My 88 Firebird currently has a carbed LT1. It spun a rod bearing... I'm seventeen and step-dad said he talked to a guy he knows that can get me a 350 engine with a police package on it. The engine (swap labor included) is only $1000. What exactly is a police package?? Should I go for the deal? Should I keep the carb or put fuel injecion back on it?

Any info and help would wonderful. Thanx people!

 

There is no one universal "police package". A new motor with any kind of "police package" is not usually available to the general public. A used "police motor" usually has about a billion real hard miles on it. In either case then, either it isn't really a police motor at all if there is any special such thing that's different from any other motor; or it's worn out beyond salvage which is why it's not pushing a police car around any more.

People throw that term around so much as a smokescreen for "I don't know what's in it but I want you to think it's bad-a** and like it more and pay extra for it" that it's not believable. It's right on up there with the "motor from a Vette" bait. Since GM never called a motor a "police interceptor", that choice of words is a dead giveaway for the sucker line.

Find out what the motor really is, where it came from, and what's inside it. Then you'll be able to make an intelligent decision as to whether it's a good deal or not.

Rule #1 of buying a used car or car part: Never believe a single word out of the mouth of the person selling it if you can't verify it independently.

Rule #2: If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

 

Sounds like some good sound advice. Thanx. I do know that my step-dad is friends with the guy though. He says the motor has ZERO miles on it. But I will ask him what exactly he mean by a police pakage. I am thinking maybe he just means it's an LT1. Maybe a larger cam or something?

And my next question... What do you guys think about the carb setup? Should I stick with that, or should I get the injection put on?

 

Who knows? Sounds to me like it's a rebuilder's rebuilt 350, which is ti say, the cheeeeepest possible thing whose pistons sweep out 350 cubic inches. You tend to get what you pay for. Considering that installation is going to cost about $400 minimum real world green cash money in the form of somebody's paycheck, that means you're getting a $600 motor. Call around and see what kind of "new" motor you can get in your area for $600. Just for giggles, see what you can get for twice that. I don't think you'll want in your car what you find even at twice the price. It sure won't be a hopped-up LT1.

Yes. Clearly. You should either stick with the carb, or put the FI back on it.

How does it run (or rather, how did it run before it blew up)? Do you like it that way? Then leave it like that. On the other hand, if it drank gas like a broken hose and left you stranded 3 times a week, and you have every single piece laying around to put the original setup back on it, then go that way. That's a kind of personal choice; nobody can really answer that for you.

 

okay thanx for the advice. I actually don't know how the LT1 ran before it blew. It was blown before I got it. It got it to run and it pulls hard, but it knocks, and I don't know very much about how to tune a carb, so the engine bogs down when I give it too much gas. I am thinking I might just go with this cheap engine and rebuild the one I've got in there now in the mean time. Does that sound resonable, or should I just save for a better engine. See I am going to need a car for college so I have about a month and a half and about a 1500 dollar budget.