the new guy in town to f-bodys
03-28-2010, 12:38 PM
#1
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the new guy in town to f-bodys hey guys i am kinda the new guy so new that i have not even got my car yet!!!
i just made a down payment on a 1995 firebird formula it has an lt1 with 138,000 miles on it and the car has a internal problem and the guy i am buying it from says it is a collapsed roller rocker? is this some thing i need to fix and put it back to stock or do i need to look into geting new heads?
i kinda am looking getting some LE1 or LE2 heads?
do i just get the new heads or do i try to fix the old ones?
thanks in advance for any help yall can give me
ZOOGUY
i just made a down payment on a 1995 firebird formula it has an lt1 with 138,000 miles on it and the car has a internal problem and the guy i am buying it from says it is a collapsed roller rocker? is this some thing i need to fix and put it back to stock or do i need to look into geting new heads?
i kinda am looking getting some LE1 or LE2 heads?
do i just get the new heads or do i try to fix the old ones?
thanks in advance for any help yall can give me
ZOOGUY
03-28-2010, 06:48 PM
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Because if it's knocking and with the miles on it you will need at least a complete stock rebuild and depending on whats bad in the motor you might need machine work too
03-28-2010, 08:13 PM
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You need to find what's really wrong. And since the rockers don't collapse I'm guessing you really mean a lifter but you would probably need to just replace the whole set and the price for the set of lifters is about $200. But i would say if that is it you need to pull the cam and make sure the cam is not scared so that's why I'm saying you get that far you might as well put in new cam bearings and go trough the rest of the bottom end because of the miles.
So if you're going to tear in to the engine with that many miles you might as well rebuild it so you start off with a good platform. If you just replace one thing it might fix it for now but you don't know when other things will start going bad. So why not just do it while you're in there. I don't know how much you are paying for the car but if you don't know what is really wrong with it and you don't want to put money in it right away to fix it right I would not get it
So if you're going to tear in to the engine with that many miles you might as well rebuild it so you start off with a good platform. If you just replace one thing it might fix it for now but you don't know when other things will start going bad. So why not just do it while you're in there. I don't know how much you are paying for the car but if you don't know what is really wrong with it and you don't want to put money in it right away to fix it right I would not get it
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03-28-2010, 08:20 PM
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Get your $400 back, if you can, and go put it down on another car. Yeah, I don't think I've ever heard of a "collapsed roller rocker", but he probably is talking about a lifter. It really sounds like you are about to buy a pile of junk and will be putting a lot more money into it than its worth. How much does he want for it?
03-29-2010, 11:10 AM
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Its your money, so do what you want to do with it. If it were me, I wouldn't buy it. Sure its cheap, but you may be looking at more problems than its worth. This is just my opinion. Good luck
04-02-2010, 07:43 PM
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It all depends on how you want to get there. If its all motor its gunna cost all said and done my forged 383 ran about $7k and that was a budget forged rotating assembly
04-03-2010, 10:36 PM
#15
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from personal experience with LT1s, just buy a LS1
ur gonna have to spend more money in a LT1 if your wanting to run 11s,
with a ls1 u wont have to spend as much. and yes i know i now own a LT1, i traded my camaro LS1, and now im stuck with a 95 LT1 that i gotta rebuild, stupidest **** ive ever done.
just my $.02
ur gonna have to spend more money in a LT1 if your wanting to run 11s,
with a ls1 u wont have to spend as much. and yes i know i now own a LT1, i traded my camaro LS1, and now im stuck with a 95 LT1 that i gotta rebuild, stupidest **** ive ever done.
just my $.02
04-04-2010, 01:36 AM
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and keep in mind, if track times are what you're building the motor for, not only is the LS1 a better engine but it's also about 100 pounds lighter than the iron block LT1. That's good for about a tenth of a second.
04-04-2010, 11:48 AM
#17
It sounds like you're going to end up getting in over your head on this project.
You admit you're new to this, and you don't have enough mechanical experience to know that a lifter, not rocker, will "collapse." So you're still new to the mechanical aspects. Hey, everyone has to start somewhere. You put a $400 deposit on a $1000 car, which suggests you don't have a large budget. Again, everyone has to start somewhere. And then you start talking about wanting to get it to run 11s. This is a combination for disappointment.
1. You don't know what's wrong with the car. The owner (probably) doesn't know either. He's making a guess based on the symptoms, but until you get into the engine, you won't know for sure. If he said "collapsed rocker" he probably isn't experienced enough to make a good guess either. You could be in for a major rebuild or at the very least a lifter replacement on a high mileage engine.
2. You don't have a big budget. Unexpected rebuild costs can leave you broke with a car that doesn't run. Been there. Done that. It SUCKS.
3. You have lofty goals. Fantastic! Now, you need a plan on how to get there. You want to run low 12 to high 11 second quarters. Ok. Now, how much is your budget to do this? Will this be your daily driver? How reliable does it need to be? You can get many cars into the 11s with a big shot of Nitrous - once. If you need the car to live and get you to work/school on Monday, you need to build it with reliability a major requirement - which means more money up front.
I've made some expensive mistakes with cars and they can usually be boiled down to 1 of 2 basic causes. Either I was doing something stupid, or I tried to do something on the cheap instead of doing it right the first time.
You admit you're new to this, and you don't have enough mechanical experience to know that a lifter, not rocker, will "collapse." So you're still new to the mechanical aspects. Hey, everyone has to start somewhere. You put a $400 deposit on a $1000 car, which suggests you don't have a large budget. Again, everyone has to start somewhere. And then you start talking about wanting to get it to run 11s. This is a combination for disappointment.
1. You don't know what's wrong with the car. The owner (probably) doesn't know either. He's making a guess based on the symptoms, but until you get into the engine, you won't know for sure. If he said "collapsed rocker" he probably isn't experienced enough to make a good guess either. You could be in for a major rebuild or at the very least a lifter replacement on a high mileage engine.
2. You don't have a big budget. Unexpected rebuild costs can leave you broke with a car that doesn't run. Been there. Done that. It SUCKS.
3. You have lofty goals. Fantastic! Now, you need a plan on how to get there. You want to run low 12 to high 11 second quarters. Ok. Now, how much is your budget to do this? Will this be your daily driver? How reliable does it need to be? You can get many cars into the 11s with a big shot of Nitrous - once. If you need the car to live and get you to work/school on Monday, you need to build it with reliability a major requirement - which means more money up front.
I've made some expensive mistakes with cars and they can usually be boiled down to 1 of 2 basic causes. Either I was doing something stupid, or I tried to do something on the cheap instead of doing it right the first time.
04-04-2010, 03:51 PM
#18
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well as an up date I went and got the car and I realize now that as a daily driver to expect it to run low 12's is going to be hard and costly to do.
i know that i could buy a new motor or one with low miles for a lot less than trying to build a faster car.
one more thing i want to have a daily drive here and some thing i take out to auto-cross every once in a while so. drag racing or street racing is some thing i have grown out of.
so i got the car now and the excitement of getting one has worn off and the reality has set in that i dont need a race car i need a daily driver and maybe one with just a little pep
i know that i could buy a new motor or one with low miles for a lot less than trying to build a faster car.
one more thing i want to have a daily drive here and some thing i take out to auto-cross every once in a while so. drag racing or street racing is some thing i have grown out of.
so i got the car now and the excitement of getting one has worn off and the reality has set in that i dont need a race car i need a daily driver and maybe one with just a little pep
04-04-2010, 04:11 PM
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It sounds like you're going to end up getting in over your head on this project.
You admit you're new to this, and you don't have enough mechanical experience to know that a lifter, not rocker, will "collapse." So you're still new to the mechanical aspects. Hey, everyone has to start somewhere. You put a $400 deposit on a $1000 car, which suggests you don't have a large budget. Again, everyone has to start somewhere. And then you start talking about wanting to get it to run 11s. This is a combination for disappointment.
1. You don't know what's wrong with the car. The owner (probably) doesn't know either. He's making a guess based on the symptoms, but until you get into the engine, you won't know for sure. If he said "collapsed rocker" he probably isn't experienced enough to make a good guess either. You could be in for a major rebuild or at the very least a lifter replacement on a high mileage engine.
2. You don't have a big budget. Unexpected rebuild costs can leave you broke with a car that doesn't run. Been there. Done that. It SUCKS.
3. You have lofty goals. Fantastic! Now, you need a plan on how to get there. You want to run low 12 to high 11 second quarters. Ok. Now, how much is your budget to do this? Will this be your daily driver? How reliable does it need to be? You can get many cars into the 11s with a big shot of Nitrous - once. If you need the car to live and get you to work/school on Monday, you need to build it with reliability a major requirement - which means more money up front.
I've made some expensive mistakes with cars and they can usually be boiled down to 1 of 2 basic causes. Either I was doing something stupid, or I tried to do something on the cheap instead of doing it right the first time.
You admit you're new to this, and you don't have enough mechanical experience to know that a lifter, not rocker, will "collapse." So you're still new to the mechanical aspects. Hey, everyone has to start somewhere. You put a $400 deposit on a $1000 car, which suggests you don't have a large budget. Again, everyone has to start somewhere. And then you start talking about wanting to get it to run 11s. This is a combination for disappointment.
1. You don't know what's wrong with the car. The owner (probably) doesn't know either. He's making a guess based on the symptoms, but until you get into the engine, you won't know for sure. If he said "collapsed rocker" he probably isn't experienced enough to make a good guess either. You could be in for a major rebuild or at the very least a lifter replacement on a high mileage engine.
2. You don't have a big budget. Unexpected rebuild costs can leave you broke with a car that doesn't run. Been there. Done that. It SUCKS.
3. You have lofty goals. Fantastic! Now, you need a plan on how to get there. You want to run low 12 to high 11 second quarters. Ok. Now, how much is your budget to do this? Will this be your daily driver? How reliable does it need to be? You can get many cars into the 11s with a big shot of Nitrous - once. If you need the car to live and get you to work/school on Monday, you need to build it with reliability a major requirement - which means more money up front.
I've made some expensive mistakes with cars and they can usually be boiled down to 1 of 2 basic causes. Either I was doing something stupid, or I tried to do something on the cheap instead of doing it right the first time.
04-05-2010, 12:29 AM
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so i guess my next question for the more knowledgeable people than i would be how much should a stock (not moddified) lt1 cost?
how much do i need to spend on a stock replacement motor?
ps... i will keep the other motor that is in it and build it up over time.
how much do i need to spend on a stock replacement motor?
ps... i will keep the other motor that is in it and build it up over time.