I did the engine build experience yesterday with my brother. I know this topic has been covered multiple time before so I won't go into detail here. But, if you ever have the chance to do this, I highly recommend it. It was an amazing experience. We were also taken on a tour of the plant afterwards and we were able to see some areas that they don't normally take folks on the regular public tour. We will hit the museum this morning before flying home.

I was impressed with so many things. The employees were fantastic. There were a lot of people on the assembly line smiling and many of them chatted with us as they were going about their jobs. There really is a lot of passion there with the staff at all levels. Several people told us they love their jobs and you could tell. I was also REALLY impressed with their quality controls. For example, there are a ton of quality checks while building the engine. Afterwards, every LT4 engine is cold fired and then hot fired with fuel. Both of these engine checks have multiple probes that test hundreds of engine functions. So impressive. To top if off - for the engine build experience they fire the engine with uncovered exhaust manifolds. Blue flames at start up. That was sweet!

My 2016 Z06 is currently on a train heading to Oregon and after this experience, my car will be that much more special. The Corvette is a special car and I think Chevrolet has an amazing program with the engine build experience and the plant tours. Highly recommended!!!!

 

Thanks for sharing the experience. I'd very much love to do that if I aver have the chance. Even just watching the process would be fascinating.

 

Nice to hear you had a good time and a good experience. I think that would be a very interesting and fun thing to do.

 

Any pics??? Please!

 

Sorry, no pics yet. They don't allow cameras or cell phones in the plant. We are supposed to get a CD with photos at some point. Along with Todd, the guy who helped us build the engine, we also had Nick who spent the entire time taking pictures throughout the process. So, there are tons of pictures - we just don't have any yet. I REALLY wish I could have taken pictures while on the plant tour. I'm an avid photographer so it was really tough seeing something like that and not being able to take pictures :-(

 

Sounds like fun, would bring back some fond memories. When I built a couple of engines and my Dad would come down to the garage with a couple of beers and talk with me. My Dad was not into cars at all.
I would love to do it one day, but haven't they limited the Build Your Engine option due to the smaller area at Bowling Green?

 

I don't believe so. They have three "lines" (really just long work areas) at the Performance Build Center at Bowling Green where they build the LT4 engines. One is dedicated solely to the Engine Build Experience. We were told they typically have around 3 people a week build engines so they are just over half capacity.





One more thing- they balance the M7 engines because they don't want the shifter to rattle at idle. The guy showed us how they do this but I don't recall if it was at the cold or hot fired station. Like everything else there, it was very interesting.

 

Is the Engine Build a $5k option?

 

Yes

 

I'm glad to hear you had such a terrific time, Bert. Do you feel the experience is worth the asking price? Can you please elaborate on that?

 

For some it is, for others it's not. Some people are willing to pay $3,000 for an A8 or $5,000 to move from 2LZ to 3LZ. How about $4,000 for exposed CF ground effects? My brother won't pay 4 bucks for a cup of coffee at Starbucks but he gladly paid 5 grand for this experience. Everybody has their own idea of what is worthwhile - to them.

If you'd like to see how your engine is assembled, meet employees and upper management at the factory and get "inside information", get a personal tour of the factory and learn things about the car you're buying that you won't learn anywhere else (and you have 5 grand laying around), it's worthwhile. You could also split the cost with a buddy which makes it more affordable.

Being able to do this with my brother who just went through cancer treatment was priceless.

 

Oppps! Plant manager wants you to return the engine block you stuck down your pants that they caught on camera or they're pressing charges....
On a more serious note that sounds like a great experience! Do you get to put a "Build By...." sticker on the engine?

 

Yes, there is a "Built By" sticker with my brother's name on the front of the engine. We also asked Todd, our engine build helper, to put his name on it so his sticker is on the side of the engine. My brother also got a piston with his name on it along with two shirts, two hats and a poster. The piston is pretty cool.

 

Well said. I doubt I could justify a $5K outlay for that option, but for others it would be worth it to them.

 

Another reason to get an M7 !

 

Originally posted by bertschb > : ...get "inside information" ... learn things about the car you're buying that you won't learn anywhere else...

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Besides balancing the engines for M7 cars so the stick won't vibrate as you mentioned in an earlier post, what other inside information and info you won't learn anywhere else did they tell you? Assuming you're not sworn to secrecy pursuant to a non-disclosure agreement, of course.

 

In hindsight I shouldn't have used the term "inside information". What I meant to say was I learned a lot of little details that I wouldn't have learned anywhere else. For example, we used a $20,000 torque wrench to tighten the nuts on part of the fuel rail. We then brought the engine to a special high tech testing station to test the fuel rail assembly for leaks prior to putting the supercharger on top. I had no idea that much effort went into making sure the fuel rail was assembled correctly. I learned a ton of other little details about the engine and the car while I was there.

None of this stuff is top secret or insider information. Sorry about the confusion.

 

That sounds awesome! I did the buyers tour and would love to do the engine build, I think that would be a blast. Thanks for the share!

 

It's OK. I love to read it every time and I look forward to doing it someday myself...

 

I did the engine build with my son and the memories alone are worth the price. On top of that, you get to assemble you own engine. How cool is that?