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Engine swap. which one, where, new or rebuilt?

Depends on how much they want the power... Since she has the money she can do alot of different things to make good power and get a good warranty. Price for hp goes way down if you find the parts and do the work yourself... you may have to do some tuning on the tbi system or swap for a mpi system but you will save 1000 bucks and have the same warranty and power that is close equal to or more than the ram jet depending on how you tune it... that's why i said a ram jet is a rip off, for me anyway.
 
dirtwarrior17 said:
the camel humps and the cam specs are the only thing that is 35 years old..
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Which are the heart and soul of every engine buildup, especially the cylinder heads.

You got ripped.

that's why i said a ram jet is a rip off, for me anyway.
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You spent your hard earned dollars on something I could have built in my garage for about $200 with a bottle brush hone, a new set of rings, bearings, and gaskets.

The whole point of building an engine for a Chevy nowadays is to replace the cylinder heads with some that have more efficient ports and combustion chambers, replace the pistons to achieve the compression ratio desired, deck the block to zero to get correct quench, and potentially replace the crank to build a stroker...none of which were done by the person that built your motor for you (likely because you couldn't handle it and are a total douche).

Oh yeah and you're still a wanker.

Go away. Now.
 
Even with all the bickering:) , I've really gotten a lot of great info from all you guys, thanks. I think I'll probably end up getting a GM goodwrench or GM performance crate engine, but I also will stop into some local machine shops and check out their costs and warranties. I'm still not sure how much I'll have to spend so I'm not sure which one I'll want. I took the burb to my mechanic today to give everything a once over, so after I know if there's anything that needs replaced or upgraded right away, I'll have a better idea of what my price range is for the engine swap. I don't know why exactly, but I think I want to keep the TBI. Even though I don't know a ton about it vs other EFI, it seems like it'd make things simpler overall, please let me know what you think about that. Obviously, if I ended up doing the Ram Jet, or something like that, it would be a nonissue, but if not, then it just seems like the simpler option. I called Holley about their 670 CFM stock TBI replacement, and their tech guy said he thought the max hp it could handle before it started starving the engine was probably 350hp, and I doubt I'd be dropping in anything that'd produce more than that. BTW, when GM (or other engine manu's) lists hp and torque, is that with an ideal upgraded setup, stock setup, or what. I guess I'm just trying to figure out if I'd end up with more or less horses once I had upgraded everything else under the hood. Again thanks for all the help, please keep it coming.
 
we should have this discussion face to face...I'd bet money you wouldn't be talkin **** or be on the ground while your talkin it. where do you live... Nothin pisses me off more than some dude who thinks hes bad cause he can talk **** on a computer. example: you are a wanker. sound like a third grader.

Show me where I can't handle it in my post..... If my **** was defective and ran like a stock motor i would accept the fact i got ripped off. I had a stock 350 a year ago and its no where close to this motor. it runs exactly like my dads crate 383 with all the same **** but revs faster. If you knew anything about chevy motors you wouldn't have posted that bull**** then you say im a ****in douche. go **** yourself. Are you british? lmfao.. dude called me a wanker.

I am running a set of the ol fuelie camel hump heads on my stroker 383. the heads have had a lot of work done.2.02 / 1.60 valves,larger springs,ported,polished etc. I am considering changing to an aluminum performance head due to adding a 671 supercharger. Does anyone have any input on weather to keep these heads around or should i just part with them? Any ideas what to ask for these. Right now they are on the motor and it dyno'ed at 613hp so I know they work well.
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straight from hot rod forum.

You probably wasted your money a complete motor and are pissed because people can build the same motor for a couple grand less. I don't have a hot tank and the machinery to do that ****. It has all the signs of a new motor like smoking headers and hard turnover. Your a dumbass... the pistons cost more than 200 bucks. I know its all honed and balanced because it sounds and runs damn good. 1/3 throttle for more than 1 sec and its at 4000 rpm. It will push 350 hp no problem and be more around 375 at the flywheel. When i get some pics i'll post em so you can stfu. Has a bunch of chrome parts a new paint job with 10:1 345np speedro flat tops. and i took off the valve covers.. all the **** is brand new. Saying you can do this for 200 is ****ing hilarious. The parts alone come out to $1000 I'll have the dyno sheets in a month. Everything on the motor is brand new except the rods, crank, and block. You would pay 2000 grand at a shop for this motor... i got it for 1500 Who gives a **** if its got camel humps read the quote. they use em in 613 hp street rods. The camels got work done to em. Your got no idea wtf your talkin about. the camels can support 613 hp beasts with no forced induction. My heads have had porting. You got nothing to stand on.

If your gonna post something telling me what my motor has done to it know wtf your talking about. Im done explaining this **** to 84. Read my last 2 long ass posts and you'll realize you made yourself look like an ass. It has the right pistons, rings, was bored, honed, hot tanked, magnufluxed, with gm x rods, crane cam remake of the l-79, and high volume oil pump and pan. If you don't beleive me, i don't care, keep it to yourself. I know whats in it. I've seen this guys shop and the other ten motors he was buildin. I know it was his shop because my motor was in the picture.

when did you talk to JR and when did he tell you what he did to the motor? you got no ****in clue:laugh: stfu. read my other posts before you post again im done wasting my time.

dumbass.....
 
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mini_mull said:
Even with all the bickering:) , I've really gotten a lot of great info from all you guys, thanks. I think I'll probably end up getting a GM goodwrench or GM performance crate engine, but I also will stop into some local machine shops and check out their costs and warranties. I'm still not sure how much I'll have to spend so I'm not sure which one I'll want. I took the burb to my mechanic today to give everything a once over, so after I know if there's anything that needs replaced or upgraded right away, I'll have a better idea of what my price range is for the engine swap. I don't know why exactly, but I think I want to keep the TBI. Even though I don't know a ton about it vs other EFI, it seems like it'd make things simpler overall, please let me know what you think about that. Obviously, if I ended up doing the Ram Jet, or something like that, it would be a nonissue, but if not, then it just seems like the simpler option. I called Holley about their 670 CFM stock TBI replacement, and their tech guy said he thought the max hp it could handle before it started starving the engine was probably 350hp, and I doubt I'd be dropping in anything that'd produce more than that. BTW, when GM (or other engine manu's) lists hp and torque, is that with an ideal upgraded setup, stock setup, or what. I guess I'm just trying to figure out if I'd end up with more or less horses once I had upgraded everything else under the hood. Again thanks for all the help, please keep it coming.
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I apologize for my end of the bickering! :D

If you plan on keeping the stock TBi or stock system with the HolleyTB, then I'd call a good GM performance shop that deals with crate engines alot. See what they recommend as far as what crate engine that will work best with you app...
Some good places to look or call are:
www.paceparts.com
www.sdpc2000.com

:thumb:
 
Don't worry about apologizing. I understand you guys have strong opinions, and want me to get the best advice around, so I appreciate pointing out what may be flaws in other peoples advice. Sure the personal attacks get a little out of hand, but I'd rather take the good with the bad, than miss some of the good. Anyways, thanks, and I'm still looking for answers to the questions in my last post, will keeping TBI really make my life simpler or is that a pipe dream if I go with an engine with more hp and torque, and what do the hp and torque numbers translate to real life? I'll call those shops you mentioned and see what advice they can offer, thanks for the names.
 
mini_mull said:
Anyways, thanks, and I'm still looking for answers to the questions in my last post, will keeping TBI really make my life simpler or is that a pipe dream if I go with an engine with more hp and torque, and what do the hp and torque numbers translate to real life?
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As far as the TBI making your life simpler... If you go with a stock replacement 350 for your app, that will be about the cheapest and easiest way... Or the same with a local shop doing a rebuild. If you have a local shop do a rebuild you can have them put in an aftermarket cam that will work with the stock TBI and chip... But when adding mouch more HP to the engine, you will need to get a new chip burnt which isn't bad. Depending onwho you go through, they are about $70-$400.

If you go with the Ram Jet or LS series engine from AA, they have the computer on the engine so you can do away with the TBI system all together. They usually sell for anywhere from $150-$400 on here or ebay..

:D
 
dirtwarrior17 said:
It has the right pistons, rings, was bored, honed, hot tanked, magnufluxed, with gm x rods, crane cam remake of the l-79, and high volume oil pump and pan. If you don't beleive me, i don't care, keep it to yourself. I know whats in it. I've seen this guys shop and the other ten motors he was buildin. I know it was his shop because my motor was in the picture.[/QUOTE]

Or so it said in the ebay auction.

Hey everybody, want to buy a brand new motor from me? It's got 4 bolt mains and the most choking smog heads I could find. I, "bored, honed, hot tanked, and magnafuxed." It's got a remake of 35 year old camshaft technology and it'll make $1000 horsepower. I'll sell it to you on ebay, for the low price of just $1500!!! Motors are going fast, I can't hang onto these things. Get in on the deals while they last. I'll go snap some pics in a machine shop and laugh all the way to the bank with your money!!!
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Enough...........

dirtwarrior17 said:
Has a bunch of chrome parts a new paint job with 10:1 345np speedro flat tops

The chrome parts add 100 hp and it doesn't even ping with 10:1 compression
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Get a brand new direct replacement crate motor from GM, they cost around $1,900 from Thorobred Chevy (Warner and AZ Ave) but can be had for much less, prolly $1,500 (plus $100 core), call around till you find a good deal. This will be a very dependable route, get the best gas mileage and be fine for the smog nazis. :thumb:
 
bigyellowjimmy said:
Get a brand new direct replacement crate motor from GM, they cost around $1,900 from Thorobred Chevy (Warner and AZ Ave) but can be had for much less, prolly $1,500 (plus $100 core), call around till you find a good deal. This will be a very dependable route, get the best gas mileage and be fine for the smog nazis. :thumb:
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Good point with smog! We dont have any emissions checks up here so I never think of that! :D
 
bigyellowjimmy said:
Count your blessings! :waytogo:
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This side of PA just got it last year. BUt the only thing they check is the gas cap and a visual underneath check. This side of Ohio has none.. *knock on wood* I'd like to move to AZ though! :)
 
Hey bigyellowjimmy, what exactly do the AZ smog nazis check? I haven't had an older vehicle for a few years, so I don't have a clue what they're doing these days. If they are to strict I guess I can always register in Greer (cabin). I've heard of people doing that before, not sure how legal it is though. I was planning on registering there for awhile anyways just 'cause we'll be moving around a lot in the next 6-9 months.

I talked to a tech guy at Pace today and he said he'd recommend going with the stock GM goodwrench replacement, a GM crate Caprice plus a roller cam(would void the warranty though:frown1: ), or if I wanted to lay down a lot of dough I could do a GM crate HT 383 (would need intake, headers, custom chip, etc.) but I could keep the stock TBI and be good for all three. Not a lot of choices in between, it's all or nothing. That HT sure would be nice for towing with all that torque:D , but I'll have to wait and see if I can fork out all that dough. The tech guy (Dennis) seemed really knowledgable esp. about TBI trucks and what extra stuff would be needed for each setup and what you'd end up with when complete. Thanks for sending me their way, emmetology.
 
Ht 383

I have built many small blocks for different uses over the years & have a rule of thumb you might want to consider.

Don't build something that the local chevy dealer can't work on if you can't. Reason, if you haul the family on a long trip, there is a chevy dealer in every burg in the USA....

The 400 block will probably have overheating problems if you tow or drive it too hard due to the cylinder wall configuration. If it were me, I would probably go with the HT 383 Chevy crate motor, add the TBI manifold, have the TBI cleaned up and enjoy it for the next 200,000 miles

If you want to get the best deal out there, go look at a couple of sites. Remember high compression is great for racing, but killer on the street plus you have the privilege of buying premium gas.....

Go take a look at www.paceperformance.com and www.jonbarrettengines.com . Beck Engines is a great shop if you can afford them....

Supergas
 
if you put a ramjet in a truck that had TBI, and you've got strict smog laws(here they even want you to have stock air cleaner!) wouldnt that completly fail tech insp.? i think AZ is a little looser than CA.


i'd have to make my motor look like its stock from the outside. i think even if i lived out of state i wouldnt go crazy with swapping in motors that wouldnt pass the strictest of smog laws. who knows if they'll change the laws where your at. or what if you relocate or sell it in a different state. seems to me it would lose some of its value if u cant smog it down the road.
 
what do u guys think about this one?

http://www.high-performance-engines.com/spc1.html

seems like a good deal. plus u keep the all the stock efi.

i was thinking about doing a similar setup to my truck. my bottom end is in great shape, although its got 150k. i was thinking about swapping the top end components of whats on this engine (torker heads,cam, intake) onto my stock shortblock. probly do it myself for 2k. sure it wouldnt be a stroker and make the same power numbers,but in the neighborhood.plus ive got a holley tbi and thorleys. what are the older members opinions?

sorry for the semi-hijack. hope it will provide some useful info to the original poster.
 
in the 60's a group of racer's called the ramchargers (they raced mopars) started kicking everybody's a$$. they were using rebiult engines. the theory is that once an engine has been run and cooled down thousands of times, the block, heads, and such they are "set" where as a new engine will need to settle and have core shift. my point is if you can just change out the engine yourself, you may want to consider getting an engine or use your orignal engine, having it built by a reputable shop with all new parts except for block heads crank and rods. ask some local racer who does their machine work. have all the good stuff done to it, boring, decking, align honing, and balancing. you should have an engine that should last another 250,000 miles, and no install headaches trying to make everything work with your computer. just my .02.
 
Jonny-K5 said:
what do u guys think about this one?

http://www.high-performance-engines.com/spc1.html

seems like a good deal. plus u keep the all the stock efi.
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Actually I found that motor online, too, but no one said they had ever done business with ATK Engines, so if I can't find a multitude of people who've used them and loved them, I'll probably stick to GM since this is a family DD. Plus, the HT is also around 4K, but all new and can go with TBI, just needs a few more extras like intake, headers, and a custom chip. Thanks for the info though, if I could just find enough people who'd used them I might consider it.

As much as I don't really want to, I might end up going stock. I'm going to talk it over with my other half tonight, and see if he freaks out when I add up all the costs for the HT, then go from there. If he's still breathing after I run it all by him, then I'll make the HT my goal and hold out on all the other upgrades/repairs as long as I can until I can afford the HT.

BTW, anyone know how I can figure out what headers would fit the HT 383, so I can do a parts mock up for costs.
 
i think you'll be very happy with the HT 383. its got great #'s. its the crate i recommend for sb truck apps..

sure, i could build it for a grand or so less (which is what i'm doing for my K5 btw :D, probably be the same $ when i do a few upgrades above what the crate has), but for a drop in torquey 383 perfect for a Burb, they're worth the 4 g's or so....

oh, and, headers are the same as a 350. smaller primary tube would be best for keeping the torque on the bottom end.. 1 5/8" or so... i always recommend a quality header, thick is good.. Thorleys, Stans and Hooker have been at the top of my shopping list...
 
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