Hi, this is probably the first time I'm posting on the forum, I read it all the time, but I have a question about a car I may purchase.

The owner said his wife blew the engine and they had it replaced by a Jasper Rebuilt engine. Has anyone ever heard of these guys? Are they any good? He also said after she spun it out once on the highway she never drove it again, so it has 1k miles on the engine and supposedly 69k on the whole car. It is an 89 IROC.

What do you guys think? Should I go for it? It can't be worse than stock can it? They want 3k for the car, and since its been out in the sun for 3 years now it may need a paint job also.

I have also seen some 90 and above going for similar prices, so I don't know if I should go for it or not. I was really looking for a 90 or above so I can put in a 4th gen rear, I heard only SOME 89s could fit one in, but how would I know if this one could use a 4th gen rear?

Thanks for the help guys.

Suke

 

Well since you dont own the car as of now. I'd check the paint, if it needs painted your looking a grand for a descent paint job, that means the car your buying will cost 4k total. Is that what nice 3rdgens sell for in your area? Its usually better to buy somthing that doesent need anything done to it. I'd persoanlly run over while the people are gone and try a little wax on the car in a couple bad spots to see if it does need painted or if it will clean up alright. If it cleans up you could use the needs a paint job to knock a few bucks off, even though it doesent.

Jasper rebuilds seem to be good, I havent seen or heard of any issues with thier engines. They also come with a great warrenty to the original owner.

All 3rdgen rear ends (axles) are identiacal. That means all 4th gen axles fit them the same, they stick out about 2 inches more on both sides.

 

Well "IF" it is the same company, I'm willing to bet it is, They build
everything from stock to Winston cup Nascar engines. They are a major sponsor for one of the Cup cars also.

 

At the bus garage I work at, I pull alot of 6.9 and 7.3 diesel engines as well as 545 allision transmissions (auto) that had alot of Jasper rebuilds stickers on them..

And for bringing the bus all the way from florida to here in ohio on a engine that hasn't had an oil change in awhile, the oil appears good.

Don't know about the tranmissions, yet to pull one jasper rebuild engine/tranny that wasn't running good or had any bad qualities and I know that for sure. I assume they are good and my boss always sells the engine/tranny for atleast 500 bucks more if there is a jasper rebuild sticker present

 

My dads dodge pickup went through three of these motors. 95 ram 1500 5.9. The first one started leaking coolant from the head gasket after three days. Took it back and had number two ready to go, but the crank was machined incorrectly and wouldn't work with his trans. His third one was okay but it was a awful big load of crap to deal with. I wouldn't trust a jasper engine as far as I could throw it. I know some people are going to post and say that jasper is great but this was my first and last time dealing with them. If you are interested in this car I would check it out very closely. If the motor has lasted 1000 miles it's probably okay, but I'd still we wary.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. Since it's already gone 1k miles I'm hoping its okay, but I'll find out during a test drive. I'm guessing its a stock L98 replacement engine, so would it have the same ratings as a stock L98? All the guy really said was a rebuilt Jasper 5.7, or could he have meant that Jasper rebuilt the stock L98 for him?

Also, from what I read, only 90 to 92 camaros with 28 spline can fit the 4th gen rear? I read that SOME 89s, so I assume they must have started using 28 spline in the 89s after a certain production number. If this 89 was built after they started using 28 spline I should be set, but I can't find out when they started using 28 spline. This information has to be out there, but how do I find it???? Does anyone have any info that can be of any use to me? Thanks again.

Suke

 

afaik the spline doesnt matter if you stick the whole 4th gen rear in(gears and all). the driveline bolts right up and your set.

 

Oh ok, thanks for the info demonchild.

What is everyone's opinion on modding a car that has a rebuilt Jasper engine? It would suck for me if I bought this car and ended up blowing the engine cuz of mods. The mods I may consider include cam, 1.6 rockers, intake manifold and runners.... haven't put much thought into it yet really, but I want to be able to do something to the IROC.

 

Japser base engines are just replacment, that means it could have come from any car or any truck with the same RMS and dipstick location. These are fine engines to mod in fact thier stage 1 & 2 shortblocks are identical, stage 3 get better components.

As far as Slayer's fathers pickup its a dodge what elese would you expect? There are always problems some where with some thing, **** happens. I rather sell or buy an engine with less failure rates then other reman places, Marshall, Recon and a few others. Ive pulled 5 Recon engines out of the same chevy truck in less the 3 months, one I persoanlly broke in just to be sure.

 

That dodge went 267,000 on it's original engine and that's pulling a 25' boat trailer almost every weekend. I can't say anything about anyone elses luck with jasper but 2 engines in 2 weeks pretty much settled it for me. Like I said if it's went 1000 miles already it's probably be okay. ssc is right in that you could have a engine out of anything so it might be worth your while to pull a valve cover and check the casting numbers for the heads and maybe the block.

 

I have a japer l98 replacement in my iroc. I put it in 3 summers and about 15 thousand miles ago and have had no problems to date. You pay a little extra for a jasper but it's worth it. All of their stock replacement engines are built to factory specs and are backed by a 3yr/70k mile warrenty. It's hard to doubt a companies reputation that will slap that type of a warrenty on a $2500+ product. Hel!, GM replacement engines come with a 12m/36k mile warrenty. Here's a pick of mine during the install:

 

Thanks for the reply Dustin Mustangs, I may just go for the vehicle if everything else checks out.