I am not sure what a full kit contains but like torque said putting new part in a tired block with tired heads is a waste of money. Your going to spend atleast a $1000 but most likely closer to $1500 at the machine shop. All that work will need done before you order your kit so you know what to order.

I have said it 1000 times on this site. From a money point of view rebuilding a high miles or damaged motor just does not make finacial sense if you goal is just a stock motor. You can buy a good used motor with 40,000 miles on it install your ring and bearing kit and new gaskets and be ready for another 150K of use for less than $1500.

 

but, you have to get lucky to find one of those engines. We're talking 15 years old for the "youngest" LT1 from 1997.

This is the point that these generation cars are now at. You will see some which are being allowed to fade away because of the cost to repair/rebuild properly. You'll also see some, but my hunch is a lesser percentage where the owners will spend the $$$ to refresh it in order to get more years from the vehicle

this thread is an example of that. We all know what is the best thing to do but not everyone can afford it. Also, if the interior and exterior are tired, why spend the money?

It's paint job time for our 4th gen and I'll work with junior on sanding and masking and will spray it for him.

But, my turbine gun has crapped out so I need to drop $300 for a new decent gun. Add $400 for paint and supplies and what kid can just go and get that and also has the ability to do the job?

I really do feel for the kids who own 4th gens and are facing large repair bills.

 

i see where you guys are coming from 100%. but i guess i am looking at it from the point of

1. the motor was still running strong

2. now that its all apart i realize i would have been ok with just removing the heads to get the dirt out.

3. my budget is limited.

I still need to get all the measurements to see how bad things are out of wack. but i am happy with everything so far. As far as looks go anyway. The crank is not scratched, the cylinder walls look to be ok( no big marks in them) as well as other things. I know that looks dont mean much but..... i nee to get the measurements so i know where i stand. If it comes down to it I could just put it back together with new gaskets and rings( they did look pretty worn) and it would be just as it was before all this happened. I would love to be able to go all out and have a complete rework done but thats not an option. So i guess my overall goal was to replace what i could afford with the thought that any parts i do replace will give it that much more life. i am going to go see if i can borrow the tool from the guy i got the pistons from to measure the internals. and as far as is the car worth it. to me it is. I have put leather interior in it, painted it, put t-tops in it, replaced the whole suspension system with one from a car that was a oval track car. so it was low millage. as well as alot of small things. So i will post the numbers later today if i can get the tool. And dont take me wrong I do appreciate what you guys are saying. i understand your telling me how to do it the right way. I am not trying to sound like i dont care cuz i do. I am just not sure how much i can afford.

 

good luck to you

you are still in denial and understandably so. It's not just a youth thing becuase it happens with older adults as well

your engine ingested foreign material, let's not lose sight of that.

Honestly, the chances are much greater that you will be throwing good money to bad if you try and just toss parts at it.

If you can't afford to get the block/crank/rods/heads cleaned and machined then do as Gorn suggested, look for a junker LT1 which has some life left in it.

Or, find a $1,000 beater to drive and fix the LT1 engine when you can afford it.

You've learned an expensive lesson, but don't make it worse. I'm sure we all have things we've learned the hard way. But, when we begin to heed advice from more experienced people (nice way of saying older.....ehem; Gorn) is when those hard earned lessons tend to occur less often.

 

Everyone is giving you good advise on your rebuild options. Id like to throw in one other option. Sell your procharger, take the money and engine to a machine shop and have them rebuild entire motor with a stroker kit. You will end up with a good and reliable powerplant with all the reciepts to back it up. It may be hard to part with a free supercharger but you may appreciate the piece of mind from a good sound motor with a stroker kit installed by a professional. This seems to fix all issues, especially the life at home with the wife. In a couple of weeks you will have your car back and all will be well.

 

i hear ya torque. like i said i am still up in the air on what all to do. I think i am going to take the block, crank, cam, and other parts to a shop and let them measure them and tell me what they think. I have had a couple people that have been inside engines before stop by to see haw much damage i did and they all say it dont look like my motor has 200k on it. they said it was way to clean inside. but going off what gorn was saying about not seeing out of round with the eye they agreed and said go have it looked at by a shop that builds motors. so i guess thats what i am doing next.

 

ok well i have decided to take your advice and i called around to some engine shops to have the block looked at. i think the place i will go said they will hot tank the crank and check it for round and stright for $12 and if it needs ground thats $110 and to hot tank the block it $60 plus $45 to install new cam bearings. they said they will check all measurements and let me know what is going to need ground. so does anyone have any idear on how to clean the heads. I am thinking i might get new valves, springs, ect. i just want to clean the heads themselves. would it hurt to sand blast them?

 

ive used gunk and pressure sprayed to get the stuff off good. sand blasting may damage the aluminum. can you afford to send them to elliotts to get them ported and such. level le1 at least. LT1 LE1 «

 

Sand blasting is a bad idea. You should not just put new valves in. The most important part of your valve system is the valve guide. It is what keep the valve inline with the seat so it will seal. Yours are worn and will need replaced. If you don't do a valve job your motor is still going to lack power due to the valves not sealing. So your guides need replaced. That process requires the Valve seat to be regound to make sure they are running true to the new guides. As long as the valve stems on the valve are not worn to bad you do not really need to replace the valve but with 200K chances are good they will need replaced. When you regrind or replace the valves your going to need to lap them in. Its pretty common to spend $600-1200 on getting a set of high miles heads back to factory specs. Heads should be checked for flatness and checked for cracks.

Did I mention that is is a LOT cheaper to find a low miles motor and freshen it up then it is to fix a high miles motor right? In fact it is almost aways cheaper to buy a reman engine then it is to rebuild a high miles motor.

 

unless you are one of the lucky ones like me who found a local one man shop who rebuilds engines, has low rent overhead and looks to make a modest profit on every job.

I found such a guy.

Other than that, there is no cheap and good way to rebuild an engine. And, you bring the heads to a shop. You might find someone to do them for no more than $200 each and that includes new guidesand seals but re-using the valves. If you need new springs then the price goes up. New springs would be a good idea as well as moving to 1.6 rr's and a cam upgrade