dbrochard

iTrader: (3)

I know this has been done plenty of times before. I am going to be yanking out my 180k mile 305 TBI engine, and putting in an L98 350 TPI engine.
Here's some background on the car. Bought it two and a half years ago just before my 15th birthday with some money I had saved up. It took forever to find a good car on my budget, but it ended up needing a lot of work, so it took nearly two years before it finally got registered. I started a build thread, but kinda gave up on that, but feel free to check it out to see the car.


Cutting to the chase- Went to MA to possibly buy another car to fix then flip to make money to pay for paint on my car, and only left with a few interior parts. BUT, I saw the guy had an L98 motor in his garage he wanted gone, and for $200, I couldn't pass.
The motor has a mystery camshaft in it, as well as roller rockers and hardened pushrods. Hopefully I will get it to push 275hp at the crank. The teardown has just recently started, so the plan is to go through it and fix whatever needs it while staying on a budget.
Speaking of the budget, I will be keeping a running total of every part purchased for the swap. This should help future readers to see that you can't buy a motor and drop it in or $500. If you wanna do it right, it will cost more

dbrochard

iTrader: (3)

Here is where I will keep my total expenses updated


Motor... $200
Delivery... $125
MAP Intake set up... $75
New Gasket kit... $84.97
6344 ECM... $35
Paint for Heads... $11.40
Paint for Block... $26.98
New Starter... $60 (Until Core is returned)
Compression Tester... $25
Dial Indicator... $15
Dial Indicator Base... $20
Valve Covers... $20
Engine Hoist Rental... $47.50
Motor Refund..... -$200.00
Rotating Assembly... $75
Camshaft... $190.19
Plastigage... $3.97
Main Bearings... $32.97
Rod Bearings... $39.76
Assembly Lube... $4.97
Break in Oil... $47.45
Cam Bearings... $25.97

Current Total... $946.13

dbrochard

iTrader: (3)

So here is the first story of working on my new motor. Nice guy comes and delivers it to my house, he brings his engine hoist. He helps me line up the motor with my engine stand. Well, the bolts that came with my stand were for an LS, not my motor. But this guy happened to have two of the four correct bolts just hanging out in his truck. SO we bolted the engine to the stand like that, with a floorjack under the front of the oil pan, which sat on wood blocks. The bolts were about two inches too long, so they had zero strength the way they were. So nice guy that sold me the engine leaves, everybody is happy, and Dad and I go to the hardware store to get the right bolts. Come back home, and the dialogue went a little like this...
Dad: Okay son, jack it up a little so I can get a third bolt lined up
Me: But dad, that bolt on the bottom has a lot of upward pressure on it. It could break!
Dad: Don't worry, I will watch it.
Me: Okay (jacks up motor a little bit)
Dad: A little more
I jack up the motor a little more. Then everything went super fast but super slow. Bolt 1 snaps, engine twists to one side, off of the jack, then bolt 2 instantly snaps with all this new weight. It takes me about 35 hours at my hardware store job to make the $325 needed to buy and have this motor delivered, after taxes. I watched my 35 hours of standing behind a cash register fall to the concrete floor, denting the floor and the front pulley, and further denting the oil pan that was already a little rough.
Dad: F*CK!
Me: well sh*t. I still can't comprehend this
Dad: (Hits engine stand) I SHOULDA MADE HIM STAY (referencing the guy that delivered it)
Me: It wasn't his fault
Dad: I know, but if he stayed this wouldn't have happened




So, that is why you see a dial indicator in my purchases list. Because even though it only fell 1.5-2 feet, we need to be sure the crank didn't get bent during the drop. Hopefully it didn't, but if all goes well I will have time to test it on Thursday...

dbrochard

iTrader: (3)

So then we had to rent an engine hoist and put it back on the stand... this tie with the four, correct bolts. I then degreased the engine, and took off all the pieces it doesn't need during a compression test, bagging and tagging every bolt that came out
Monday we hooked up the new starter to the engine along with my battery to test the compression. here are the results


Cylinder 1: 200psi
Cylinder 2: 195
Cylinder 3: 200
Cylinder 4: 210
Cylinder 5: 205
Cylinder 6: 195
Cylinder 7: 160
Cylinder 8: 180


This was after also pumping a little oil into each cylinder, to prevent the cylinders from getting scratched. We also drained the oil, and no meta chunks came out but there was fuel in the oil along with a few oil clumps. This may because it sat for awhile before I bought it though

Tuned Performance

iTrader: (92)

You might want to consider re ringing and bearings/timing chain. Number 7 &8 are looking low.

dbrochard

iTrader: (3)

If the timing chain hasn't been replaced I will end up doing that too. As for putting in new rings, I added oil to those cylinders and the compression did not change, and according to what I have read, that means that the rings are not the issue, but that it may be the valves are not seating right. Also, if I did replace the rings and bearings, would I have to get the rotating assembly re balanced as well?

Tuned Performance

iTrader: (92)

Unless your going to higher rpm race the engine I wouldn't get it balanced.

dbrochard

iTrader: (3)

Turns out Tuned Performance is correct in telling me to replace the bearings...
I pulled the intake and heads yesterday, and was greeted by a few surprises. 4 collapsed lifters, and strange markings on the #7 piston and the part of the head that it works with. It almost looked like the piston was just barely hitting the head. So I rotated the motor, and pushed on the piston. It had about .5mm of play. So I undid the connecting rod bolts and found this...

dbrochard

iTrader: (3)

dbrochard

iTrader: (3)

This budget motor swap is about to get a lot more expensive...

dbrochard

iTrader: (3)

So heres the newest update.
Guy that sold me the motor gave me back my $200
I did not want to buy a new rotating assembly, so I bought a 1995 shortblock with pitted cylinder bores for $75. Before buying I checked all the bearings and made sure nothing was too messed up, and it was all in perfect shape.
Except for two of the pistons. The owner had over revved the engine, and it cracked two of the pistons landings. So, using the other eight pistons I have from motor number 1, I will susbsitute out the broken ones for pistons of the same weight to maintain the balance.

Drew

iTrader: (58)

Free advice... Stop throwing good money into junk parts. Used engines are always a huge gamble, and most of the time, the seller wins. Typical minimum required machine work on a 350 short block is going to run about $1,000. That estimate is pretty much a stock rebuild, overbore, cut crank, rebuild rods, new el-cheapo pistons, rings, bearings, gaskets. The cost goes up more when the old heads need rebuilt.

Meanwhile... https://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-12530283 GM can sell you a complete fresh Vortec 350 crate engine for about $2000 delivered. Summit doesn't have the best price, it's just a quick link for reference. A person would be hard pressed to rebuild a 350 with better features for less money, not to mention it is a shortcut around waiting for the machine shop to lose or otherwise screw up your parts, and you don't even have to get your hands dirty.

dbrochard

iTrader: (3)

I know I can just get a new rebuilt engine, but I don't have that kind of money. My goal here is to rebuild this engine myself on the cheap without spending unnecesary money. The rotating assembly I just bought has 60k miles on it, and I believe that because it is in such good shape. While I appreciate your advice, that option just was not right for me. Besides, I am good friends with a guy who was a machinist for 20 plus years, and he is offering plenty of advice to helpme keep the costs down. That 2000 dollars for a new crate engine takes me around 230 hours to make, after taxes. That just won't work for me.

rushtk

Do you know yet what has to be done to the camaro to accept the l98? I am in the process of buying a 92 rs and currently have a 90 vett with some body and VATS issues and was thinking about a swap. lots of pics plz.