Looking to do an engine Swap this winter.. some advice..

[AlcHEmiE]

Well, i've always wanted to do an engine swap, and now the problems my car is giving me is just more reason to do so.. Problem is, i dont know much about these things. Im not looking for anything really crazy, just somthing basic thats gonna put out as much or a little more power than my L98 and bolt up to my stock auto tranny. I've been looking around at crate motors and such, but everything i see is for carburated cars.. Whats with that? Like i said before, i dont know much about these things, but other than the motors itself, what am i looking at part wise? I've found a few sites, but nothing really goes into detail as far as what i'd need. And 1 last thing.. From begining to end, from the engine to shipping to the labor, and all the parts in between, roughly what am i looking at? I understand that the engines vary in price greatly, but factoring in say about $3,500-$4,000. Thanks for your help..

 

[taegdh]

Look in the various automotive publications which cater to AMERICAN BUILT Vehicles, and you'll find crate engines offered in various states of build and finish, to suit your pocketbook.

Many of them accomodate Fuel Injection and you have to transfer all the associated sensors from your old engine to the new engine.

It is a matter of planning and time. You must figure out the time it will take to remove the engine, and multiply that by 3 to get the time it will take to reinsert and hook up. Plus you have to figure on atleast a day to transfer thngs with both out of the vehicle.


This is a great opportunity to clean and paint as necessary the frame and other parts of the engine compartment.


Also check the holes for mounting the brackets for the accessories before you get going too fast. This is also an excellent time to have your radiator rebuilt and while it's out, replace all your hoses and belts..... including the Power Steering, while it is easily accessible.

Allow an extra couple thou to accomodate all the "nice to do nows."

PLAN YOUR WORK then WORK YOUR PLAN!!

LOL.

 

[77-85]

I happen to be in the middle of doing exactly the same thing. I looked at the prices of Crate motors, and then I did a little bit of math. I considered all of the extras I was going to do when I replaced the motor (new motor mounts, new clutch, new sensors for my TPI system, new fuel injectors, new water pump, trans rebuild, etc), and I realized that on top of the $ 4000 I would need to spend on a crate engine, I would also need to spend about $ 2000 -> $3000 on all of the other extras.

So I decided to just rebuild my existing engine myself. I am doing all of the assembly ordering of new parts myself, and I ended up spending about $ 2000 on the engine rebuild.

So for the cost of a new Crate engine, I got a rebuilt engine (built the way I wanted it), and all of the extras that I wanted to get done whilst I had the engine out of the car.

It was (still is, since I am not finished) a lot of work, but at least I know that everything is being done right.

This isn't something everyone will view as a viable option, but if you are mechanically inclined, and don't mind having the car out of service for about 6 weeks, you may want to consider it.

At first I just wanted to do the engine, but as I got into it, my confidence grew, and I am now rebuilding the 4+3 transmission (since all of the trans shops in my area wanted nothing to do with the O/D unit).

 

[WhalePirot]

all of the trans shops in my area wanted nothing to do with the O/D unit

For good reason, I might add. Very few shops can do this complicated unit properly.

I hope you guys are real good. Any C-4 is a tough one to learn on, given the sensors, with all the heat fatigued connectors, the ECM looking for a narrow range of inputs, etc. It took me a day to get all the wiring and plumbing out of the way before I could even get to the biz of removing my motor!

Once the engine is built (a bit of art involved here and experience really pays off) the further challenge comes in getting the ECM to run it, especially if the engine is a lot more aggressive than the stock engine. I don't mean to discourage, but warn y'all to learn a LOT before tackling it.

I had great results when I overhauled my Mercedes OHC 230, plus quite good results with my 454 LS-6, the 396's and the 350 I built. Those provided a good basis, but I still opted to have my newest engine built by a professional shop, which yielded more bang/buck than the crates offered.

Best of luck, and don't stray too far from these pages.

 

[SPANISHVETTS]

Have a look at the GM preformance catalogue and check out Lake Chevy´s price. Be sure to read the book in the center before you pick up the first wrench.

 

[Moonunit 451]

Read this link carefully, especially the posts by Eagle85C4! It sounds like you don't really want a lot more than stock If you are certain of that, find the Caprice motor that he suggests and follow his instructions. It is hard to find, but I did eventually. Then I decided to go 383 and spent a LOT of money.

But this might be a good option for ya

http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32789&highlight=caprice+motor

 

[AlcHEmiE]

Yeah, that caprice motors seems to be right up my alley. So from my understanding just a cam would make that a pretty stout motor for the money, huh? But as far as the stock intake manifold, accessories, and electrical connectorsthat are on my L98 go, would they all fit? Or would i have to get new pieces..

PS. Thanks for the reply, i though this thread was on its way out.

 

[grumpyvette]

Ive done that research and engine swaps in corvettes more times then I can ever remember over the last 35 plus years

what your asking is whats the best way to get results for the least money spent. and with little problems, adding displacement and compression and a mild cam is one of the most trouble free routes to increased performance!
if you don,t want to get into swapping to a higher stall converter, and higher ratio rear gears that are REQUIRED if you build an ENGINE that makes power at HIGHER RPMS than your cars CURRENTLY GEARED FOR

look at this 434 SBC short block assembly on this site, add a CRANE 114142 cam and a valve job to your heads and re-install the old upper intake assembly and heads after you port them carefully yourself and drill the steam holes in the heads
the result will be a torque monster that will only run on premium gas but you won,t beleive the differance the extra compression , and displacement will make with that cam allowing better breathing
yeah, you can do it for about $4000 if your doing all the work, and youll get aproximately 200 extra ft lbs of tq over the stock lower cpr 350 and at the lower rpms the cars geared for that you spend most of your time driving at, so you don,t need to put up with a engine thats a total ***** to drive in traffic like a high rpm engine build can be!!!

http://www.babcox.com/editorial/ar/eb120121.htm

http://www.ws6transam.org/ported.html

http://216.121.161.76/files/PlenumPorting.pdf

http://www.sa-motorsports.com/diyport.htm

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/95518/

 

[Moonunit 451]

grumpy, that's good info indeed, but he said "Im not looking for anything really crazy, just somthing basic thats gonna put out as much or a little more power than my L98 and bolt up to my stock auto tranny." I'm not sure where you came up with the high R's idea.

If you're interested in the Caprice motor I would call Pace and discuss it with them. You might be able to just buy the short block without the intake and stuff for even less. The rest should be a bolt on situation. You could add a ZZ9 or ZZ409 cam for around $250, throw it in your new roller block, get your heads rebuilt, do some port work on your intake and runners as grumpy sugests, headers, and exhaust for less than $3,000 and have almost a third more HP than stock.

By the way, I have a very nice set of profesionally P&P cast heads that would be awsome for this setup. E-mail me if you're interested once you decide what to do.