced this before can chime in, it's not unheard of.

 

I'm also a little unsure of what shortblock I should look for. What years, casting numbers, or from what vehicles. Due to budget restrictions, I'm probably going to try my luck with the motor from a junkyard. Not many around where I live have C4 Corvette laying around that I could pull motor from

 

Welcome to the Corvette Forum GM4life!

Being a Dad myself I wish more young guys would think like you do! I wish my kids would get me a nice C8 for being a good Dad, I could have bought myself several C8's with what I spent on their college educations.

Reviving an older Corvette on a "Strict Budget" is a bad combination. There are so many things that can go wrong on the older C4's that have sat for extended periods of time without care. Take the engine from your 2006 GTO and put it in the Corvette for a real (expensive) rush!

The mechanic who rebuilt the 700R4 in my 1988 C4 told me he it was fairly easy to remove the transmission. I had mine rebuilt after flushing the Automatic Transmission Fluid at ~ 80,000 miles and it was in need of a rebuild within a few miles since the fluid had not been changed before. The rebuild was not that expensive but avoid it unless you need to have it done.

Start looking for a gas station or shop that you TRUST that will remove the engine for you. Once removed take it to a shop of your choice and let them give you their evaluation of your old engine. I would look for someone with some experience but who doesn't charge ridiculous rates. There is a Mobile Mechanic who works in my area and he said he could remove and re-install the engine for me at a great price. That is another option since you are on a budget.

Horsepower Cost LOTS of Money, 375 hp is possible but not cheaply. The factory 245 hp is really great for driving within the speed limit as it makes lots of torque. For most driving it is more than enough for the chassis and the C4 is a blast to drive on roads. The way the C4 was designed makes it a great Corvette to own and drive. I can see30 mpg on the interstates with my 1988 C4 with the L98 and 700R4 and a 3.07 rear end ratio. It is a nice cruising Corvette and fun to drive. I have a 427 C3 to drive when I need a thrill and can solve the need for speed very easily. The C4 is the Corvette I bought for my wife and daughter to cruise in when we did Corvette Family trips

I would suggest getting the engine rebuilt and then just driving the Corvette and make a list of the things that need attention. This is the best way to get a list and then start making the changes or repairs. On a 34 year old Corvette there have to be some other gremlins hiding in there somewhere. Just for your knowledge, the digital dashboard that these cars use was built with components that had a useful life of 15 years. This explains why a lot of us have rebuilt our dashboards to get them working properly.

After this is done then you can give the Corvette to your Dad (If you still want too that is...) You might change your mind after driving it a bit...

BTW as my favorite flight instructor told me once "Paint don't fly" so I would spend your time getting a new short block in there before painting the Corvette.

Have you a set of the Factory Service Manuals yet? If you don't and are on a budget then you can get a set on DVD's from RockAuto or the hard copies from Helm Publishing. The hard copies are about ~$85 and the DVDs are about ~$35. YOU will NEED one of these to do what you want to do on the Corvette. Don't mess with any of the aftermarket manuals like the Clymer's or Haynes as they don't have the necessary detail that you will find in the FSM's.

 

thank you for taking the time to respond I appreciate all of the advice! The more I read about the whole situation as far as the motor goes, 375 is probably the number I'm not going to hit which is fine. I just really want it to be a fun car to drive around. I think taking it back basically stock in addition to headers, some work on the heads, and finish the exhaust from the motor to the cat back system to try and get it to breathe a little better, then put that back in and see what other issues I might run into. I don't have instead of service manuals yet, but I was offered asset from a fellow member this morning which I am going to get ASAP.
And yes, paint will be the last thing obviously, but that's the least of my worries. I will do that myself as I have done many cars in the past. Another thing I learned from watching my father over the years.
I've already begun do removal of the engine. And General Motors Engineers really need to step up their game. I was nearly able to remove the air conditioner compressor without having to disassemble the entire motor. They should really think about putting the damn thing right and the oil pan or something to make it more difficult. If they're not careful us people that work on our vehicles for a hobby or out of necessity due to their High shop rates, may actually find a little time to spend with our families. We can't have that haha.
so I guess where I'm at right now is looking for a short block while I'm getting this motor out. And actually I think I'm going to drop the transmission first, in an attempt to make my life a little easier getting the motor out.

 

Just an update on what I've got going. I decided to find a short shortblock that either was in good enough shape to use or that I could get Is in working condition for a reasonable pris a reasonable price. The 1st one I bought turned out to be in worse shape than what it was described to be. Nonetheless, it is a 4 bolt motor from an 86 K5 blazer. I then found a shortblock that was being redone but he ran out of money. I should be getting it home early this week. I almost have the old motor ready to come out, been working on removal of the intake, tb, etc to clean and polish to get max flow. Going to try and port and polish the heads myself, lap the valves and replace the guide seals. Anything else I should do to the heads?