Hi fellow Z28ers.
This is my 1996 Z28, Automatic.

Let me just start off by saying that I know very little about engines, LT1 included. I can do basic maintenance, and understand fundamentals, but anything passed that, I am lost.

These are some pictures of my baby, and the mess that is her engine.
We got this car abandoned, and haven't been able to contact past owners. Inside were several new engine parts (spark plugs etc) so we are not sure if this engine is in the process of being taken apart, or put back together. Alot of the parts taken out of this engine were in the trunk and back seat. So I am fairly sure I have 90% of what is missing.
(Pictures are in thumbnails for you dial-ups)





Personally, I would love to just drop this car off somewhere (preferably in Northern CA area) and let someone fix it up for me and send me a bill. (I have access to towing equipment, so transportation is not a problem.)

My questions are:

1. Is it possible to bring this thing back to life? If so, is this engine even worth the money/time trying to fix it?
2. Roughly how much would it cost? My budget now is somewhere around $3,000
3. How much would it cost to replace this engine?
4. Is there anything stopping me from getting this engine together in 6 - 10 weeks?
and 5. Are there any garages (preferably in the mid to northern CA area) that specialize in this kind of reconstruction? And what do you think a fair price for this job would be?


Thank you all VERY much, and I hope to get her up and running so I can share my Z28 experience with you all.

 

There was a reason why the engine was taken apart like that. If you can't contact the previous owners and get the full story behind the car that doesn't help the situation and if you don't have alot of mechanical prowess, that won't help either. The other thought that comes to mind is you can bring it to a shop and have them reinstall everything and get the car running just to find out there may be some internal engine damage that will require more money and I can only imagine what a shop would charge to clean that up. It might be easier to find a working LT1 motor and pay to have that dropped in there.

 

Thanks for the quick reply.
Any clue roughly how much that swap would cost out the door?

 

I have nothing against that either I'd love to know all the in's and out's of my own car. However, I just don't know if it's worth the time/effort.

 

I'm sure you can get a good working LT1 for a thousand or less and probably a ballpark guess of another 750-100 to install.

 

well, since you have about $3000 to spend you could always buy another motor and just keep that one for spare parts or an extra block to work on, might be a good idea without having any idea what, if anything could be wrong with that motor...IMO

 

Thanks guys.
You guys have any recommendations of where to buy a new LT1?

 

Pick up a used motor in good shape, stab a cam/rockers/springs in it, toss on some longtubes and a CAI, and stick it in the car and have it tuned. Should be doable for $3k.

 

If you can do some of the work yourself i'd just buy a stock remanufactured shortblock and throw some LE1 heads on it and cam and a decent timing chanin. Then buy you some used headers and that'll get you going for probably about 3k. I remember there is a local remanufacture and they had rebuilt LT1 short blocks back to OEM specs for 1000.

 

Well, first and foremost, I'd make sure that I could easily get title to the vehicle---you wouldn't want to put money into it to find out that you couldn't get title.

Second of all, if you can get title, I would suggest getting a long block in good condition and keeping the current engine in storage, if you have such, and perhaps rebuilding it for performance or otherwise----if in fact you are truely interested in becoming a gearhead. It doesn't sound like you do, so I suggest opting for a long block, especially since you got the platform for nadda. JMHO

 

Good thinking BUBBA.

I agree with buying a long block and ripping this one apart in your spare time. You're still going to need a few things (ie. alternator, shroud, intake bellow, 1 valve cover, have the injectors cleaned, HOOD, etc.). Good luck.