You need to plan on about $500 on "other parts" you want to do as many as you can aford. Most of these parts are simple to change with the motor out but I huge pain once its in.

You want:
Motor mounts, tranny mount
Hoses
Plug wires
Plugs
Vacuum hoses

I hope your Girlfriends father has done a 4th gen before. I uses to turn wrench for a living and I was suprised at the amount of work involved... If he was a pro I am sure he will get it but expect some dirty looks and growling,,,, Good luck

 

Yeah he's done 4th Gens before, he said it'll take him about 6-7 hours so I'm expecting he's pretty pro at it.

The other parts: I plan on buying new motor mounts and tranny mount. The hoses and vacuum hoses I'm unsure about yet, but the plugs and plug wires are only a few months old (but who knows what condition my plugs are in after the coolant in my oil, they could be fouled to hell). So we'll see where that goes.

 

I doubt it'll take him 6-7 hours. I've taken my engine in and out of my car 4-5 times and like Gorn said, I turn wrenches daily and it still blows my mind how much there is to do. Plan on a few days, not a few hours. If he does it in a few hours, something is bound to mess up.

Just warning you.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

evilkal is right. if it takes him 6-7 hours he either doesnt know what hes dealing with or going to rush and possably mess up??. as i have tired to do it in that time, lol. my camaro is at the shop now...so make sure he knows what hes doing.

 

I am curious how long it would take a pro in a full shop. I use to be pretty quick. I remember replacing TPI 305's in the Irocs. It was tuff to make rate on those and they where 14 or 16 hours. The problem was not getting the motor in and out it was all the change over. Routing the wiring harness on the new block, all the brakets, Cleaning up all intake parts so you are sure they would seal up was very time consuming.

The easiest motors I ever did was the 2.5 in the the Citation. I could have the motor out in just over an hour. Even with that car getting the motor switch over and reinstalled would be tuff to do in a single day without OT.

 

I think one of the easier ones ive done was my Astro van. I did it so many times after i put the 355 in it i got it down to just over an hour to get it out and about 2 hours back in, of course this was a stripped down show van though.

 

It took me the better part of 2 days Gorn and I'm usually pretty quick with it lol. Definitely not a 6 hour job and I've done 10+ 3.8s... 4 being my own lol.

 

Well; now a GM-Certified buddy of mine offered to swap the gaskets out for me and he said he'll check the bearings to see if the coolant got to them at all.

He's gonna take apart the engine and tell me if HE honestly thinks I need to swap or not.

 

Knocking at idle is a sign to to much bearing clearance in your rod bearings.

I was a GM/ASTM cert Tech and I can tell if your 3.4 was knocking in the past and its a high miles car it needs bearings regardless of what the coolant did. There is no way they are still in spec. In spec bearing do not knock. Or you could say knock take bearing out of spec real quick. Either way. You really should have a plan for when he tells you your motor needs a rebuild. If you told him the motor has been knocking I am suprised he did not tell you the same thing. One of the things we are taught is before you ever start a big job check out the rest of the condition of the car and make sure the customer understands all the possible outcomes.

 

You coulda saved a lot of time in trying to figure out what to do if you'd told us it was knocking =P If it's ALREADY knocking at idle, coolant being in there will judge make things much worse and you'll probably end up spinning a bearing or worse, throwing a rod through the block...

Rebuild is my vote hands down then. That or buy a different car.