Project Mayhem version 2.0

[Vicinity]

As some of you may have followed my chronicles of trying to get my car running, I have some unfortunate news.

As of yesterday, I had the car 100% complete and ready to go. I started her up and she didn't turn over once before starting. That was actually rather nice. I took her out for a drive, nice straight stretch of road out in front of the shop, got to about 20 and I lost compression, had no power. Had to limp it back into the shop. First thing I did was pop the valve covers off. I was greeted with the pleasant sight of a creamy white foam in the valve covers. Water in the oil. I drove that engine a good 4 miles. I sat there and thought to myself, what would PT.com do? The answer? A nice little 5.3l or 6.0l, whatever I can find at a reasonable price. So today, I'm off surfing the junkyards to find my next powerplant. Wish me luck.

I'll leave you with this, the last time she'll have a SBC in her ever, ever again.

[Vicinity]

Alright, my choices are:

LS1 (Gto, 56k miles) complete (all accessories + harness and computer [everything]) $2200
LS1 (Camaro, more miles, forgot the number) not complete (all accessories + cut harness and computer) $1600
6.0 LQ (100~k miles) not complete (all accessories + cut harness and computer) $1600
5.3l (variety miles) complete (everything) (acc harness computer) $1000

With a budget of $4000-$5000 (including a T56 I need to buy eventually), what would you choose? I'm leaning toward that GTO motor, but it'll eat a big part of my budget.

[craigs73]

gto motor......its all aluminium unlike your 6.0 and 5.3 and it is complete ready to go....better jump on that before someone else does

[Vicinity]

Well, I'm buying an engine at the end of today, so hopefully it won't be gone by then.

[cencalc6]

Go for the GTO Engine......good luck with the rest of the build,your Car looks very nice.

[Vicinity]

Didn't have a chance to pick it up today. But I'll be knocking at the door tomorrow morning!

Go for the GTO Engine......good luck with the rest of the build,your Car looks very nice.

Thanks!

[andrewb70]

Welcome to the 2.0 club....

I would lean towards the biggest displacement, aluminum block engine that you can find. The GTO LS1 is a good option or you might want to check out a 5.3L aluminum engine.

Andrew

[Vicinity]

Welcome to the 2.0 club....

I would lean towards the biggest displacement, aluminum block engine that you can find. The GTO LS1 is a good option or you might want to check out a 5.3L aluminum engine.

Andrew

They don't have any aluminum 5.3's. I like this junkyard because they're literally 2 miles down the street from the shop I'm working on my car in.

Quick question if anyone sees it, I know the Fbod oil pan needs modification to fit (with setback mounts??), can a gto pan be worked over the same way?

[andrewb70]

..... can a gto pan be worked over the same way?

No. The GTO is has a sump in the front.

Andrew

[Vicinity]

No. The GTO is has a sump in the front.

Andrew

Ack. So it appears the GTO engine will already be more costly to swap.

[andrewb70]

Ack. So it appears the GTO engine will already be more costly to swap.

There are guys that want the GTO pans for swaps into Nissans and Fords. You can easily sell it.

Andrew

[Vicinity]

There are guys that want the GTO pans for swaps into Nissans and Fords. You can easily sell it.

Andrew

Oh, really? Ok, that's actually pretty cool, then.

I'm tallying up this, so I'm at $2650 for the GTO engine (assuming a straight swap for the oil pan), and $2550 for the Camaro (including a $950 new harness from Speartech). Both would need PCM reflashed, etc, so I'm not tallying that right now.

As long as the GTO accessory drive would fit, it'd be golden.

[andrewb70]

Whatever number you come up with, tack on an extra 1000-1500 and you will be close...LOL

Andrew

[Vicinity]

Whatever number you come up with, tack on an extra 1000-1500 and you will be close...LOL

Andrew

Hence why I'm not tallying.

[Vicinity]

One more quick question, does the harness have to be reworked or will it fire with just the vats delete?

[Vicinity]

Due to unforseen circumstances, I didn't get the engine today. I'll be waiting at the office door tomorrow morning to get it. They threw in a flywheel and knocked $100 off the price.

It comes with a 3 month warranty, so my goal is the have the car in working order in 90 days.

I hope the lead times on PCM reprogramming aren't too wild.

[MonzaRacer]

so you have a carb, why not try a carb , msd ignition, some reasonably priced headers and a pan swap. And cant traditional SBC trannys be mated to LSx? I mean gee whiz one reason I have not even gave LSx a look for either of my cars is because it costs so dang much. I mean its great some people can swing it but after engine,trans,parts, mods for parts to fit my cars we are talking 5k to 10k range and I dont really want to have that much in BOTH cars at first and be able to drive it.
So many people keep harping on LSx yet I see the prices NOT coming down at all and if anything going UP. I mean God help me but $850 to $1000 headers? Please its bad enough that swap sbc headers for my Monza are now up to almost $500, makes me glad I have my little tig welder,,Ill figure out tubing and rebuild what I need ,,or design new ones and build them.
But good luck which ever way you go.
Was wondering,,,why not figure out issue with old engine,,,might be simple fix. Seen many an engine that got ran with antifreeze for several days before owner found it and they lived after fixes.

[Vicinity]

so you have a carb, why not try a carb , msd ignition, some reasonably priced headers and a pan swap. And cant traditional SBC trannys be mated to LSx? I mean gee whiz one reason I have not even gave LSx a look for either of my cars is because it costs so dang much. I mean its great some people can swing it but after engine,trans,parts, mods for parts to fit my cars we are talking 5k to 10k range and I dont really want to have that much in BOTH cars at first and be able to drive it.
So many people keep harping on LSx yet I see the prices NOT coming down at all and if anything going UP. I mean God help me but $850 to $1000 headers? Please its bad enough that swap sbc headers for my Monza are now up to almost $500, makes me glad I have my little tig welder,,Ill figure out tubing and rebuild what I need ,,or design new ones and build them.
But good luck which ever way you go.
Was wondering,,,why not figure out issue with old engine,,,might be simple fix. Seen many an engine that got ran with antifreeze for several days before owner found it and they lived after fixes.

I'm just tired of messing with it. It may very well be in perfect working order and it's something small I can't figure out. I've been playing with it for damn near a year now, and I still can't figure it out. I really don't know a ton about SBC's. I do know a little more about LS engines, as I've owned one and worked on it before. I'd honestly be more comfortable with one sitting under my hood at this point. I'm gonna try and offload the 400 cheap, so someone might really luck out and it was just my stupidity and impatience.

[Vicinity]

Oh. As of right now, this is my parts list:


Griffin Aluminum Radiator $300 Summit
LS1 Fan and Shroud $150 Ebay?
Griffin Wiring Harness for Fan $100 Summit
Rick's Camaro EFI Tank $550 Rick's Camaro
Engine $2100

PCM Reprogram $150 PSI
Wiring Harness $450 Speartech

T56
Clutch Kit LS7 $450-500
Driveshaft $ Cost of service
Crossmember $80+ Cost of service
Clutch Master Plate $80 ATS

[Vicinity]

Day One

Today's update, I got the engine, paid $2000, it's actually a 54k mile engine. Ordering a new harness and computer from PSI, I talked with the owner, Jon, who seems like a very knowledgeable guy. Plan to clean the engine up a little, it's REALLY dirty.

I need to figure out what oil pan I'm gonna use, whether Fbody or one made for this application. Also, any opinion on engine mount plates? I'm going to run manifolds for now, I'm 100% just trying to get the engine ready to fire, longtubes will be something toward the end of the summer.