Hello fellow v6'ers! I have been reading this forum for various topics over the past couple months and have gotten some great information from it, thanks to everyone for posting the how to's and different write ups for these cars. Now I'm posting to ask for some advice from all of you on my situation...
I bought a 95 camaro, 3.4l, for my wife (then girlfriend) a couple years ago. We got it for a great price ($1700, at least I think its a great price) with only a few issues... first of all, it had 215,000 miles on it, however the owner said the bottom end was rebuilt at 150k. The stereo was having some wiring issues (stock bose system, easy fix... replace the whole thing which I'm doing this weekend finally), the front end had been in a minor accident so the hood had a couple dents and the bumper was scratched and misaligned. Other than those two things and your expected wear and tear on the interior, suspension, etc, there were no other big problems with it.
I bought it knowing with that many miles that sooner or later the time would come to either replace the engine, rebuild it, or replace the car. My wife and I are not in a position for car payments right now but I can afford to fix it so that brings me to the meaning of this post... do I rebuild or replace the engine?
I've read many other posts about this, many people looking for replacing the engine and getting more power out of it... I'm not really looking for that as the v6 gets better mileage and she doesn't need a racecar nor does she care about that. Myself, I'd love to have the v8 but thats a project for the future.
Being that the bottom end was rebuilt, does it make sense that I replace the whole engine? Should I take it out, and just have the topend rebuilt? I'd expect that the bottom end rebuilt included the crank... does it include pistons? The piston rings are leaking, causing light blue smoke out the back, so I know I'd have to do some work there. Does it make sense to have the whole thing replaced? If the difference in cost is only 200 - 300 to replace the whole thing, I'd rather go that route maybe with a remanufactured engine or something like that. I've considered going to junkyards to look for a used lower mileage engine but I'm not sold on that idea yet. I want something that will run great, like new, and last her many more years.
Any comments from the community? Thanks
I bought a 95 camaro, 3.4l, for my wife (then girlfriend) a couple years ago. We got it for a great price ($1700, at least I think its a great price) with only a few issues... first of all, it had 215,000 miles on it, however the owner said the bottom end was rebuilt at 150k. The stereo was having some wiring issues (stock bose system, easy fix... replace the whole thing which I'm doing this weekend finally), the front end had been in a minor accident so the hood had a couple dents and the bumper was scratched and misaligned. Other than those two things and your expected wear and tear on the interior, suspension, etc, there were no other big problems with it.
I bought it knowing with that many miles that sooner or later the time would come to either replace the engine, rebuild it, or replace the car. My wife and I are not in a position for car payments right now but I can afford to fix it so that brings me to the meaning of this post... do I rebuild or replace the engine?
I've read many other posts about this, many people looking for replacing the engine and getting more power out of it... I'm not really looking for that as the v6 gets better mileage and she doesn't need a racecar nor does she care about that. Myself, I'd love to have the v8 but thats a project for the future.
Being that the bottom end was rebuilt, does it make sense that I replace the whole engine? Should I take it out, and just have the topend rebuilt? I'd expect that the bottom end rebuilt included the crank... does it include pistons? The piston rings are leaking, causing light blue smoke out the back, so I know I'd have to do some work there. Does it make sense to have the whole thing replaced? If the difference in cost is only 200 - 300 to replace the whole thing, I'd rather go that route maybe with a remanufactured engine or something like that. I've considered going to junkyards to look for a used lower mileage engine but I'm not sold on that idea yet. I want something that will run great, like new, and last her many more years.
Any comments from the community? Thanks
Comment