CapoThDon

iTrader: (1)

So I just bought a 94 Firehawk for guess what!!!! 750.00...
Attachment 467670
Attachment 467671
Attachment 467672
Lol no, but it has a blown head gasket.... Boooo, oh we'll. So I have 3500 to fix her up. I'm looking for 420ish rwhp. I will be doing all the work myself besides the machine work. My logic is if I have to take the heads off, take out the engine and do some mild rebuilding, with heads and cam. Tell me what y'all think? Oh yeah, I'm old school I want to take out the engine from the top. Is there a sticky on that? I have a garage and time so I'm willing to take it all apart bag and label everything. Ask questions if you have any. Here she goes again...

anywereiroam

I took mine out through the top. I just took out the radiator, fans, all of the front end accseories, crank pulley and done! I had it one the lift to do it the bottom way but just seemed easier through the top!

bufmatmuslepants

iTrader: (3)

I took mine out through the top once, take out the radiator and fans, all front end accessories, take off the intake manifold and put chains crossed on the 4 corner intake head bolt holes, use the trans as a counterweight to drop the back of the motor down, put the front of the car on jack stands, rear tires on ramps, lay under the car with the tailshaft on your chest and have someone jacking the hoist as you wiggle forward with each lift of the hoist till the engine and trans are vertical then out she comes.

You can do a refresh of the bottom end with the rods resized for ARP bolts, new bearings, a hone, new rings, and then an LE2 package, long tubes, CAI, injectors and a tune and about 420rwhp if your in an m6, 390-400 for an A4

BIGsmokey10

iTrader: (3)

Damn you stole that thing. Congrats

93M6Formula

I agree with this. You're going to have a hard time not blowing that $3500 quickly though. you'll have about $1000 or more on a quality shortblock. Then you gotta add in headers, exhaust (optional), Stall (if auto), clutch (if manual), a tune, LE heads and cam or AI heads and cam, fluids, roller rocker and pushrods, etc etc. That will all add up quick and that's not adding in suspension which isn't terribly necessary if you don't plan to track it.

Nice steal otherwise! Have fun but come here for questions first before diving in to that motor. There's plenty of ways to spend that money wrong and end up with a turd of an LT1.

hrcslam

X2.

$3500 is not much duckies for 420whp. LE2 package is $1600. Machine work is ~$1K. Headers, Y-pipe, Cat back is about another $1K. And that's already $3600. You still need gaskets, rings, bearings, oil, and sealants. Along with the fuel pump, injectors, and tune. And that's just for the engine and assuming you're re-using your stock pistons and rods.

What about trans, stall? Clutch? Don't forget suspension and tires.

Good deal OP. I got mine for $800. I now have ~$8.2K into it. See sig for details. The engine alone, I built myself minus machine work, cost me ~$4500 with some savvy shopping (the only stock part of my rotating assembly is my crank). Trans, with clutch, ~$1400. Suspension and wheels/tires ~ $1500.

It adds up quickly. Well, I'm assuming all else is stock. What all is already done to the car? A4 or M6?

Also, I pulled mine from the top too. I dropped the trans, then removed the radiator/fans, then all front accessories, then the intake. Disconnected everything else and it came right out. If you don't remove the intake manifold you'll be cursing. Removing the intake manifold makes this process 1000 times easier. Also, You don't have to remove the hood either. I disconnected the hood shocks from the hood (they pop-off) and used a bungy to hold the hood all the way open.

Huntr1117

iTrader: (18)

Pulling out of the top is not bad. Tpis makes the happy hooker engine puller plate. You can leave the intake on. I've used it on my brothers car twice out the top and I'll be using it on mine in about a month when I'll finally have time to pull mine.

CapoThDon

iTrader: (1)

I have 2 years, I would love to have her up sooner but you can't rush good work. Plus I live in Hawaii so I can work on her non stop. Im saying just 3500.00 on machine work plus head and cams.

CapoThDon

iTrader: (1)

I was wondering also can I do the 383 stroker with the LE2 head and cam package? I called Elliotts port work for a week straight and left a message. But I wanted to know has anyone done that combo? And also who has good stroker kits for reasonable prices. I understand sometimes you just gotta pay for what you want. Realistic Im thinking more around 5000.00ish mark once I'm done with just the engine, 1200 or so for the T56, and 1200 for the suspension but that is way later. But like bufmatmuslepants said just refresh the bottom end and call it.

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

People are saying $1600 for heads and cam but that neglects rockers, pushrods, studs, new core heads if they got overheated badly enough to be soft, and that is on top of everything he did remember to post.

You do a good heads/cam package and by the time you buy the rest of the valvetrain and gaskets $2500 can be gone in a blink and that is without repairs or supporting mods and this is NOT paying for any labor outside the head work.

Guuess what I am saying is the closest you will get to 400rwhp fro $3500 right now is to go buy some LSD and pretend. If the shortblock is OK I would start by doubling your budget, then start saving up because by the time you do supporting mods doubling your budget still wont do the trick.

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

You replied while I was typing, a decent 383 shortblock is going to cost $3500 without topend or valvetrain. Sure folks are going to say they did it cheaper but being in Hawaii is going to make everything more expensive and for everyone that manages to come in under that mark most will spend even more.

hrcslam

Agreed. My $4500 I spent on my engine rebuild included everything, from machine work to spark plugs.

Here's the list:
Connecting Rods:....................$260.97
Rebuild Kit:............................$609.97
Heads (LE2):..........................$1,100.00
Cam (Lunati 230/238);............$ 235.00
Machine Shop*:......................$1,046.00
Harland Sharp 1.6 RR:.............$ 249.00
36# Injectors:........................$ 90.94
260LPH Fuel Pump:.................$ 49.98
Head Bolts:............................$ 46.00
3/4"-3" LT Headers:................$ 200.00
3" ORY:.................................$ 146.00
Oil Pressure Switch:................$ 27.90
Knock Sensor:........................$ 40.94
O2 Sensor..............................$ 43.00
Spark Plugs:...........................$ 17.39
Lubes, Sealants, Misc:.............$ 250.00
Total:....................................$4,413.0 9

Add in shipping to Hawaii. Then add in the difference for some of the deals I found here and on Craigslist, plus the cost of Machine work in Hawaii. And you could easily add $1500-2500 to this.

To go with a forged 383 set up, I would've added about another $500-750 from here for different pistons, rods, plus a forged crankshaft and machine work.