OK it's got to happen, maybe not this week, but that piece of crap i have in the engine bay has to go, so what i need from you guys are links to suppliers who make decent cost effective engines, the engine i have needs work and i am not willing to spend time on it so PLEASE do not try and tell me how i can re-build it, it's going and WILL be replaced.

Like most people i do not have an endeless budget but i figure between $1000-$3000 (if i must) i can get a good engine that is better(more power) than the original, but what i do need is your help as to where i can get such a beast.

Any help greatly appreciated.


Gary

http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/frame.html

part numbers to look at

24502609 355hp ZZ4 (damn good engine)
12496968 350/330

or find a local performance shop that sells engines (they may take yours as a core and save you some money)

or take your 350 down there and say here is a 350 I dont like rebuild it into something badass for x$.

Look at Pace performance.com they have all the good crate
engines at super prices.
Steve

I don't like promoting parts that our company makes on any website, to many polotics involved. In this case I must as we have done this exact combo to produce dyno mule engines and all of them make 405 to 425 HP and just as much torque that is flat. Its also a great street combination. The only thing that you would need to change is to put a milder cam in this combination to make more vacuum so the headlights, and wiper accessories will not be lazy and work properly.

We buy (you pick the vendor) a sbc short block with flat top pistons. If you pick up a drive magazine you will find all kinds of places that sell these ready to roll for 799 to 999. I prefer to use JR Motorsports, or One from Blue Print engines. If you get these from a circle track outfit these are sometimes called Claimer short blocks as they are used ofter in the claimer circle track racing series. Many times they include the camshaft and timing chain set with these engines. You spec the cam when ordering it. You can also ask them to leave it out and they will lower the cost of the short block. If they have oil restictors in the block ask them to remove them and put in standard plugs. Don't want to run restrictors on the street.

The second thing we do is top the short block off with the on of our SysteMAX kits, which include alum cyl heads, cam, lifters, timing set, pushrods, head bolts, and intake. Summitt sells this kit for $1299 the last time I checked. Edelbrock sells a similar kit.

Now go back to your used engine and rob any mising parts you may need like the oil pan, valve covers, distributor, wires, carb, etc, etc. Just make sure you clean all those parts up before putting them on your fresh clean engine. Now your ready to rock and roll.

This means you would have around $2500 in the whole thing. I'm sure you could do the same with any short block or 350 reman engine you can buy from Autozone or Advanced. Probably the same with a short block from Jasper egines. The key is you want the final compression to be around 9.5:1 Max to keep it premium pump gas friendly. You can probably find a local mechanic that can put the two kits together and they would only charge by the hour. Shouldn't take more then 4 to 6 hours for someone that is experienced.

Hope this gives you something to think about.

I've been considering a crate from the following:

The Engine Factory http://enginefactory.com/index.html

They sell complete "turn-key" systems. Everything you need included. If you contact them, they will also send you a free video on their engines, the building of them, what parts they use, how they are burned in, etc.

Prices seem very good too.

I am very happy with a long block i bought for Golen over ebay.

http://www.golensengineservice.com

Comes with a lifetime labor warranty. Call them to see if they will have any EBAY specials. $1799 for a balanced engine.

I took 1.4 second off my 1/4 mile time and added 9 MPH my first time out with just an engine swap, headers, and dual exhaust.

I put the numbers matching engine in storage in case it is ever needed.

Engine swap is easy on this car. Good Luck.

Beardface



|UPDATED|7/26/2004 7:17:30 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

After Shark said: I don't like promoting parts that our company makes on any website, to many polotics involved. In this case I must as we have done this exact combo to produce dyno mule engines

I have read your posts and you are very good about offering non-holley information and offering holley info side by side with another vendor..

While I do understand that you cannot promote your products here..

I want to make a suggestion to everyone. Get a Holley catalog.. There are many cool things they make that I didnt know where to get. It serves as a great reference.

Their support is excellent, their service is excellent.

and there are many products where there is no comparison (fuel pumps come to mind)

and for those of you who do not know..

Holley owns Earls Perf Plumbing, NOS, Hooker, weiand, and lunati.. (and more)

anyway.. I applaud your employers commitment to excellence.

I do have to say while there are many good engine suppliers. I would not buy an Autozone motor. Remember I work there part time. I used to do their warranty work when I had my own shop. I do like Autozone and many of their parts. I use a lot of Autozone parts. It's up to you.

Thanks Ben. Really..... I'm on here to help and give friendly suggestions, and promote the Hobby and enjoyment of owning a C3. I find myself learning more often then I actually give. I try to keep the politics out of it, hard to do when your passionate about certain products. Either way there are a lot of companies out there and some make good products and others not so good. All I can say is we try and we have had our share of failures and off customers.

On another note!

Ken, I thought autozone sold Jasper or was it Recon reman engines? I though both of those companies had A1 reputation for turning out a good product. During my years when I grew up on my Dads Farm we used a couple Jasper engines to replace engines in a couple old farm trucks and they never gave us any trouble. What Brand is Auto Zone carring that we should steer clear of?

Just recently they made the tie in with a good company. I would have to check which one. You can now get an AutoZone engine from one of two sources. The better one is almost twice as expensive, but finally a decent motor, I'm hoping. I have not done the research as of yet.

The cheaper one that they have had for years, again I don't recall the builder, appears to be made by spastic turtles with bad eyesight. Over half of them have problems. Many of the problems are major. Don't cheap out. It will cost you big time.