muscle96ss

I have a 2002 35th LE Camaro SS Convertible that has 146K mile on it. My main mods are at around 85K I put AFR 205cc heads, Futral F-13 cam, American Racing Headers(mated with GMMG and CME), and Motive 3.92 gears on(also had the T-56 rebuilt around that time). The car was dyno'd at 390HP. A little more background info; other than the engine the car is in pristine shape; looks brand new, clean as can be, and gets several compliments daily on its looks or sound. I work in home health and use it daily to drive around from house to house to see my patients(average around 24K miles per year). I cannot picture ever getting a new car.

When it got cold about 2 months ago I started leaking oil; turned out to be the oil pan gasket. I get it back from the shop and it is still leaking oil and they think it is rear main now. So they goto fix it and it turns out rear main is fine but the cam o-ring is leaking significantly. Get that fixed and they let it run a bit and nothing is leaking. I get it home and it is leaking again. Well it turns out that there is excessive blow-by and some excessive play in the crank bearings so the owner of the shop thinks that if we fix the current leak there is a good chance another one is going to form somewhere else. Considering I am physically and mentally incapable of doing any of the repair work myself, this is starting to get expensive and I think it is time to drop a new engine in the car. The shop owner has pretty much said that it would be cheaper to buy a built short block than rebuild with my current block.

So the question is; which short block is going to be the easiest transition where I can use my AFR 205's and F-13 cam(383 stroker, 402, or other)? I would love more power but at the same time really don't have any future plans to supercharge the car or do anything radical and have never taken the car to the track. Also which sponsors are going to be the most reputable to purchase this from?

Grimes

iTrader: (3)

Humm, what is your total budget? Also, if we had your location, we could suggest a shop that is known for servicing f-bodies specifically.

muscle96ss

Not real sure on budget, wasn't expecting this, so I am not sure what is realistic to spend. I live in Chandler, AZ; the shop that has been working on the car is called AZ Automasters and they specialize in F-bodys and Vettes. However the owner said that it would probably be cheaper to by a built short block than have him rebuild on my block and it would also cause a lot less down time as well. He gave me a rough estimate of $2500 to take a built short block and put my cam, heads, etc... on and put it in the car(we would also port the throttle body).

fatmat80

I would go with a Texas Speed 383 for the price and excellent service... plus your parts you already have will work with this combo..

LilJayV10

iTrader: (39)

Has your mechanic checked the PCV system?

djfury05

iTrader: (30)

$2500 to assemble the top end of the motor and install sounds super high to me

muscle96ss

Yeah, he said that they sometimes use a truck PCV valve to help lower the pressure with boosted motors but that he didn't see it doing anything significant for this application. He said the bottomline is there is just too much blow-by and too much play in the crank.

Schwanke Engines

iTrader: (1)

There are a few shortblocks we could do for you. Check out the shortblock link in my sig.
I think shipping is still around $200 to Phoenix. Give us a call if you are interested.

I am thinking either a iron or alum. 415 would be your best bet.

technicalninja

iTrader: (1)

How did they miss the excessive blow-by on the first oil leak repair?
What is being described as "to much play/excessive play in bearing? Was it excessive thrust clearance? How much?

If I was that shop owner I'd be very embarassed if I had to tell my customer he needed a new motor at the third oil leak comeback.
Did they offer discount off of installation labor due to the first two un-needed jobs?
Or had they informed you of the blow-by from the start?

Was oil dye/UV light used to diagnose the leak?
How much have you spent "fixing" the oil leak so far?
Any other "sick" motor symptoms? excessive oil consumption,loss of power, reduced fuel economy, noises, etc...
Was compression and leak down test preformed?

Massive thrust clearance or excessive blow-by would halt any further diagnosis and repair in my book but it would have been nice to know this before any repair work was done.
I can understand how the thrust clearance might not get caught on the first go-around but not the blow-by, at least not by a specialist shop who have been in business as long as they have.

I agree with djfury05. 2500 seems a little steep. If that includes a bunch of extra stuff (clutch, new tune, cooling system re-do, fresh injectors, etc...) then 2500 might be a bargain.

Callies Performance

Crazy I am heading to Chandler for the weekend...Plenty of Guys to get you hooked up out there. Cant go wrong with Texas Speed

-Adam @ Callies

muscle96ss

Let me back up a little bit and explain things in a little more detail. When it first got cold out here(which isn't really cold but it is in comparison to 115 degrees) and it started leaking they put dye in it and determined that it was leaking from the oil pan gasket definitely and pretty bad and thought possibly minorly somewhere else but wasn't sure without pulling the transmission. So they fixed the oil pan leak. Once that was sealed he said that it still looked like there was a small leak coming from the direction of rear main. We were planning on a new clutch soon since I had about 70K on my current one and it was a stock one. So I ordered a Monster Step 2 clutch and we planned to attack rear main at that time. They used dye again and it turned out that rear main was fine(had been done 3 years ago with last clutch); but that oil was pouring out of the cam o-ring(he said that when he removed the sensor a ton of oil came pouring out and he had never seen that before). We chose not to do rear main at that time because he said that it felt good and did not want to disrupt the harmony of the system. This is when he did the test to determine how much blow-by was happening because we originally thought that oil pan leak was simply a result of being old and many heating cooiling cycles of the arizona seasons(almost 10 years as it was the original). It wasn't until the second leak that we started to think maybe something else is going on and we had to do the clutch anyways so it wasn't too big of deal or so we thought. The same night that I got it back I noticed that it was still leaking and called him and said that when the oil had poured out of the cam sensor they were only able to clean up the top of the engine and that it may drip for a couple of days from the bell housing. Then on monday my oil pressure sender unit bit the dust so the car was back in there and I asked him to attack the leak so that we can finally get things back to normal. This is when he stated that he didn't know if it was worthwhile to continue to chase leaks. He said he would be happy to reseal everything up but would not make any guarantees that this would solve the problem and if it did for how long. The motpr itself run perfect, no noticeable changes, power loss, or anything; just every time I leave home there is a new small drop of oil on the cardboard I put down on the floor.

Also I have known the owner of the shop for around 7 years and they have done all the work on that car exclusively during that period. We have become friends and also share mutual friends so I don't think he would screw me over and he has always been very open and honest with me. In terms of the $2500 estimate; that was just off the top of his head yesterday; he said he would need to research recent similar builds to get a more accurate cost. When he rebuilt my T-56 I found another local specialist who was a bit cheaper and he was willing to price match so he would probably do the same here.

muscle96ss

You may want to re-think your plans, friday the high is supposed to be 48 with a low of 31; can't say I have ever seen colder weather than this out here before. Should have come last weekend, was 75 and sunny, I fell asleep out on the lounge chair by my pool for 2 hours on Christmas day.

Schwanke Engines

iTrader: (1)

I do miss living in AZ this time of year, I hate you!!!!


-Adam @ Callies
You wouldn't happed to be visiting a friend from AZ Speed and Marine, would you?

technicalninja

iTrader: (1)

Glad your happy with your shop.
Hard to find good ones now days.

Think I'd clean it up real good and track drippage for a bit before popping for a new engine unless other symptoms are noticed.

Now if this situation is useful for convincing a wife that a new engine is needed I understand fully!

As a ex-shop owner I can understand high initial "off the hip" estimates. Strangely, customers NEVER complain if you deliever under your estimate!

Good luck!