I killed my TBI motor now comes decisions..

[phrogs]

Well after letting the truck sit for a few months I got bored this weekend and yanked it out.
This all started with a bottom end knock so I parked the truck.

My truck is a 90 GMC Jimmy with a tbi 350 and 700 R4 trans.
I really just love a blazer Im not a big off roader mostly just a daily truck so I do not need a crazy engine I really don't want one in this truck. I will use this for a winter/daily/towing truck maybe in the future I take it off the road for fun but for now I need it to be a work truck.





The motor was defiantly done I have one burned exhaust valve and the crankshaft has some nice wear that I can feel with my finger let alone a fingernail.


Now what to do I really have no budget right now.

I really have three options
1) Buy a used motor from a local for $250 out of a blazer he is parting out for $250 that smokes but is "good" for now.

2) Take mine to the machinist and get a price for reconditioning the block, heads and crank if they can be reused. Then buying a rebuild kit and having a stock 350 probably with a bore so say .030 pistons. because I can see wear in the cylinders. I will still take the motor to the shop and get it checked out and see if its a boat anchor or not.

3) suck it up and buy a GM crate motor for around $1,900 from summut or jegs and it will be faster and probably about the same money. Or if someone has other ideas hit me up.




I really do not want to throw a bunch of money at this truck it was bought to be a winter truck and became a daily driver for 2010-2011 made quite a few road trips from Michigan to PA and had no issues until the last one from PA to michigan towing my Ferrari and the trans died in the mountains and I made it all the way home.

The engine gave out after the transmission 3-4 gave out on me while I was on the road had to limp it home but it didn't make it.


168,000 miles on the original motor isn't not to bad.
But I think it had the original coolant in it for a long time because the headgaskets had a lot of build up at the coolant openings.

 

[496truck]

Buying a used engine is cheap and quick and will get you back on the road. Problem is it could last a week or for many years. It's a gamble every time.

Rebuilding what you have can be cheaper than a crate sometimes. And if you don't really need the truck in a hurry you can do it in pieces as funds allow. But the truck will be down for X amount of time.

You could go with a cheapo mass production crate rebuild engine from Autozone or similar local chain store. You'd probably get some sort of warranty with it. May be your best option for what you use the truck for, limited down time, and price.

The GM crate rebuild should be the best quality but you will have a price difference to pay vs the cheapo rebuild.

You need to decide what you want to spend on it. You also should consider the used engine, when does it smoke? Only at start up or all the time? If only at start up you could just replace valve seals. If all the time don't even bother, it's junk. Can you hear it run before purchase? Check it out, look for leaks, cleanliness of oil, pull valve covers to see inside... etc.

Just throwing some thoughts out there.

 

[Wyomingboy]

I would never re-build and LO5 motor, your stock one. Get and L31, vortec motor, if you want to stay moderately stock. Put on the Edelbrock TBI manifold and your TBI on top of it. Open up your exhaust and get a chip if necessary.

 

[4xcrazy]

I paid $1200 for a complete rebuild on mine, incluing reconditioning the crank, new pistons, rebuild heads, complete engine rebuild kit and even had them install roller cam & lifter setup. and they did all the work.

All I had to do was install the intake and oil pan, because they said they don't put them on because 9 times out of 10, the owner wants to recheck torque on main & rod bolts anyways, and I had the intake at my house.

Like you, I wasn't looking for a powerhouse motor, just something to last another several years.

Now I'm fighting wiring issues..

Call around a bunch of shops, get the right feeling from someone or get recommendations from friends.

 

[Deuling]

Yes i too got my 408 done for $1200 out the door. Its a guy my buddy knew who i had met a few times and told me he had a 400 already bored with the bigger pistons and it just needed the crank polished and the rebuild kit. He also redid the heads with roller rockers. This was with no intake, carb, or distributor, but i had all that already. Search around and you can find a deal. I got lucky finding this because he normally woulda charged more like 2 grand but because it was mostly all there and machined it knocked the price down.

 

[phrogs]

Well I just got my New job headed to florida so the truck is going to be parked behind the barn for the forseable future.