how much to rebuild a LS1
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 15,713
Likes: 7
From: Humble Texas
how much to rebuild a LS1 if you do it yourself. i have a buddy whos about to put a lq9 into his camaro. he's willing to sell his LS1 longblock to me for 450. i think after a little haggling i can get it for 400. it has 85,000 miles on it and runs great. 3000 miles or so ago he put in some 918's, pushrods and a very large cam that i could pull and sell and buy a cam more fitted for a heavy automatic truck. it will have the lq9 oil pan, and intake on it cuz he wants those for his car(good thing cuz i want those for my truck). im thinking about doing it, but would want to freshin everything up while its on a stand. what all will it consist of, and how much will it cost me if i do the rebuild myself?
also, ive never been past the valve covers on a motor. whats the learning curve for a job like this? think i could get it right? i have a great set of tools
also, ive never been past the valve covers on a motor. whats the learning curve for a job like this? think i could get it right? i have a great set of tools
i did mine on the cheap, b/c i didn't have everything together to do my 408. i spun a rod mearing in mine, so i used the crank out of the 6.0 i bought for my 408, as well as one of the rods. i had the piston from my spun rod pressed on to the new one, cost like $10. put new cam bearings in the block, want to say they charged me $75 for the bearings and to have them installed. new perfect circle rings, $89.00. new bearings for the bottom end (rod and main) was like $80 all together for clevite 77 race bearings. had the heads milled .030 for $50, lapped the valves in as they were a low milelage set i had laying around off someones car. gaskets, you're probably looking about $150 depending on where you buy them (i get cost plus 10% from dealer) and from there, it really depends on you. i got a set of arp rodbolts, arp head studs, double roller timing set, changed cams again, melling oil pump, ect. i would at least put an oil pump and rod bolts in it as they are relatively cheap, and you don't have to deal with the "torque to yield" bullshit. assembly isn't all that difficult. not much differenct than any other motor build. really only special tools you need for a stock rebuild is a ball hone, a torque wrench, and an angle indicator for when you torque the mains, rods, heads, ect.
The standard flat rate allowance for repairing the bearings is 28 hours. To completely overhaul the engine is 38 hours. Labor rates vary, of course. In my area the lowest rate I've found for an independent shop is $60/hour, while dealers run $100+/hour.
Trending Topics
Is that price with motor in or out? Pretty cheap if they pull and reinstall the motor too. Its funny how bearings can spin. I had a low miles motorcycle that spun a crank bearing for no real reason at all.
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo
Awesome K5 Blazer Restomod Comes With C7 Corvette Power
Verdad Gallardo
10 Camaros You Should Never Buy
10 LS Engine Myths That Refuse to Die
Verdad Gallardo
Registered User
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
From: San Antonio, TX
They would be reusing any parts that are still good like connecting rods and pistons but I think that price is everything included the removal and install and my uncle and father are good friends with the owner and from what they tell me this shop specializes in ls powered cars particularly fourth gen f bodies and the charge less than lethal who wanted 3600 for a bottom end rebuild
