Head Gasket Required. Anything else?
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Joined: Jun 2016
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Head Gasket Required. Anything else? I just purchased a 1995 Corvette six speed with 50k miles on it.
Two months in it has coolant issues and ends up needing a head gasket.
Are there any performance modifications that could be made during this tear down? My mechanic suggested a new camshaft might give me a boost. Anything to make this unfortunate break down into a positive.
Two months in it has coolant issues and ends up needing a head gasket.
Are there any performance modifications that could be made during this tear down? My mechanic suggested a new camshaft might give me a boost. Anything to make this unfortunate break down into a positive.
Doing a cam swap yourself you'll need roughly a grand. You'll need to factor in labor if you have them do it. You'll need the cam, valvetrain components to support a more aggressive profile, a better timing chain and a tune. After that's all done you'll probably want to do a gear swap. Not sure how much it'd cost to do gears on a vette.
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Joined: Jun 2016
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Jeez, that sounds like a serious job.
I've never done anything this involved with a motor and am not set up up to do the work myself.
I've got a good mechanic that I trust and he said it'll be roughly $2000 (Canadian) to replace the gasket. I was thinking I could pitch in another $500-$750 to make it a more rewarding fix.
Any ideas for something in that price range?
I've never done anything this involved with a motor and am not set up up to do the work myself.
I've got a good mechanic that I trust and he said it'll be roughly $2000 (Canadian) to replace the gasket. I was thinking I could pitch in another $500-$750 to make it a more rewarding fix.
Any ideas for something in that price range?
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From: Tucker, GA
Replacing the HG is one job. Replacing the HG and doing a cam-swap is an entirely different, and far more complex issue. While it technically CAN be done with the engine in the car, most will want to pull the engine out to properly do the cam, while replacing HG's is easily an in-car job by comparison.
In addition, there is a laundry-list of things that need to go along with a cam change.
1. Spring upgrade to match cam specs
2. heads thoroughly checked out for integrity
3. PCM tune for the cam
4. Possible rocker upgrade
5. Probably replace the lifters
6. Timing chain and gears
7. New gaskets for intake, oil pan, headers, water pump, timing cover
8. New seals for timing cover (wp, opti, crank)
...as well as a whole host of "well, while its off...." sort of things. Rehab the intake (clean and paint), new water pump, tstat, probably opti (locktite the screws!), etc etc etc.
Two very different jobs, with two very different price-tags
In addition, there is a laundry-list of things that need to go along with a cam change.
1. Spring upgrade to match cam specs
2. heads thoroughly checked out for integrity
3. PCM tune for the cam
4. Possible rocker upgrade
5. Probably replace the lifters
6. Timing chain and gears
7. New gaskets for intake, oil pan, headers, water pump, timing cover
8. New seals for timing cover (wp, opti, crank)
...as well as a whole host of "well, while its off...." sort of things. Rehab the intake (clean and paint), new water pump, tstat, probably opti (locktite the screws!), etc etc etc.
Two very different jobs, with two very different price-tags
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Joined: Aug 2010
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A cam swap on a C4 LT1 is a bit challenging. You will have to loosen up the motor mounts and lift the engine enough to get the cam out/in over the cross beam. Not to mention removing the radiator, shroud, condenser and fans. It's a very time consuming job with lots of parts to lose or misplace.