How much refreshing is sensible on 454 Donor?

[KeyBlazer]

My "Old faithful" '87 Suburban 454 motor chewed up its cam sprocket and maybe did some damage. The tranny was going too, as it had no lockdown in 2nd.

I got a 454/TH400 combo from a friend out of a similar 1990 Suburban that I plan to drop in as a replacement. The combo was running good before he parked it he says, but I have no idea of the mileage or real condition.

The A/C and Alt brackets are reversed on the 1990 motor, but I assume that I will just swap the ones from the '87.

My question is as I have the motor/trans out what would be sensible to freshen up?

I planned to pull the oil pan and replace the front and rear seals and pan gasket. I think it would be wise to replace the cam drive too!
Maybe I should pop the #1 main bearing cap and a rod cap and see how they look?

On the tranny, I thought a new filter would be sufficient.

I dont want to spend a ton of money or time on this, but what do you guys think is smart to do?

 

[pauly383]

Re-ring kit , valve seals , simple mild cam kit . Should be real cheap and easy , PROVIDED the motor looks real good when you start the forensics

 

[scotto0609]

How good a friend are they?

 

[KeyBlazer]

Thanks, for the info.... If my friend says its good I believe him. I just dont like the idea of pulling the whole motor apart unless I have to, in which case I would just rebuild the 87 motor which has 160k on it, had great oil pressure but leaked oil more than it burned.
I plan to rebuild one of them totally and put that in my Blazer...

Mild cam, rings etc?
Any suggestions on them and a cheap supplier?

 

[dyeager535]

I'd pop the main bearing and connecting rod caps, check the bearings and crank out. If they are shot, or on their way out, better to take care of it now.

I found a well-respected engine builder locally that I can get parts from, also a speed shop that sells a lot of parts can do you right. There is always Jegs and Summit, I have no idea how good their parts people are. I've heard good things typically.

 

[reddog64]

i'd at least put new valve seals on...
and pull a cap or two to check bearings...

 

[KeyBlazer]

The motor is in my Garage now, I pulled it last weekend.
Its been sitting for at least a year.
It looks pretty grungy, so I think its probably never been touched. I found the instrument cluster and its reads 40k. Maybe 140K or could be 240K!

I need to keep costs low.

Here is the plan:
1/ Strip all the front ancillaries, and put them away for later, as its a complete serpentine system... see pic.
2/ Seperate trans and mount engine on a stand.
3/ Remove oilpan and look at mains and rods. Remove valve covers, and inlet manifold.
4/ Replace cam drive and replace gaskets at least!

About the only thing that concerned me so far was the odd looking crap in the thermostat housing...