'93 Formula "Sleeper"

[93formulalt1]

no offense Nick but aren't you in this situation in part to rushing this project? You were strapped for time, pressured because your using your buddys garage, low on cash, frustrated and uninformed about the things you were doing. Not trying to bash at all so please don't take it that way but I honestly feel you need to take a step back and evaluate this. Forget making any cruises or events worry about getting the car right so this stuff doesn't happen again. You've gained little knowledge in this process and frankly you don't even know whats wrong with the car to just be going and throwing parts at it.

Remember this is an LT1 camaro its old with lots of miles and personally I think you need to know how to work on one yourself to own one as they tend to have their quirks. I see tons of guys on here almost daily in over there heads on them because its a tough motor to learn on IMO. I would suggest finding a place you can take the car to when you can take your time working on it and as your funds allow, figure out whats up with the car and move from there. Did the oil have coolant in it prior to the head swap?

No oil in coolant or coolant in oil prior to the head swap.

[meissen]

I agree with Jeff - let's take a step back and reevaluate what's going on.

Sounds like something's wrong with the heads or the gaskets, then. Not the block itself. Why did you do the head swap in the first place? Before tearing out the entire motor and rebuilding it, why not look at either putting the old heads back on (if they were still usable) or use the same heads and replace the gaskets. Unfortunately, you have to buy new gaskets at this point, no way around that.

[birdie2000]

Did you put thread sealant on the head bolts? And do you have a straight edge to check flatness? Also what's the story on the new heads, were they cleaned/inspected/rebuilt, or were they used and just put on as-is?

[93formulalt1]

Did you put thread sealant on the head bolts? And do you have a straight edge to check flatness? Also what's the story on the new heads, were they cleaned/inspected/rebuilt, or were they used and just put on as-is?

Thread sealant was applied to all head and intake bolts during assembly. Heads are stock 643 castings that were hot-tanked prior to me purchasing them, and I did check them for flatness against a straight edge, they looked fine. No noticeable damage to the heads at all, the valve guides were all tight, no visible cracks, no warping that I could see using the straight edge. The only thing that was done by me was replacement of the springs (LT4 valvesprings) and I cleaned up the valve guides a bit due to a couple of valves that didn't move quite as freely as I'd like.


I'm not trying to rush anything. You have to keep in mind, I do have 2 LT1 cars, one minus engine and transmission. If I buy another engine and trans, the one that's in the Formula is still going to be used in the other car. I am frustrated with the issues I'm having with the engine, and I believe I would better be able to diagnose and remedy the problems if the engine was out of the car and mounted to an engine stand, where I can really do things the right way.

The biggest problem I ran into when I did the head gasket the second time was lack of help. I couldn't get any of my friends to help me out, so I wound up doing the job myself.

I attribute the leaking head gasket to improper preparation of the head and block mating surfaces, since I used a razor blade to remove old gasket material and other crud, and some very fine sandpaper (800 grit) to clean the surface the rest of the way. If I do this again, I will be picking up a fine wire wheel for use with a drill to clean both surfaces fully, but if the heads come off again, I'll be taking them to a professional to have them checked out, because I'm not wasting my time attempting the same task a 3rd time when the heads could very well be damaged.

I'm not rushing anything. I'm working on buying another engine, and I'm allowing myself over a month to finish swapping an engine and trans. Combine that time frame with the fact that as of tomorrow, I'll only be working ONE full-time job as opposed to the TWO full time jobs I've been working for the past 4+ months, and I strongly believe that even if I removed one bolt per day and called it quits, I'd be able to have the engine out and put back in in that time frame.

Trust me, I've learned from the mistakes I made here, I'm not going to attempt this again without 1) a competent friend assisting me and making sure I don't **** anything up, and 2) adequate time to accomplish the task, including breaks, without working to exhaustion or attempting to complete more than is feasible on a given day.

I would love to be able to have some MIFBody folks out to help me get it all done, but honestly, I have a couple of friends locally that wouldn't mind helping me with an engine swap. Not to mention, swapping in a working engine is a bit easier than tearing one apart while it's still inside the car, so I don't need a ton of people around to help me with it.

Pulling the engine is the best option for me currently, because it will allow me to access areas that have serious rust issues so I can make the necessary repairs, as well as give me the opportunity to inspect the engine while it's outside of the vehicle, so I can see things that weren't visible while it was installed.

[TylerT/AZ28]

nothin wrong with razor blade and sand paper its probably better than a wire wheel honestly.

depending on the location of the car i can come out and help once i get acquainted with school

[93formulalt1]

nothin wrong with razor blade and sand paper its probably better than a wire wheel honestly.

depending on the location of the car i can come out and help once i get acquainted with school

Car is located in Adrian, MI. We are currently working on purchasing a house in Ypsilanti, so if that goes through, I may be moving. If I do move, the car will be parked in a garage, and I'll make sure tools are moved first so I can continue working on the car during my free time. Engine should be removed by the end of next week, I'll be getting started on that this weekend. We are going to remove the engine through the top, the transmission from under the car, and leave the front suspension in place for ease of transport when the time comes to move it to Ypsilanti. Move still isn't finalized yet, but preparations are being made regardless.

If I move, it will make things easier for you to come down to help out, the house we are putting the offer in on is maybe 5 miles from I-94.

[CJOFORM]

Nick, a roloc disk would be a better choice than a wire wheel. Buy the adapter for a drill and the disk are cheap. I've always used them for cleaning gasket mating surfaces. Before you do anything else with those heads take them to a shop and have them pressure tested. Let me know if you need any help this weekend. If I can get out there I can lend ya a hand.

[93formulalt1]

Nick, a roloc disk would be a better choice than a wire wheel. Buy the adapter for a drill and the disk are cheap. I've always used them for cleaning gasket mating surfaces. Before you do anything else with those heads take them to a shop and have them pressure tested. Let me know if you need any help this weekend. If I can get out there I can lend ya a hand.

Will do. I'll give you a call, IDK when we'll get started, I'm working 3rd shift until Tuesday.

[93formulalt1]

I gotta say, I really appreciate all the people who have come to my through here and Facebook to offer encouragement and even offer to help with the project. . . I've talked with people about helping me re-do the work again, selling me a used engine, rebuilding my LT1 for a pretty sweet price, and just general words of encouragement.

Theres a reason I love this site, I just can't put my finger on it for some reason. . .

[phoenix_rising]

Hey buddy. Im off on Thursday and I would like to do some wrenching. Mike and Dane said they would come out and give us a hand. I figure between us we can fix both cars and have my camaro out of your driveway quickly like you asked. I should have more cash on Friday too. Hey I called you phone but it is disconnected.....

[93formulalt1]

Hey buddy. Im off on Thursday and I would like to do some wrenching. Mike and Dane said they would come out and give us a hand. I figure between us we can fix both cars and have my camaro out of your driveway quickly like you asked. I should have more cash on Friday too. Hey I called you phone but it is disconnected.....

My car is at Justin's house at the moment. I will be working on my car all next week over there, I need to pull the engine and trans. You and I need to talk about the Camaro before you turn any wrenches on it. I'll let you know when I'm free.

[hoogiesngrinderz]

I guy I know just said he is selling his Jerry Arnold heads (ported, new springs, 7/16 studs, etc) for $400. I can get more info if interested

[Fox Slaughter]

I'm way back on August 20th but don't get discouraged. Just read read read, if you can't find ask. Like the SA rockers that weren't SA you can tell the difference between a SA and a Non SA. SA are for a mild build but if you really wanna build and have insurance you need to go Non SA and guide plates.

vemp_0703_11_z+corvette_rocker_arms+roller_tip_comparison.jpg

Here is a great picture of a SA rocker. A non SA rocker obviously doesn't have the those ridges.

[93formulalt1]

I guy I know just said he is selling his Jerry Arnold heads (ported, new springs, 7/16 studs, etc) for $400. I can get more info if interested

More info please. Interested, would go good with the cam once I rebuild the engine.

I'm way back on August 20th but don't get discouraged. Just read read read, if you can't find ask. Like the SA rockers that weren't SA you can tell the difference between a SA and a Non SA. SA are for a mild build but if you really wanna build and have insurance you need to go Non SA and guide plates.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]43732[/ATTACH]

Here is a great picture of a SA rocker. A non SA rocker obviously doesn't have the those ridges.

Yeah, I should have done some research first, but now I know the difference. The ones I have aren't full rollers either, they are roller tip rockers, so I may upgrade anyway. Looking into starting to accumulate the parts needed for a complete rebuild, some great knowledge gained from the amazing folks here, both on MIFBody and through messages on Facebook, so I feel like I finally have the information I need to make the right decision.

At 170k miles on the stock engine and trans, things are really getting tired anyway, so I'm going to go ahead with the rebuild, the car needs it anyway, so why not use this as an opportunity to fix it better than before?

Big expenses I'm working on saving up for now are machine work, rebuild kit, and the various big-ticket items that need replaced during the rebuild (opti, accessories, etc.). Once the high-dollar stuff is paid for, I'll work on picking up everything else as I can afford it.

[Fox Slaughter]

Well what are the plans for the car?