connoroca

ok guys im in a huge dilema. i took my car in today for a head gasket leak. well it looks like i broke one of my aluminum rocker arms. and i have some bearings missing as well. i was having some overheating issues. so i took my car an 06 gto by the way with 500whp in to the local shop who also does dyno and tuning. he has a 2000 whp gto as well. main reason i took it to him. well hes wanting to pull the whole motor and send it off to a machine shop and have everything checked out. my plans were to put new eagle forged pistons and rods in there while the motor was out. im going to put oem rocker arms back in there and go with the triunion upgrade for them. but the owner of the shops main concern is that the block is warped and what not. i have about 7 grand to spend total for these repairs. hes saying i might have to get a whole new short block 6.0L. my question is instead of going that route what would the price range be to buy either and LS2, LS3, or LS7 complete engine and just swap my parts over if i end up gettin another LS2. im between a rock in hard place to just say dont pull the motor just take the oil pan out and clean it and make sure flush the oil. Fix the head gaskets and hope for the best. the only problem is he wont warranty it if i do this. so what should i do? pay all the money to get the whole motor torn down and re machined, buy a new short block which ive heard isnt a good idea, or just buy a new crate engine and intsall it. what would you guys do if you had 7 grand and were in this situation. becasue if its going to run me over 7 grand i will be forced to sell the car. which i do not want to do i already have way to much money and devotion into the car. i dont know if i should trust this mechanic or not. he tried saying it looks like someone took a DOT grinder to the block where the head sits. PLEASE HELP!!!!!

blackbyrd

iTrader: (14)

i would think (been a while since i have checked) that you could get a new ls2 from gm for less than 7k. if you look hard you can probably find a used ls2 in the 2500-4000 range with decent mileage if you can find one without a tranny and ecm.

bit confused by the warranty comment, sounds like the motor is questionable so what is there to warranty?

tough situation for sure, but for 7k you should definitely be able to get her back up and running unless labor needs to be factored into the total

connoroca

well while its aprart hes throwing eagle rods and pistons in it. remachining the heads and block and having everything checked out. so thats the really expensive part. im putting a new radiator in it as well. probably a monster clutch and flywheel if my buddy will lower the price a little bit on it. but the deal about the warrnaty is. my mechanic said he can put new rockers in it and resurface the heads and just throw it back together and he thinks it will run but he wouldnt be able to warranty his work because he doesnt trust it. he thinks it all needs to be gone through and checked out to make sure the cam isnt flat and what not. also there was some metal fragments in the motor from the rocker bearings going missings. im sure most of them are in the oil pan but hes not a 100% sure. and the route i chose to go today was pull the motor put eagle pistons and rods in it. get it remachined as well as the heads. and go from there. and he said if we do that he will warranty his work. it will also be going on the dyno and getting the nitrous put on while it is there. i have an ls7 clutch and flywheel in there right now and really want to upgrade it becasuse i will be close to 700 to the wheels when its all said and done and the ls7 stuff is only rated at 500 foot pounds of tourque. so hopefully i went the safest route for the money i have. i took him 3000$ today to get him started.

A_VAS

iTrader: (16)

who is this person with a 2000whp GTO ? just curious
is the car at Gforce 1320 (Chris) ?

svede1212

iTrader: (3)

The machine shop should be able to tell you if the block is no good. Curious what this is going to cost you. I did a lot more than you're doing for around $4,500 (parts) for the engine and some of my time to bolt it together. I know everyone can't do it but I'm no Mr Goodwrench and when I was done I was surprised how much easier it was than I first thought. I did rods, pistons, stroker crank, rings, all bearings, cam, lifters, pushrods, oil pump, adjustable timing set, block repair, balancing, flywheel resurface and all gaskets etc. The only thing I really had a little bit of a hard time with was getting some of the rings on but once I figured it out the rest was cake on an engine stand. With some other stuff and a twin disk clutch I came in under $6 grand.

MuhThugga

Well, I wouldn't buy a single thing until the machine shop checked the block to see if it is warped.

Jeffemac

iTrader: (1)

I would wait to hear back on the block as well. There is a complete LS3 in the FS section for less than 5k.

Interested in hearing more about the set up that will get you "700 whp". FI or NA?

seawolf06

iTrader: (8)

I, personally, would sell the shortblock and buy a complete one from a well known engine builder. If you can swing it, step up to the LS3 setup. There is no replacement for displacement.

Marble_Sharp

iTrader: (5)

Pictures of 2000 whp GTO?

And you might want to ask the shop to see a dyno graph showing said GTO with 2000 whp...

Marble_Sharp

iTrader: (5)

And I was looking so forward to the picture and dyno graph. If the shop actually told you the above... be very wary.

compton-z28

as Marble said man be very wary of this shop 7k is not chump change