Rebuild, replace or part it out?

[shaguar_red]

My 98 firebird died this weekend. :cry: It had 170k on it. It's either a rod bearing or a Cam bearing. The oil psi dropped to nothing, check gauges light went on and a horrible chirping is coming from the bottom end. It runs, but I had it towed home. It's a boat anchor in my driveway. Now Im trying to decide what would be best. Rebuild the engine I have, get a used longblock or part out the car. It's my daily driver, so Im without a car now. Ill have to drive my project car to and from work until I figure out what to do.
What would a full rebuild cost if I did most of the work myself? Of course Ill have to have a machine shop do the things I dont have the special tools for. Do you think it would be better to rebuild it or risk buying a used longblock from someone?
Ugh, Im sick over it. I loved that car. But then at the same time, I have a nice Lt1 project Camaro thats almost complete. Just hurts me to see the firebird go. Decisions decisions..

[ACiFiC]

Re: Rebuild, replace or part it out?

if you rebuild it will it hinder the Lt1 project?

[cam98aro]

Re: Rebuild, replace or part it out?

probably a rod bearing, its rare for a cam bearing to go bad.

if that is the problem, and you rebuilt it you are most likely looking at getting the crank ground down, running oversize bearings, and getting an align bore/hone for the mains.

my guess is around $350-500

personally i would buy another engine.

[Shodown]

Re: Rebuild, replace or part it out?

3.8's are pretty easy to find and cheap in junk yards (~$500). Hell, you could probably find one on here or FTV6 already pulled and ready to drop in. You can even pull one out of a Grand Prix, swap the accessories to it and drop it in. Wouldnt take more than a weekend's worth of work and it will be on the road again.

Just my .02

[Rob Bell]

Re: Rebuild, replace or part it out?

I think it all depends on the car's condition. If the car is otherwise in good condition and you like it, I would agree with getting another engine and putting it in. If it were my car I would get a brand new engine, but of course it depends on your finances and the car's condition. Also, as ACiFiC asked, will this hinder your Camaro project? If it does, and your Camaro will become your DD when complete, maybe you should throw the effort toward finishing the Camaro first. Then you can get back to fixing the Firebird. You are lucky to have a running car in the Camaro, so at least you are not walking to work. You can afford to do some research on this.

[shaguar_red]

Re: Rebuild, replace or part it out?

if you rebuild it will it hinder the Lt1 project?

No. The LT1 project is 98% done. It just needs tint, lowered, the ypipe is hitting the floorboard causing false knock and after the false knock issue is taken care of, I may need the tune looked at again. Other than that, the Lt1 is good to go.

I think it all depends on the car's condition. If the car is otherwise in good condition and you like it, I would agree with getting another engine and putting it in. If it were my car I would get a brand new engine, but of course it depends on your finances and the car's condition. Also, as ACiFiC asked, will this hinder your Camaro project? If it does, and your Camaro will become your DD when complete, maybe you should throw the effort toward finishing the Camaro first. Then you can get back to fixing the Firebird. You are lucky to have a running car in the Camaro, so at least you are not walking to work. You can afford to do some research on this.

The car is in great condition body wise. Great paint, it looks like a TA because I bought it with a 8" tear in the front bumper, all I could find was a TA bumper. So it has TA sideskirts, rear wing and front. What sux is I have an OE ramair hood at the paintshop right now. The rearend whines at 40mph. The interior is perfect except the cracked upper dash. I dunno.. Im leaning more towards a new engine since Ive researched and heard you can put a newer v6 in and swap the intake and accessories. But then again its like, do I trust whoever I buy the engine from and then hope/wait for the trans to go out? Supposively the trans was rebuilt about 30k ago. Ive only had the car a year and a half.

[Choppers]

Re: Rebuild, replace or part it out?

Go ahead and pull the motor. Tear it down and come back to us. Depending on what you need you may be able to just take it to a machine shop and it get refreshed with new bearings and crank turned. But I would probably order a new motor but that's just me.

[SilverRS96]

Re: Rebuild, replace or part it out?

ill take the front bumper lol

[shaguar_red]

Re: Rebuild, replace or part it out?

ill take the front bumper lol

:D the old torn formula style one? LOL it went in the trash a long time ago. Trust me it wasnt salvagable. It was held together with some red nasty duct tape and wood screws. I still have the rear bumper hanging in my garage though.

[SilverRS96]

Re: Rebuild, replace or part it out?

i was talkin about the TA one lol

[mdenz3]

Re: Rebuild, replace or part it out?

I just got a Series III complete for $433 shipped. Swap in the long block and sell off all the extra accessories.

[ssms5411]

Re: Rebuild, replace or part it out?

Good deal..., good luck on the swap.