The GoatBoat: 2006 Pontiac GTO

[JustinG]

1. Never built a motor before
2. Using rods that state in the description "I dont know the history of these items"
3. Crankshaft that will have to be rebalanced

Has success written all over it!

[ViPER1313]

1. Never built a motor before
2. Using rods that state in the description "I dont know the history of these items"
3. Crankshaft that will have to be rebalanced

Has success written all over it!

Right, so you take all the rotating parts to a machine shop and have them run all the tolerances / balance it to make sure it's all OK, then you bolt it together. Not rocket science. You think the guys at the dealership are plastigauging shit, breaking out the micrometer, assembling in a clean room?

[JustinG]

No, but a crate engine from GM probably is.

[ViPER1313]

Right, and you can fix it 5x for the cost of one of those, or 3x for the cost of a junkyard motor. There's no reason to hone the cylinders, replace the piston rings, etc, just get it going.

Edit- I am dead serious here, I don't see the major fear in fixing/building the motor. Just take your time and have the rotating assembly balanced, everything will be fine. If you take your time and follow the manual it's really hard to screw up.

Edit 2 - to point number two, only 2x of the rods (out of eight) need to be good. My bet is that at least two are.

[D_Eclipse9916]

How's the DSM running?


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[D_Eclipse9916]

Point is, slapping "shit in" works great for 3-$400 motors. Or motors that make 150hp. Even his messed up motor is worth 4-5x that, so if he gets it wrong, it probably can't be machined again. That's a pricey mistake.

Ls2/ls3s are just too expensive to slap things together and hope it works.


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[RawrImAMonster]

I will again throw out Ralph at J&R Repair in Broadway if you want someone that knows what they are doing, but doesn't charge a ton to take a look at your motor. He worked in a machine shop for 15 years so he knows what he is doing fairly well. That is where we rebuilt my LT1 at and the LS series aren't much different. Mine also needed way more work than yours will since the spun bearings were a result of the guy before me running the car too long with a blown head gasket and ruining essentially everything in the motor. Don't ever buy a car with a bad head gasket.

He charges $50 an hour and it won't take any time for him the pull the motor apart since it's out of the car.

[Senor_Taylor]

$50 an hour? I didn't know a shop on the planet was that cheap.

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[ViPER1313]

How's the DSM running?


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Well

[RawrImAMonster]

$50 an hour? I didn't know a shop on the planet was that cheap.

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This is what you would call a country shop. It's not even in Broadway, it's in Rockingham county. But as I said, he has a ton of experience and I'm 100% confident he would have no problem telling Tyler exactly what he needs to get the car running and he could rebuild it without issues if needed. It's super easy to take a motor apart if it's already out of the car, so the expensive part (labor wise) is already out of the way.

Ralph would also swap motors for a flat fee of $400 a few years ago. I suspect that might have moved up to $500 or so more recently, but I haven't asked about it.

[WRXtranceformed]

Charlotte is probably not a bad area to seek out master engine mechanics / machinists. We're in the land of horsepower; a lot of the major NASCAR shops and teams have operations and suppliers here.

I still stick by my suggestion of buying a crate engine and parting out your current one / exploring some kind of core exchange if it exists, as someone who has blown a motor before and gone that route.

[Tyler.M]

so, how about this. I get a crate motor or junkyard motor and drop it to get on the road. then slowly work on rebuilding this because I want to. if it works and i do it right i can either sell it and get some money back or keep it and swap it into a project down the road. so, question now is whether or not i wanna go crate or junkyard. French's has an ls2 with 107k on it for 1300. im gonna check other junkyards closer to richmond or nova and see what else they have.

[Tyler.M]

http://www.jegs.com/p/Chevrolet-Performa...5/10002/-1

If I go crate, probably will go with this. 495 hp and 473 ft/lbs. 100k 36 month warranty through GM, but I need to see what exactly what it will cost to do the swap and if the warranty is valid if I do it myself. Not going to do this option if I have to go through a stealership to keep the warranty.

Yes, it's expensive. The other option is 5900 for the stock motor but 500 bucks for 65 hp more seems like a steal.

Seeing as this would be my only real option crate, Junkyard motor and doing a slow rebuild seems like the best bet. Dropping 7 grand into an 11 grand car is ridiculous. I spend 4000 bucks and I get a car working again, an extra motor to build and either keep or sell or swap back. :dunno: I need to do suspension and tires too, so junkyard option will give me some room to get some decent other stuff.

[JPolen01]

I like the LS3 idea.

[RawrImAMonster]

1. Get the ls2 from French's
2. Do rod bearings while you have it out, maybe a upgraded oil pump if you're worried
3. cam it if you want to at that point
4. Profit?

That motor will run for a long time. Cheapest option by far and you get to sort of rebuild it.

[davej]

^ true, but if you want a drop and go, I still like the idea of a crate ls3. You'll have a 0 mile, warrantied engine in a car you can drive again relatively soon; then you can take your time on your old engine, rebuild that and use it for another project, or just sell after it's done and recoup a chunk of $ towards the crate purchase.

The 100k engine at French's still is going to take some work like Stephen mentioned, but maybe it'd be less hassle in the long run to sell your engine as is and pick up french's for the project as you might have less machine shop work on that one?

[D_Eclipse9916]

1. Get the ls2 from French's
2. Do rod bearings while you have it out, maybe a upgraded oil pump if you're worried
3. cam it if you want to at that point
4. Profit?

That motor will run for a long time. Cheapest option by far and you get to sort of rebuild it.

100k miles on an LS is a tired motor.......

[RawrImAMonster]

I would say the exact opposite. LS motors aren't high strung and they tend to run forever under normal circumstances. There's a reason why you see tons of f-bodies for sale with 200k plus on the original motor.

[rherold9]

Tyler, just make your own damn decision on what you want to do. If you want to build the motor than do it. For the time being if you want a cheap temporary way to drive your car then drop in a used motor. If you want your car running pristine then drop in a new LS3. You can always sell the LS3 later when you are done building....

[Tyler.M]

I think I'm going to go used motor route but since I'm going to keep this sucker, I'm going to source used ls3's, do the swap on the cheap, and then when I'm ready get a crate ls3 and drop it in down the road. All the important bits of the swap will be done so that'd help out later. Also, going to do a suspension refresh and put on some wider tires on the rear.

The ls2 will be rebuilt, and I have plans to use it in a project I've been considering for awhile.