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GM Crate Motors

L

LIVE2WIN

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I am about to buy a crate motor to put into my 75 k5 and I was wondering if anyone has had any experience, bad or good with the gm 290 horse crate motor. I am trying to decide between that and the 330 horse motor but i really dont see any difference between the two up to 5xxx rpm where the 290 motor stops and the 330 motor goes to about 6000 rpm on the gm dyno website, and i barely ever see 4500rpm with my current engine. There is a grand difference between the two. ($1820 for the 290hp,$2600 plus $200 for vortec intake for the 330hp). Money is tight since i am going to school. I have 4.88 gears and 38 inch tsl locked front and rear with 1/2 ton:( running gear. I really dont like breaking things and the motor would be a definate upgrade from my worn smoking engine now. I was wondering if there is a really big difference between the two motors other than what I have seen and if the 290 horse motor sound "tame" can you order the motor from gm with a "hotter cam" to make it sound better. I was also going to put a holley truck avenger carb on the truck. What experience do you all have with those along with 10 bolt 3/4 ton front axles. There is a big difference between the price of one of those and a dana 60 but if i am only going to run at most 38.5 in boggers should it be a problem? Thanks for your help!


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I wouldn't even buy either . If I had 1820 to spend , I could get 400 hp easy with a good cheap rebuilt shortblock and aftermarket heads , cam and valvetrain .

Any machine shop .030 over 350 4 bolt would do .

And any change can go to other Blazer goodies , OR GAS
 
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I was going to have this done at my local gm dealership, since i am good freinds with the owner and they were going to do it for just a little over cost. GM has a two year warranty on their engines and any other place will void the warranty on anything i have done once they figure out what it is going in, i have already spoken with the service manager and the parts manager and they have both told me as long as i dont suck in water, dirt, etc into the motor they would get a repair warranted in that two year period.
 
good enough reason, I believe someone on here did buy one the 290 hp engines and was not very happy with it. Maybe they will chime in. I will try to find the thread
 
As to the motor ... I got the basic, el-cheapo GM crate for my '74 back when it was a street truck. At the time, it was *less* than rebuilts, and was all new parts.

Warranty I don't care so much about -- if it breaks, you still gotta R&R the thing, which is either money or hassle or both. I want a good product the first time, and at that time, the GM crate was it. (The motor's still in the truck and has largely done well for me.)

However, a performance motor it's not, and once you get into performance motors you really should consider finding a local shop, one that's been around and is well-respected, and let them build you one. You might spend a bit more up front, but it'll pay off in not R&R'ing a crappy engine later :deal:

Also, it looks like you do MUD ... which to me says a lot of throttle. This means (1) yeah, you want a hi-po motor, and (2) you are gonna be blowing up 10-bolts. They seem to last longest on trails and rock with a veeeery light right foot, but once you bang on the skinny pedal, you grenade them.

At the very least I'd suggest a 14bFF rear -- cheap, and infinitely stronger -- and then an 8-lug swap on your existing front axle. It's cheaper than a D60, and much less prone to breakage.

Anyway, my .02. Worth what you pay for it if not less =))

-- A
 
well, its more than you were looking to spend, but the HT383 would be awesome in a K5 ;)

although, you might look into a JASPER engine, i had one put in my 89 RS camaro, and it was an awesome runner. in fact, when i totaled the camaro i pulled the engine (its just a 170hp TBI 305) because its basically brand new. they come with very comprihensive warranties. and are cheaper than brand new GM crate motors. just something to look into.

I also agree that with 38in tires, i fear for the lifespan of the axles, and your desire to not break things :)
 
The 290hp motor sucks IMO. I have it, and the low-end torque is crap and my gas mileage got cut in half when I installed it (it replaced a well-worn 305).
 
In June of last year I bought a GM Performance Parts ZZ502 completely assembled. It came with everything on it except the starter and carb. They came with it just not on it. All I had to buy were headers and all of the accessories and brackets.

The heads weren't torqued correctly when GMPP assembled it and with 190 miles on the engine it had a little coolant in the oil and oil in the coolant.:doah:

So, I called GM Performance Parts Warranty Division and they had my garage send pics of the heads to them. They said the engine over heated and made the head bolts loosen.

I called Edelbrock, who makes the heads for GMPP, they said when an aluminum head overheats it doesn't make the head bolts loosen. I also called Fel Pro, who made the head gaskets, and they said if the heads were torqued correctly when it was assembled they would have a ring going completely around each combustion chamber. My heads don't have this complete ring around each chamber.

I told the manager of GMPP Warranty Division what Edelbrock and Fel Pro said and she said it didn't matter they weren't going to cover it.

So, the 2 Year 50,000 mile Warranty was of no value to me, it actually cost me money.
I will be checking the rest of my engine over before I reassemble it.

If you do buy a GMPP crate engine make sure you check it over before running it.

If anyone would like to talk to me about my experiences with my engine please PM me. There is more to this story.
 
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i got a 290 motor and have had no probs at all with mine and it was only $1720 and i install myself. i got 4.56s and 35"s
 
Streetgliderx said:
i got a 290 motor and have had no probs at all with mine and it was only $1720 and i install myself. i got 4.56s and 35"s
Click to expand...

It's just not an ideal combo for a truck IMO... It's got a mid-late-60's Corvette cam profile (327ci/350hp IIRC) that was originally in a higher compression engine (10:1+), but is now instead in an 8:1 motor. I've had a difficult time getting a decent idle, gas mileage tanked, and it just overall seems no stronger than the old worn-out 305ci that it replaced. It's been like that since day one and was professionally installed by a highly recommended shop.

A friend dropped the exact same motor in his '79 Firebird and complains that he can't even spin the tires (the old worn-out motor would at least do that with the same gear/tire combo). I spent a good deal of time reading forums where others were having similar problems, some with trucks, others with street cars.

I am curious, do you know what you vacuum is at idle? I big complaint among many folks was not being able to pull more than 15" Hg or so at idle. I noticed the same thing.
 
matter of fact i had a Vacuum gauge on it the other day trying to find my AC switch problem and i pulled 21"hg. my motor is no powerhouse by all means but it will bark the 35"s and i got a 700r4 and at 65 in OD i turn 2300rpms with 4.56s.... i get bout 12mpgas long as i aint in a hurry... and my idle has never been a problem. just goes to show there is a very different veiw of things... i might have done something else but i was workin so much i had no time to build and just got lazy and bought.
 
Streetgliderx said:
matter of fact i had a Vacuum gauge on it the other day trying to find my AC switch problem and i pulled 21"hg. my motor is no powerhouse by all means but it will bark the 35"s and i got a 700r4 and at 65 in OD i turn 2300rpms with 4.56s.... i get bout 12mpgas long as i aint in a hurry... and my idle has never been a problem. just goes to show there is a very different veiw of things... i might have done something else but i was workin so much i had no time to build and just got lazy and bought.
Click to expand...

That's *very* interesting... especially given that so many (myself included) couldn't pull more than 15".

I did get up to almost 17" once, but the timing was so advanced and it was leaned out so much it was ridiculous.

I wonder if something changed? I bought mine in 2004. When did you get yours?

What can be done to increase vacuum??? :confused:

I mean, will advancing the cam a couple of degrees do it? I want it to be more responsive off-idle, and be a better DD motor. Last resort is a complete cam swap.
 
Mike,

That really sucks.

That's not a cheap motor. It's a good thing that you stopped and checked things out when you did. Can your dealer "go to bat" for you with GM?
 
The last thing the manager at GMPP Warranty Division told me was my GM dealer could pay for it out of their pocket but GMPP wouldn't be covering the cost.

My thoughts are why would my GM dealer do that for me. The experiences I have had with them on warranty stuff on new trucks hasn't been that good. I also don't trust any dealer around me to fix this engine for me.
 
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Mike,

Prior to learning of your experience, I would have thought a major reason to purchase a crate engine from GM was their warranty.

It would seem that's not the case. If GMPP doesn't stand behind their products then the warranty is worthless. It doesn't sound like your dealer is a whole lot better.

I tried to buy a cam from GMPP through my local dealer and GMPP gave us the run-around on when it would be shipped. After three weeks of waiting, I gave up and bought the same grind in a Crane cam. The parts manager thought Crane made them for GM, anyway.
 
I bought this motor for mine in 2001
I have not been easy on this engine I have had no issues at all with it and have taken several trips across the states never an issue.
I was going to rebuild a 350 because my blazer had a straight 6 in it.I looked in to the rebuild and with machine work and parts it was cheaper and faster to go this way.

I have had good luck with mine and has plenty of power ,I have added an after market manifold and a set of headers when I installed it.gm parts direct is having a Liquidation Sale Price $1341.60 mine was 1449.60 in 2001:crazy::crazy:

Real happy with mine!!!:D

Mike

Search Results of Available Items *Prices are Per Unit
Page 1: 1-1 of 1 items

12499529_large1.jpg
GM PART # 10067353
CATEGORY: Eng Asm (shipped only to local fedex hub 4 pickup)
PACK QTY: 1
CORE CHARGE: $50.00
GM LIST: $2,154.30
OUR PRICE: $1,341.60



DESCRIPTION: New 350 ENG LM1 Four Bolt Main Original Price $1612.50, Liquidation Sale Price $1341.60
1969-85 GM Vehicles 350 Engine
This is for 85 and older vehicles and has the perimeter bolt valve covers and a two piece rear-main seal.
All brand new components NEW four bolt main block. Not Remanufactured / Not Rebuilt! An all new 350 Chevy engine backed by the GM warranty.
This engine can also be used in 1986 model pick-ups in combination with a new flexplate (flywheel) must also be changed. Use flexplate #471598(2 piece rear main seal) when used on 1986 and newer. (note: shipping qouted is to your local Fed Ex hub.) **THE PICTURE IS NOT AN ACTUAL PICTURE OF THE 10067353 ENGINE) IT LOOKS JUST LIKE MINE!!!????
Page 1: 1-1 of 1 items
 
i bought mine fall of 2007 and i pull good vacuum,... one thing i did do was eliminate all the unnessacary vacuum lines from factory and i timed the engine for vacuum advance instead of the constant vac it was originally intended
 
I have read where people have pulled their engine down and found different bore/piston sizes in each cylinder. They are thrown together Mexican engines. "Hecho en Mexico" is cast all over them.
My personal experience is that they are weak/thinwall castings,especially the heads. Good luck to you if you decide to get one. But I think for $1800 you can build a REAL nice 350 or 383.
-Lance
 
now i got an autozone reman one time that was built that way had 3 different size crank bearings and odd sized pistons none matched the hole next to it. but the gm motor is supposed to be a new block
 
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