The GoatBoat: 2006 Pontiac GTO

[Jake]

I helped DJ do rod bearings on an S52 once. It kinda sucks that you paid to have the motor taken out, but the job is way easier with the thing on a stand and able to be flipped upside down.

Get some good torque wrenches. I suspect you'll need a small one that does inch-lbs. I'd go "better than Harbor Freight" for that purchase.

Let me know if you want some help, I could be convinced to run down your way on a free weekend, maybe maybe.

[D_Eclipse9916]

I helped DJ do rod bearings on an S52 once. It kinda sucks that you paid to have the motor taken out, but the job is way easier with the thing on a stand and able to be flipped upside down.

Unfortunately for him he is going to have to plastigauge it since he spun a rod after it gets back from the machine shop. Not necessarily complicated but it does take longer. Good luck finding a good machine shop, I have had lots of problems with machine shops.

My vote, take your losses, sell everything or buy a crate ls3 from GM with a warranty and get on your way.

[rherold9]

Good luck on the spun bearings man. I know Sam had some issues with that and it never got quite running right when just trying to fix the bearings themselves on his 240.

I agree with DJ, I'd just get a crate motor even though it costs a lot I think you'll be happy with a brand new motor since you said you are in a loss already and plan to keep it

[Tyler.M]

I helped DJ do rod bearings on an S52 once. It kinda sucks that you paid to have the motor taken out, but the job is way easier with the thing on a stand and able to be flipped upside down.

Unfortunately for him he is going to have to plastigauge it since he spun a rod after it gets back from the machine shop. Not necessarily complicated but it does take longer. Good luck finding a good machine shop, I have had lots of problems with machine shops.

My vote, take your losses, sell everything or buy a crate ls3 from GM with a warranty and get on your way.

Don't think it's worth going through a rebuild and figuring it out?

[rherold9]

Don't think it's worth going through a rebuild and figuring it out?

You'd probably be spending more on a rebuild than buying a new motor. Well depending on the parts you choose on your rebuild... Are you building for boost or just building back to stock?

[Tyler.M]

Good luck on the spun bearings man. I know Sam had some issues with that and it never got quite running right when just trying to fix the bearings themselves on his 240.

I agree with DJ, I'd just get a crate motor even though it costs a lot I think you'll be happy with a brand new motor since you said you are in a loss already and plan to keep it

Decisions, decisions. Choosing both are going to be expensive. The LS3 swap won't be just the crate motor, I need a new 58x relo wheel and other various things. Although, that sort of thing would be a helluva a lot easier than trying to do a rebuild myself at the very least, I can still do the rebuild down the road. It'd just be another project.

[Tyler.M]

Don't think it's worth going through a rebuild and figuring it out?

You'd probably be spending more on a rebuild than buying a new motor. Well depending on the parts you choose on your rebuild... Are you building for boost or just building back to stock?

Just back to stock, with a few extras. Not going to do any FI stuff. Extras would be picked based on keeping to a budget

[rherold9]

I can understand you can't decide on what to do with the motor. I think your first decision is are you definitely going to keep the car? If that is a 100% yes then drop in the crate and new stuff for the monies. Save up to build old motor for boost and then swap it back? :dunno: .

It all comes down to what you want man. I know it would take me awhile to decide on what to do with a car. It has for me at least so I'm sure it happens to everyone else.

Also, just saw your post before finishing this one. So just cams and a port build or something else? If that's the case then rebuild old motor and stick it out.

[Tyler.M]

I can understand you can't decide on what to do with the motor. I think your first decision is are you definitely going to keep the car? If that is a 100% yes then drop in the crate and new stuff for the monies. Save up to build old motor for boost and then swap it back? :dunno: .

It all comes down to what you want man. I know it would take me awhile to decide on what to do with a car. It has for me at least so I'm sure it happens to everyone else.

Also, just saw your post before finishing this one. So just cams and a port build or something else? If that's the case then rebuild old motor and stick it out.

Yeah, just cams and port build. Nothing crazy. I mean, if I can beat ls3 stock numbers (430hp 430ft/lbs) then I see it as beneficial, ignoring those other goofy things like "reliability" and "warranty". I was probably going to do ported ls3 heads, cam, and stock rebuild of the bottom end. Maybe FAST TB? I gotta watch my "add to cart" trigger finger because it could get crazy pretty quickly. The internet says that just a few simple upgrades to the top end could net me some pretty good numbers on the LS2 that would put me way beyond the 430/430 I'd shoot for for this to make sense, but :dunno:

But, all of that comes after I get the block honed and inspected just to make sure there isn't any major issues or any scoring. I'm looking at new gaskets, bearings, oilpump and who knows what else at this point. Also have some other maintenance issues too to check out, radiator, clutch plate, flywheel, and various mounts and bushings throughout the rest of the car. Since everything is apart, makes sense just to get new/better components of things I have access to since I'm going to keep it.

I think what I'm going to do is just start taking it apart, catalogue everything, get a running total of how much it'd cost with some various build options and see what to do from there. If it makes more sense to drop in an ls3, I'll do that, and if the block on this motor is good, I could have a spare powerplant for some goofy frankenbuild down the road that I've always wanted to do anyways.

[rherold9]

Sounds like you have a plan in mind. Sounds like the most logical to do to compare costs so, looking forward to the build or drop in with bolt ons and tune for 430/430.

[D_Eclipse9916]

I helped DJ do rod bearings on an S52 once. It kinda sucks that you paid to have the motor taken out, but the job is way easier with the thing on a stand and able to be flipped upside down.

Unfortunately for him he is going to have to plastigauge it since he spun a rod after it gets back from the machine shop. Not necessarily complicated but it does take longer. Good luck finding a good machine shop, I have had lots of problems with machine shops.

My vote, take your losses, sell everything or buy a crate ls3 from GM with a warranty and get on your way.

Don't think it's worth going through a rebuild and figuring it out?

Personally I dont think so. Itll cost you 2-3 thousand, plus "modifying" it with a cam and port work so another $1k. Brand new reliability and warranty for $2k? Worth it, especially if you mess up putting it back together. These are expensive mistakes.

[WRXtranceformed]

Yeah I would go with DJ's advice here as well. If you can sell your old block to someone else looking for a project you could possibly get closer to netting out in the long run...and lots less to go wrong with a crate motor vs. trying to find a machine shop you can trust and that does good work

[SlimKlim]

I third the notion of not attempting a learn-as-you-go rebuild on your only car that you have a ton of money tied up in.

Also, you said you own an "embarrassing" amount on this car. Is it really worth that plus a new engine to you? Do you really love it enough to commit yourself to it that long? I don't know what you owe on it or your cash flow situation so I'll refrain from trying to give advice, but personally speaking I think I'd be more inclined to part it out and cut my losses than to double down and be stuck making a payment on a 10 year old car.

[Maengelito]

Maybe I missed this part but did you ever pinpoint why the motor spun a bearing? Was it a broken oil pump? Also, why did the warranty company deny your claim?

[Tyler.M]

Maybe I missed this part but did you ever pinpoint why the motor spun a bearing? Was it a broken oil pump? Also, why did the warranty company deny your claim?

Oil pump failure caused spun rod bearing 7 and 8. Warranty company says I ran the motor without oil (not true) and that it's my fault, even though I have service records and I checked oil frequently. I've argued back and forth with them and got them to admit that they weren't sure what caused teh failure and because of that they won't cover it. I considered a lawsuit, but seeing as that would put me another few thousand in the hole with no guarantee, I'm still screwed on that.

A new motor will probably cost me closer to 6.5 to 7k. The cheapest crate I've been able to find with an aluminum block is from Jegs for 5800. Then I need assorted parts to swap for another 500~, plus if I want the warranty, I have to get it reinstalled at a professional shop (I think? I know remans require this) which will probably be close to 500 (if not more) again. So, I either rebuild it and risk it (medium dollars, high risk), junkyard motor replacement and risk it (low dollars, high risk), or crate motor and have no risk (mucho dollars, no risk). I would be able to part out most of the motor, but I'm guessing I wouldn't be able to get more than 1000 bucks with the various parts and things, which isn't bad, but that still puts me at 5 grand. I'm not arguing any side of it. I'm just stuck on my decision making process at this point.

[RawrImAMonster]

I'd probably be looking into a used LS2, but that's just me. There isn't THAT much risk if you find one that was crashed in the back with lowish miles. They aren't typically unreliable motors.

[Ken]

Maybe I missed this part but did you ever pinpoint why the motor spun a bearing? Was it a broken oil pump? Also, why did the warranty company deny your claim?

Oil pump failure caused spun rod bearing 7 and 8. Warranty company says I ran the motor without oil (not true) and that it's my fault, even though I have service records and I checked oil frequently. I've argued back and forth with them and got them to admit that they weren't sure what caused teh failure and because of that they won't cover it. I considered a lawsuit, but seeing as that would put me another few thousand in the hole with no guarantee, I'm still screwed on that.

A new motor will probably cost me closer to 6.5 to 7k. The cheapest crate I've been able to find with an aluminum block is from Jegs for 5800. Then I need assorted parts to swap for another 500~, plus if I want the warranty, I have to get it reinstalled at a professional shop (I think? I know remans require this) which will probably be close to 500 (if not more) again. So, I either rebuild it and risk it (medium dollars, high risk), junkyard motor replacement and risk it (low dollars, high risk), or crate motor and have no risk (mucho dollars, no risk). I would be able to part out most of the motor, but I'm guessing I wouldn't be able to get more than 1000 bucks with the various parts and things, which isn't bad, but that still puts me at 5 grand. I'm not arguing any side of it. I'm just stuck on my decision making process at this point.

Can't you get a free consultation on this? If you really do have all the paperwork in line, wouldn't that be medium dollars, medium risk? :dunno: Just think it's at least worth the consultation so you can definitively rule that out.

[Tyler.M]

I'm trying to find a good shop to take the motor to just to see what that looks like. I just don't want to spend more money for a shop to take it apart again, which is my problem, I'll have to pay more money to fight that and there is no guarentee. There could be any number of ways they could pin it on me, really.

[D_Eclipse9916]

I'm trying to find a good shop to take the motor to just to see what that looks like. I just don't want to spend more money for a shop to take it apart again, which is my problem, I'll have to pay more money to fight that and there is no guarentee. There could be any number of ways they could pin it on me, really.

I bet you could sell that motor for 1.5-2k. I priced out rotating assemblies and the stuff you need to rebuild....buy a crate or take the risk of a used motor. For prices on used LS2s I am finding, I would go crate. One of the mistakes I made on the LS1/M3 motor.

[ViPER1313]

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