Alright guys its time to make a final decision about my Firebird. After about 33 months of being down its time to build it right or sell it. Long story short my luck was crap on this car.

Short Story
- Motor one blew head gaskets. Rebuilt it. Knocked
- Rebuilt it and it the new oil pump failed out and killed it once again. May have been machine shops fault. However I gave them the pump.
-Swapped in a junkyard trans. Swapped my Lt-4 Hotcam over and heads. Along with a vented optispark swap. Motor was a 94.
- Got that together and the T-56 Input shaft bearing failed out 10 miles later....
- Car sat for a year pretty much. Had the transmission rebuilt.
- Got about 600 miles on this engine and its showing low oil pressure,smoking,and did not feel healthy. Also got some metal on metal noise. Killed car that second and that is where it sits.

So I am looking into some rebuild options. I just bought a 2001 Miata to get me around. The old Honda that was bought last year was eating me out of house and home. However the miata is not my first choice in car. However its a DD.

Anyways here are my three options with the car. Either way the car is going to be sitting for another year or so.

Option 1:
Rebuild a Lt1. Either go a 355 or a 383. Leaning toward a 383 with some good heads. Could do a nice forged 355 build. Keeps a Lt1 to try to keep the budget down. Mainly since I have a new opti,rockers,cam,clutch etc. Would build it myself and would be taking to a machine shop that my race buddies take there race Miatas to.

Option 2:
Swap the car to a lsx based engine. I could swap in a Lq4 to get some displacement. Could got with a ls1. Would see what I could get. Part the other engine out and sell the headers etc. I would take care of the wiring by buying a whole t-56 ls1 car and rewire the whole car. Pull one harness and lay the other. Would use mine but its got a aftermarket alarm that is really good in there. I dont have the remote to. Safer just to swap the whole thing. Have a buddy that swapped a ls1 into a 95 v6 car. I would get my transmission be able to mate to a lsx engine.

Option 3:
Pretty much this is the screw it I am done option. That would be to part the transmission and motor out. Then sell the roller out. Then pay the Miata off and sell it. Then use the 6-7k and go buy another car. The Miata is a good DD but I would need something with 4 seats again. Sucks having 2 seats for the last few years. Along with the miata having zero trunk space to move my college stuff around.

So those are my options. If you have your own idea let me know. Time to make a decision on the car soon. 75% of me owning this car has had it sitting either at my parents house or down at my house.

 

i feel your pain brother...My T/A has been down for over 4 years, But i have a sentimental attachment to it and will never be able to sell it. So it just sits in the garage and waits until i have the funds to fix/build it...

I think you shoud do what your heart tells you. If you want to spend the effort and money to get it right, by all means, DO IT!

I think option 2 would be your best bet.....

 

I vote for option 1 with a twist. If you're going to build it yourself then you'll need some tools. I can't speak for anyone else but I'll typically spend a couple of days making sure that the build is going to be as perfect as I can make it. I use inside micrometers, outside micrometers, bore gauges, burette, depth gauges, degree wheels ring filers and all sorts of other goodies.

I could just trust the machine shop but if I build the engine then I'm responsible for the engine....not them. I'd rather have my measurements and let them know what I want done.

If you try it yourself you may wind up with another engine that isn't as reliable as you'd like. I would suggest that you get someone to build it either with you or for you. It's absolutely possible to have a 500+ horsepower engine and drive it daily with perfect reliability. My Impala weighs 4350 pounds and runs 11.78 and I drove it over 14000 miles last year. It still gets over 20 MPG on the highway and 16 around town. (Except when my son drives it........8 MPG or so then.)

I'm just starting a build on my Vette LT1 and I expect around 500 HP and torque and it will be a daily driver also. I have no idea what it will run in the quarter but I'd suppose maybe the high 10's.

If you want to learn all about the engine go to Amazon and get the book on how to build LT1's. Put it in the bathroom and read it daily for a month or so before you start. It will more than pay for itself in piece of mind and reliability.

Keep everything very clean. If my girlfriend would allow it I could build an engine in the kitchen and make no more mess than if I fried a pan of chicken. You want that clean. Good luck and if I can help with any specs just let me know. I'm now retired and all I do is piddle anyways.

 

I think your decision depends on how good of condition the rest of the car is; and how much you want to keep it. If it's high mileage and beat to hell then screw it, part it out and buy a LS1 car; problem solved. If the rest of the car is in good shape I would rebuild the LT1 and do a 383 right the first time (what I did) with my great luck my motor blew up after I just dumped 6-7 grand in full suspension, new paint, body work, performance parts,new interior ect, ect. basically a full restoration. So I HAD to get it running right unless I was willing to take a huge loss. That being said, to rebuild it to a 383 with good heads isn't cheap, even if you scrounge for the best prices on parts it's going to be very hard to do for under 5K. How deep are you pockets for this? Any sentimental attachment to the car? Answers to these questions will point you in the right direction.

 

sell it and be done

 

cut your losses. in the back of your mind you will always be waiting for it to break again.

 

Sell it. Buy another one. F bodies are everywhere you could buy 10 just like it in a heartbeat.

 

On a sidenote my sister has a miata. Good little cars that handle like they're on rails.

 

You could always try to find a stock lt1 to put in it and use as a dd, or sell it as a running car and get you a ls1. I have the same luck with my 97 camaro and it has been in the garage for over a year with intentions of building it but i ended up getting a 99 TA so i'm just going to put a stock motor in it and sell it.

 

Yeah its all up in the air. I like the car since it was the first car I bought with my own money. Yes its my money pit. I doubt I would buy another F-Body if I sold it. Its in really good shape for the most part. The interior is clean and the exterior is good except the dent in the side skirt. I put that there. I am now really thinking of building another lt1. The car has me so much in the hole money wise that I don't think it matters anymore. I think I will keep it for now. Now the question is what motor to go with.

 

id go option one with a good builder........PM me if you like

 

I may have to hit you up. Looking into building a 355 to get the car back running much faster. Have some good friends who have built many engines. However looking into buying the how to rebuild a lt1 book. Lots of good stuff in there.

 

yep id def start there........alot of good info in there...........ive actually still got my old 355 rotating assembly hanging around.....thinking i may stick it in my 98 GMC Pickup next summer lol