Alright here's the deal

-Main seal front and rear are leaking bad.. about 1 qt every other week.
-Plenum is blown (significant power loss over the past months)
-Motor is all original minus rockers,alt,idler,water pump with over 240,xxx miles
-Oil pan is ready to rust out with in the next year
-Tranny pan is bent and drips slowly

I know most of the leaks are minor and can be fixed cheap and relativley easy. But knowing that the pistons, rings, seals, cam, rods, ect have over 240,xxx miles is scary to be honest.. mainly because I have no clue who the owners before me were.

I've been thinking about a couple options and would like to run them by you guys for some advice.

One option is to get a overhaul by my local shop Great guys.. builds some serious race engines. would like to get it bored over .30.. or maybe do a stroker... would really love a stroker Not sure what this would cost..

Another option I've tossed around is getting a low mile engine from the junk yard and going through it with new seals/gasket ect..(no block, rotating ***. or head work) and drop in all my mods from my current engine..

I'd also settle for just a rebuild on my current engine. if interals are in decent condition



What do you guys think? I'd like to soup it up a little if I can afford it. Don't have a lot of time due to work.. but have a couple weekends a month. budget has a $4,500 limit

 

240,000 miles is not a lot. Fix the leaks and worry dont worry about it. halfamil is a testament that if you maintain and dont baby these trucks, they will last forever.

 

I'm not an expert.. and ego aside... gassers where not made to last that long without serious overhaulin

 

I say you buy a 360 in good working order, and throw it in. Then, build up your old motor like you wanted to, bore .30 over and any other internal mods you had planned, just take your time and do it slowly as money permits (This is my plan). This way you won't have much down time, and you can have a little fun doing it. Then when you swap the old motor back in, you can sell the spare you bought to make a little money back. Just an idea.

 

That would be the ideal situation... but I don't think I have that amount of time or space to do that now. I would also have a much larger investment in tools I do not currently own

 

i say just fix the motor, if i were you i would buy a top end rebuild kit... thats about all you need the block itself should be fine ... http://www.hughesengines.com/Index/p...p?partid=26112

you can prob find better but thats just an idea

it will fix the leaks you have and you have a new top end and more than enoguh power for the street i dunno.. if you stroke it your going to need new tranny rear end suspention ext..

 

Nick, you realize you could buy a longblock and have some change to spare for that kind of money right? lol

 

Holy Smoke. That's some serious money...... Of course, that includes a 600 dollar manifold........ still.

Some question I would have would be, what's your budget? And what's your timeframe? You stated you don't have the tools/space to do it yourself??

 

how your oil psi? does it smoke starting up or taking off?

if it was me and the oil psi was good and no smokin i would just fix the leakes they are no that bad

this is your daily driver correct?

 

No smoke at all...it is my daily driver.. oil pressure is steady around 35-40psi (off the top of my head) rockers were installed last spring (harland Sharp 1.7's)

I'm thinking new bottom end.. and top end minus the air gap and rockers... pretty much a new motor.. but I'm not sure what brands and parts to spend my money on