Swap or Rebuild?

[xX96SSXx]

i have a 96 LT1 camaro with 114k miles on it and was looking to get a little more information on what would be the costs for rebuilding the bottom end of my engine. ive heard of a few shops near the macomb area like livernois motorsports and motorcity muscle but really dont know where to start or how much i would be looking at pricewise for a rebuild. would it be a better route to just buy a brand new LT1 and swap it for the old one? basically just lookin for some feedback from people who have had shops rebuild or swap motors, the good, the bad, things to watch out for, and average prices. maybe a place online or near by that i can compare prices of rebuilds to new engines? any info at all is much appreciated.

[SWEETRIDE98]

you can find good used LT1 motors for $500-$3000 depending on what your looking to spend and what may have been done to the motor, if you want to just fix the lower end because you spun a bearing your probally easly looking at $700-$1200 by the time you pay for parts, machining and labor to pull and replace.
I did a swap for a guy here in town last month in a 95 Trans AM, I had a good used LT1 I sold him for $700 and charge $650 to do the swap, but I do this on the side Im sure if you took it to a shop it would cost much more, So the question is what are you looking to accomplish and what is yor budget. If you decide to rebuild your motor look up Sniperperformance here on the forums he is an awsome engine builder.

[birdie2000]

Personally, at the minimum, I'd spend the couple hundred bucks on a rebuildable shortblock, then have that disassembled, machined, and reassembled and waiting on the stand before you ever pull the motor out of your car. That way, when it's time to do the swap, you can just pull the old engine, and swap everything over to it right then and there and stab the new one in. This will minimize the downtime, plus you still have a shortblock you can sell if you want to recoup that initial investment on the shortblock you bought.

Even better, IMO, would be to find a complete long block and do the same thing except also have the heads cleaned up, new springs/etc., and a valvejob. Pre-assemble the engine on the stand. Then swapping over the motor would be a 1-2 day event and you're done, plus you can still sell the entire old engine.

Having a shop do all this isn't a bad way to go, but it will be expensive, and very few shops seem to keep a decent schedule. The upside is that if one place/person is responsible for the entire build, you know exactly where to point the finger if something goes wrong. In my experience, try not to get too many different people/shops involved as when something goes wrong there tends to be a pissing match as to who's fault it is. If you can afford it and can find a place you trust, try and find a shop that can handle all aspects of the build start to finish.

Make sure to choose a good machinist. You want the most anal, picky SOB you can find, lol. I've used Dave Harmon @ Enginecraft before and he's been great.

[xX96SSXx]

thanks for the info guys, been really helpful, anyone know of a good place online that i can find new/rebuilt engines?

[98blackbeauty]

There is a good shop in Roseville, State Motors, That is who did Brians rebuild, Inline bored, new bearings, and rebuilt crank, also bored out .040 price included asmbly, new pistons, rings rod and main bearings. $1125 have no complains he was good to work with. Ph: 586-294-5660 they are at 10 mile and Gratiot.

I would go that route because then you know what you got. You can buy a used engine but you don't know what it is except it runs.

[xX96SSXx]

damn thanks alot plum, not quite sure which route i wanna take yet, found a company online where i can get a brand new lt1 stock for around 2g's, thinkin bout doin that, throwin full bolt ons and a 150 shot on it. sounds like what brian did though is a bigger bang for your buck, just gotta crunch some numbers before i make a final decision...

[xX96SSXx]

that price include them rippin out the engine too?

[bigjon88]

No that taking the motor to them really nice guys over there

[Gregs_gsxr]

what did you figure out ?

[xX96SSXx]

new lt1 motor, full bolt ons, gear, and 100 to 150 shot...then repainting same color, lowering, and brand new deep dish c6 wheels

[Gregs_gsxr]

sweet sounds like a good plan to me