well, my car hasn't really moved under its own power since august of '04. now with Jeremy gone, I am left with two options, sell it or send it out for a total rebuild (basically ground up). this car has always been my dream car and it almost looks the part, but mechanically it is a mess and the floor pans have some issues. I have neither the tools nor the time to overhaul this car myself, so I will have to send it out.

I am planning on doing an all new intake (hsr), engine, and trans. I also want to remove all the emissions equip. as I don't need to have it anymore. the question becomes one of where can I send this out to have it done? money is not too big of a problem (thankfully) but I want someone respectable who knows what they are doing as I have had some shady dealings with people saying they can fix this car (not Jeremy). I just want one place that can replace the floor pans and do the drive train swap. I am really trying to avoid having to sell it, but if I can't get it back on the road soon I may be forced to. please throw me some names of shops that you guys know about. sending this waaay out of state is not really an option here either. thanks.

 

jay can do floorpans but he ain't cheap. as for the motor, ditch all the EFI Crap and go holley double pumper and never look back. I wouldn't waste a holley stealth ram intake on a 305 EVER. go find a good 350 longblock bolt up a set of vortec heads, XE274 cam, the air-gap intake and a 750 DP holley and you'll be fine. Go 3500 stall or so for best performance. Sell the tpi on ebay for some extra cash.

 

no carb, 2007. that being said I am putting in a crate 350. I want one shop to send the car to as the firewall needs a little work too, and that can only be done with the motor out.

 

go faster cheaper = carb.

if not then talk to outlaw racing, straightline performance, speed inc. etc and be prepared to bring the lube. You'll toss them thousands of dollars in labor that you could do yourself. For the price of a HSR and a new crate you might as well just swap to a LS1 as a HSR is so 90s and the LS1 is modern.

 

Your best bet is invests in some toolage, you can usually get a decent set ALOT cheaper then you could ever spend on labor some where. I am sure there are guys and gals on here that would lend a hand every so often, I know I would, or loan engine hoists and stuff.

Honestly, get all the parts together, make a post you would like some help one day, offer food and beer or something, and I know ATLEAST Steve (xpndbl3) and Jeff (Daturbosix) would come out for beer alone....you need food and beer for me to come out. I am sure there are enough people on here that would be willing to lend a hand, especially to work on a pretty cool looking car (if thats it in your sig)

 

also 99% of machine shops DON'T do any type of body work, so the car is getting sent out regardless even if you drop it off at their shop.

 

True.....but there are people on here that have dont floor pans, and you can always get a whole floor pan and redo.

Or do what I did and get a new roller car and start over......mine was rusted in the bumpers, and thats not safe.

 

Find some to do the floorpans.

Yank the motor first and just tow it there.(find someone with a brain and be prepared with 2*12's cut too length for the tow truck driver)

Then worry about the engine swapping.

Speed Inc I wouldnt hold my breath on, they blow up as much stuff there on the dyno as Sutton Ford does.

I would highly recommend Finish Line Performance, they aint cheap but top notch work.

I agree on dump the boat anchor 305, if your throwing money down on a crate engine, I would try and find a complete LS(whatever) using a 99-02 F bod harness u can make it run with supplying power and grds to about a 8 wires.

Stay away from tubular k-members as well, weight savings is about 13#'s and once u nothc the stocker its less than that. Also I've never seen a stocker break.

Hit me up for my cell number if u dont have it, I'll help u where I can if u got questions.

later
Jeremy

 

explain this notching of the stocker?? you mean the low slung part under the engine?

 

I think Jeremy was referring to getting an LS* to fit the stock k-member.

I, myself, am also about to start over with a new thirdgen. Just dont know what yet.

 

well on the cheap there's the proven vortec headed combo/carb and a 150 shot.

OR there's another grand and a ls1 swap which is relatively easy as well a few wires here and there along with a kmember and motor mount swap and you're there.

 

here is my issue with an LSx motor, we are talking nickle and dime me to death on this extra hose, this clip, blah blah blah. not going through that. a 350 with an HSR will be more "bolt-in" as all my old accessories and brackets will bolt on to it (ac is staying). on top of that I am not gonna be able to touch a new motor for 3500 bucks. I am not putting anything in that isn't new because I don't want the headache of a used motor (or trans) and its "former life".
over the last year of driving my gto I have gotten spoiled with reliabilty and some speed. I am looking to duplicate this in a way, just with a few more leanings towards speed rather than comfort. I understand most engine shops will have to send the car out after they pull the motor to have the floor pan issues fixed, but then it is on their end and I don't have to worry about it. I have no room nor equipment needed to be pulling motors, and unless one of you has a free garage to use with the neccesary equipment, me doing this tear down and rebuild just isn't gonna happen. this is why I am looking for more of a custom car builder shop as I can send it out and have them do what is takes to get it up and running. all I want to do is spec in the correct parts (will also help me keep the costs from being too outrageous). if 15 grand is what it is gonna take, fine.
the issue really is that if this summer goes by and it is still down, I am afraid it has to go.

 

15k? That is crazy. I LOVE your car curtis, but 15k to have the floorpans put in is nuts. Even if that includes a motor install, still crazy.

Good luck though.

 

Wow... ZZ4 Shortblock and .062 heads along with a carb. Come on man, its CHEAP horsepower. You dont have emissions, so why EFI? Ditch the TPI setup for about $350 on Ebay. Also with a carb'd car you can have a sexy engine bay with very little wiring.

 

I actually prefer how fuel injection looks over a carb bay, but that is just my opinion.

But, if you are having wiring nightmares, carb is your best bet.

Cheaper also.

I would like to have a carbed thirdgen one day, as soon as someone teaches me about them, lol.

 

I didn't want to mess with the hacked up harness and FI so I just carb'd an engine and threw it in. I have no idea what I'm going to do about emissions this summer though

 

15k is engine, trans, floor pans, new interior, maybe brake setup. this is what I mean by starting over. I will reuse my shell, suspension and rear end. that is it. as for EFI, call it crazy, i just like the ability throw a scanner on it. I will fix the wiring and gut the interior before I send it out. I just need a shop that can deal with swapping out the drive train. if they have to send the car out for floor pan repairs that is fine with me

 

Everything your talking about doing can be done in your driveway/garage. I'm sure you can have no problem getting your hands on an engine lift.

 

I understand that this CAN be done in your driveway. I dont have tools, time or knowledge required to do this though. yes there are people here on the board that can help with this or that, but then the time schedule gets dragged out over months to get the right people to help with the project. I just need some shop suggestions that I can talk to about overhauling the whole car. right now it sits in my parents garage and there is no way they are going to let me take up the whole garage for a summer to do this. I HAVE to send it somewhere or sell it.

 

what kind of stuff is wrong with the car? does the engine run? what kind of wiring issues?

 

what do you need to know? i've done a few of them
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pick out what motor you want, etc and I'll see if I can have it at my buddies shop for a while, I'll trailer the car out to jay's body shop in Indiana and do a Ls1 swap for it. won't be cheap but it'll look good and have a LS1 in it....OR since your budget is 15k, well the LS2 brand new from GM is 6k and a built FLP trans is $2400, so that's $8400 right there, the other 7k will be eaten up in floorpan/firewall and the labor. Let me know when you want it. Also you will need LS1 motor mounts to be purchased along with other swap parts, have it done in under a month.