Well, I took the car into a friends place today. He and his buddy listened, then he went and grabbed a wooden broom handle and placed the end on the top and bottom of the block.

top of the block, slight ticking.

bottom of the block, hard ticking.

so we are figuring that it is a stretched rod or something in the bottom end, just not what i needed. either way the camaro is off the road until next spring when i have the money and time to deal with it.
i could try to sell it, but i won't let it go for anything under 4k, and with rod knock happening i would be lucky to get $1500 for it. i would have better luck parting it out.

my options as i can see-

-Have someone steal the car and crash it. Or arrange a hit and run. then claim my 8K plus payout with no premium increase. the simplest but least ethical. haha, i wish

-Wait until spring and either rebuild this block or find another L36. Dump 5K into it and make it able to beat LT1's.

-Wait until spring, find a LS1/T56 combo and swap into it. Do all the minor things, sell for 12-13K, get a Firebird.

-Somewhere in between, finish my 1993 6.5 diesel rebuild. trying to turn that into a twin fuel pump, single turbo, water methane build.

Oh, and get rich in the next few months.

Anyone have a cheap 3.8 they want to ditch?

 

You can take that one off the table. Converted car sell for about half of what an original car sells for. Most converted car end up being parted out becauce of the value of the LS1/6 speed combo. I have seen converted cars sit for a year priced only a little higher then their V6 value.

The 3.8s are one of the most common motors around. If your willing to use a used motor I have seen some amazing deals including a 2004 with 16K that sold for $600.

 

yea, i guess i assumed that most people would overlook the conversion part. thanks for that info.

$600? wow, that would have been nice. with my financial and time situation the way it is right now, i will be using a used block. even if i could get the block and rotating assembly, i would swap the rest of the stuff on. by time i sell this, i will have swapped the tranny, clutch, and the engine, and not spent the time or money to swap what i wanted, the rearend to a posi.

 

You can find running high miles 3800 all day for like $250. If you want to just sell it that might be the way to go. It sure is a lot of work. I am old and slow these days but I am told it can be done in 3 days.

 

I suggest that you sell the car and get a LT1 or LS1 car.

 

I bought my engine for $500 with tax and then the needed gaskets for less than $200 and a couple of weekends and my car is just like new. My engine came out of a 2001 Pontiac Boneville with about 70K on the meter. That is 1/2 what my car has. you can use any 3800 Series II engine from 96-2005, series III engines work too but there are some things that you need to change (check out FTV6 for the skinny there). Just make sure if you dont get a Camaro or Firebird engine that you clean the tin and manifolds really goood so you dont kill the new engine with the old grime.

Massey

 

lol, if you read the first post, i am a little short on money. if i could, i would pick up an 02' WS6. however, im to short on cash for that.

ah well. i will just have to find that cheap Series II

 

you are not the only one, we fear my block is cracked

 

Gorn, just wondering as to the best way to pull the engine. i already have a diesel block being built on my stand, and i don't have a lot of room, but...
would it be easiest to undo the front clip and put the car on stand and roll the engine/tranny out to work on the engine?

 

drop the engine out of the bottom it will come out with all the front suspension too