Good Afternoon, I am new to this forum. I need some ideas/suggestions on where to go from here. I own a 1994 Trans Am GT with T56 6 speed, hardtop, and leather seats. I have owned this car for 23 years since January 1997 when it was less than 3 years old. I bought this car when I was a 19 year old private in the US Army. It has a little over 58,000 original miles on it. Since I am in my 40's now and I have owned it since I was a teenager I have some sentimental attachment to it. The problem is I have been banging my head against the wall with this car since 2001. I had shortie Hooker Headers and a Borla Exhaust installed on it then. Either while the mechanic was out joy riding or shortly after the car came back I noticed I had a blown intake manifold gasket. I replaced the gasket and intake manifold, I can't remember my reason for putting a new manifold on. Shortly afterwards I had a coolant leak. The plastic nipple on the side tank of the radiator broke off. So I remember looking at the price on a GM radiator at the the time and they were cost prohibitive to me. For some reason I don't remember there being any other options. At any rate life happened afterwards and got married had kids etc. I was always reluctant to get rid of the car. I drained the coolant out of the block with the block drain plugs, put fuel stabilzer in the gas tank with a full tank of gas and left the car under a cover from 2001-2012. In 2012 I decided to get the car back on the road again and I took it to a mechanic. Very bad experience to say the least. Told me he had vast experience with the LT1 but the car sat for over a year until a B-Body Impala with an LT1 came into his shop for comparison purposes. The gas tank was dropped and relined, a new fuel pump, sending unit, and injectors were installed. I was able to drive the car about 800 miles after picking it up in 2013. The car ran very poorly, like a 4 cylinder, there was definitely at minimum an exhaust leak, I suspect much more. I always believed there was an Optispark problem. I took it some places to try to diagnose but being an OBD 1 I did not get a lot of help. Eventually while driving the car just stopped and I couldn't start it. It sat for about another 2 years and about 2016 I believe I had it towed to mechanic #2. He shook his head and said I need a new motor and was more than happy to sell me a used motor out of a 1992 Vette with 100K + miles with an astronomical labor fee for the swap. I balked. He pulled the plugs without telling me, I had enough and towed it home. I took it home pulled the starter and realized the starter was engaged it the out position on the flywheel. I had the starter rebuilt and with the plugs still out was able to turn the motor over. I through new plugs in there and the car sat again for about a year and half. Two weeks ago one of my New Years resolutions was to finally try and get this thing back on the road. Since it is now 26 years old and my kids are getting interested in car shows I thought it would be great to get it going again. I had it towed to a Navy base where I have access to a lift I put new plugs in it, installed the starter, charged the battery tried cranking nothing. I bought a new battery, new coil, new ignition control module tried starting it and it started but stalled. I pushed it out started it reved it to about 5000 RPM's for a minute let off the gas and it maintained idle for about a minute before it overheated. The next day I went and changed out the thermostat, checked the coolant hoses and started it again. My plan was to pull from one bay to another with a lift to flush the cooling system and change the oil. It started right up coolant seemed to be circulating I backed it out like 40 feet, let the car idle got up and like 30 seconds later the car just abruptly stopped. I pulled the starter and put a breaker bar on the crank bolt it will move but does not seem to move freely and hits a stop. Before I go down the I have a seized engine route again I want to explore all options out there any ideas. The car just ran this past Saturday. I looked into my options if I do have a seized engine and I see that the long block replacements available through most outlets AutoZone, Advantage, Napa are from a company called ATK. Any opinions on them? The block with tax and delivery is about $2100. I also talked to a company in Paterson, NJ called Promar any thoughts on them? I am hoping that the engine does not need to be replaced, but I am suspecting that something happened to one or more of the main bearings. Since this is a hobby car I don't have a lot to spend I am trying to get it back on the road as economically as possible. One advanced DIY'er offered to swap an engine for me for $1,000. Is that a good price? I am concerned though if it is not by a licensed facility part of the warranty is invalid. Also my other thought is that although not worth a lot currently, my 1994 Trans Am GT with a 6 speed and hardtop (58,000 miles) is a fairly rare combination is it worth the extra money saving my original engine and having it rebuilt rather than swapping it as a core on a rebuilt motor for conductibility. I know that I am throwing a lot out there but I would be interested in some opinions on this. I am located in NJ, the car is at NWS Earle in Colts Neck, NJ currently.

 

Car sat for years, you got it fired up and immediately ran it to 5k and held it there for a minute, and then it overheated. Correct? During this torture test, did you look at the oil pressure and if so, what was it reading?

Pull the dipstick and look for flake. Drain the oil, pull the filter. Look in the oil for metal. Cut the filter open and look for metal.

 

Did the car have oil & coolant in it when you were doing this stuff? Was the check engine light on? If you have a laptop, you can scan the car using some free software called Scan9495. You’ll need an ALDL OBD1 cable. They can be purchased online or you can make your own to save a few bucks. You can also find free downloads of the factory service manuals. I would personally want to know what’s going on with the engine in the car before giving any thought to replacing it. Assuming it hasn’t been damaged, it’s fairly low mileage.

My car sat for a long time, but not quite 12 years. It needed a LOT of TLC to get it running again. It sounds like a lot of the stuff I had to replace has already been replaced on your car, but the quality of workmanship of mechanics 1 & 2 might be an unknown.

If you’re attached to the car, I would keep it and get it running. I didn’t drive my car for over 17 years and I really enjoy getting in it now. It’s mostly stock except for headers, exhaust, CAI and some suspension stuff. There’s a lot of other stuff I need/want to do to it, but it’s a lot of fun to drive.

 

x2 on this.

Also, if you’re trying to turn the motor over by hand with the plugs in it will only rotate a smudge before hitting a stop just as you describe. You’ll need to remove the plugs to release the compression and then it will turn over with a breaker bar on the crank bolt unless it’s seized.

Very cool that you’ve owned the car for so long and are trying to get it back on the road now that your kids are getting into car shows. I have the same sentimental attachment to mine and mine also sat for a period of years at one point so I’ve been there. I lost interest in my car during that time but I now love taking it out after work and on the weekends. LT1s can be a PITA to work on as I’m sure you figured out when swapping the plugs but don’t give up, it will be worth it in the end.

 

Same here, owned mine since October 1999. Never let it sit quite so long though. Good luck with getting things back together and remember when it comes to engine work you get what you pay for the majority of the time. I understand that money is always an issue and I've seen a few crate engines come through the shop from places like the big parts stores. They run... Beyond that I'm not overly impressed and wouldn't put one in my personal vehicle. Neither would I install a used engine with twice the miles of what's actually on the car. There are very reliable and reputable LT1 Builders still out there if in fact you actually need an engine. Most specialize in performance engines but that's not to say that one wouldn't be up for a simple stock rebuild if that's what you're after. Maybe take that time to add a little cam to it and be happy.

 

If the engine is shot then find yourself a reputable machine shop in your area and have them build you a short block with your rotating assy. if it's salvageable. If they aren't the shop may have the parts to do so. You'll be around the $3'ishK range most likely.

 

I drained the oil today into a clear bottle absolutely no metal at all. I also took the oil filter off cut it open with snips not to contaminate it with a saw, and there was no metal. Filter inside was clean, and nothing in the housing. As an additional step I took a magnetic retriever and ran it through all the oil and all over the inside of the housing and filter, and nothing. That was a good suggestion, any others?

 

I also pulled the starter and took it to AutoZone and it passed. When I put a 1/2 inch breaker bar on the crank nut I can move it somewhat freely counter clockwise but it binds clockwise. I am going to pull the serpentine belt next to make sure that none of the accessory pulleys binding is causing my issue, and I will pull the plugs again. Although as everyone here knows pulling the plugs and putting them back in is a major pain especially with the shortie Hooker headers I have on the car. If that does not work my next step is to pull the valve covers and possibility the intake manifold to inspect for bent or broken pushrods. If I have to I will pull a head or heads. I don't have the finances or resources to pull the entire engine. Other than the bottom end causes of bearings, bent connecting rods, or broken pistons what else can cause an LT1 not to spin freely. My thought was if I absolutely has to I would pull the intake, and both heads and if the crank still would not rotate then I would know for sure that the motor needed to be pulled. That would also give me the opportunity to inspect the pistons. Any other ideas of what it might be. I read that dropping the oil pan is impossible because of the K Member. Thanks.

 

I had seen a broken flywheel bolt wedge itself into just the right spot and completely lock down the engine. Also, be careful using a breaker on the crank bolt. Shear that thing off, or strip it, and you've got problems. Edit: I know empirical evidence is suspect, but I bought a Mabbco shortblock LT1 of of ebay for like $750 - $850 for my last wagon. I beat it like a rented mule for a couple of years and sold the car. Never missed a beat. Were I down on cash, I'd seriously consider them again.

 

I had a motor refuse to turn over by hand once due to piston to valve contact so it can be other things. Before I’d yank the plugs to do that as I mentioned, I would pull the valve covers to see how things look and do some other odds and ends given how time consuming it is to remove and replace the plugs on these cars.