Rebuilding LT1 Motors

This would be a first for me. I have never rebuilt a motor. How much can one expect to spend for parts and labor if done by a shop? Is there a rebuild kit? Also how complex is the work? Is it something anyone could do or is there specialized knowledge to tools necessary. Anybody feel like helping me out with the rebuild?

Thanks guys?

P.S. How hard is it to get the mounts and crossmembers?

[96mikez28]

Rebuilding any motor requires a lot of work, patience, and time, let alone an LT1. I wouldn't reccomend trying to rebuild a motor yourself yet.

[Plantfoam]

I was sort of in the same situation. I had never rebuilt anything above a lawnmower engine myself, but I have someone to guide me through the process....otherwise I never would have taken it on as a home project.

Whatever route you take, I advise you do lots of research. Even if a shop is doing all of the work for you, it helps to know what you want in an engine, and what it takes to get that. I've seen lots of people make the mistake of buying a real fancy intake or heads, and brag about it, only to have them not be worth a damn since everything else in the engine is a bottleneck.

As for what to expect in costs....I'm building a 383 LT1, so it may not apply to you. I've got about $1800 into my short block so far, and I'll probably end up spending about $3500 by the time I'm done, including the block work done by the shop. Obviously, it will be a bit cheaper for you if you stay with a 350

[VictoryRacingEngines]

How much can one expect to spend for parts and labor if done by a shop?

That is hard to answer without knowing th goals of the rebuild, and the componants being used. Obviously you could do a budget rebuild with cast parts, I beam rods, ect ect for alot cheaper then doing a fully forged rotating assembly.

Is there a rebuild kit?

There are various manufacturers that make rotating assembly kits. All you will need to add is camshaft bearings, and ARP main studs. Eagle and Compstar both make kits that are already balanced.

[Yoeasy69]

what he said!

i wouldn't recommend rebuilding anything yourself the first time, its better to have someone do it, or help with it and just watch and learn...i tried it by myself the first time. and even though the engine was put together, and had no problems, you will miss a step or forget something.. and then its a whole lot of hassel and b.s. to deal with fixing it..

the first motor i build was a 78 400 SB.. when i went to turn it over i had no oil pressure which concerned me, considering i just put a new oil pump in it.. well after about 20 minutes of talking on the phone trying to diagnos the problem, i look over and there sat the oil pickup tube.. i was majorly angered at myself.. have rebuilt about 6 or 7 motors since then and havn't had a problem.. but that extra week spent taking the motor out of the car, and putting the pickup tube on was a very big hassle.. you need to get some hands on experince and learn it first hand before i would try it by yourself.. cause you will forget something, wether it be a pickup tube, or worse, correct torq on a main bolt, cap nut.. ect.. and those are much bigger problems..

i will help you as much as i can.. just hit me in the PM

[Black6spdz]

As said before if you have not done it before i probably wouldnt recommend it unless you have someone there with you. However if you wanted to you could maybe have the machine shop assemble the short block and degree the cam. Personally i think that is the most critical part, because you have to check bearing clearances among many other things, but installing the heads, intake, oil pan, adjusting the rockers and others is not too huge of a job. Feel free to ask if you have any questions.

Scott