| Re: Engine advice - WWCGD? |
Subject: Re: Engine advice - WWCGD? by dan0617 on 2009/5/2 15:15:34 Buy a shortblock or have yours rebuilt. The LT4 heads are a good casting and are likely in great condition with only 47K miles. Probably just need cleaned up, maybe not even that. If you are looking to upgrade performance, bump up the compression a little, choose a good cam for your combo/intended uses, and now is the perfect time to put in a higher stall converter if your are an auto or a good clutch if you are a manual. It is also the perfect time to put on a set of LT headers if you can swing it. Install is easy when the engine is out. Just borrow or rent and engine hoist and the other few specialized tools you will need, and remove the engine yourself. Mostly for engine removal you don't need much for specialized stuff. If you choose a local machine shop to rebuild your shortblock they might loan you a few specialized tools. Take lots of pics before starting and lots along the way. If you forget something you can always look at the pics or post them on here and ask. Put a piece of tape on each wire and hose as you unplug it and write on it where it goes. Get a bunch of coffee cans and as you remove a part, put it's bolts in a can and label it. Will help you with the reassembly. This is what I did the first time and, as long as you take your time and don't hurry anything, you will be glad you did the work and learned your car. You will save tons of money doing the teardown/shortblock removal and install/reassembly yourself. Let the machine shop do the shortblock teardown/machine work/reassembly as that is when most of the specialized tools and equipment and experience is needed. When I did mine (L98), I tore it down to the shortblock, then unbolted the engine to bellhousing and motor mount bolts. Could get to the upper bolts from above, and I didn't need an engine stand as the car was the engine stand that way. No need to remove hood or radiator, and I unbolted and swung the A/C compressor and freon tank or whatever it is out of the way to save me from having to get it recharged. Keep us all posted on what you decide to do. |
