I'm looking to rebuild the engine in my 87 GN. It runs perfect with no problems (except maybe a slight bumpy idle) and is basically low mileage at 85k. The main purpose of this rebuild is to increase performance and reliability (not that it's unsatisfactory!).
I've gone through some of the tech area & am trying to learn as much as I can. Before getting this professionally done I want to be very specific on what to be done.
Is there anything in particular I should specify or keep in mind? Newer/better parts? porting/polishing... What’s a good, SMOOTH idling roller cam that will take it off the line? forged pistons? Better flowing intake manifold? I'm emphasizing on street driving, track is secondary. However, I'm very much into street racing and can't let those little NOS inducted imports show me up. Tolerances on the engine should hold upto high boost with the proper fuel and octane ratio. I read about concerns on the crank for the stock 3.8 and the main cap bearings holding up at high horsepower; what would anyone recommend there?
Can I expect a very good HP increase from doing all this? Sorry if this is a bit too much for a msg thread.
Thanks for any help - Bryan
Did you ever get a response to your Qs? Did you go through with the rebuild? I am in a very similar situation and am looking for advice. Tx.
How much money do you want to spend? That's the key factor. I just put my engine back together in stock form and have spent about $600. Half for parts and the other at the machine shop.
William send me your e-mail address
Sorry about the delayed response, I am new to the forum concept. Anyway, Phil - my email address is bill_c_reynolds@uhc.com
To Steve and others with thoughts/suggestions - I blew out a rod bearing early this summer. I don't have enough $ to do a total rebuild but would like to do a shortblock rebuild to get the car running again and set me up for the future. I'd like to have the thing pretty much bulletproof such that I can go up to at least 350HP in the future with top end mods, etc and have it solid. I would like to do any obvious maintenance, etc while the engine is out of the car and I don't want to have to redo anything on the bottom end when I go after the heads, etc in the future. One last thing - I am a very unskilled mechanic (I dabble) so I will need to have the machine work done professionally. Any recommendations on a skilled mechanic? Thanks all.
No gearhead friends there that will work for beer?
I have some gear head friends that would do almost anything for beer but they aren't quite knowledgeable enough to complete a rebuild. I plan to pull the motor and reinstall with them but need a qualified machinist for the internal work.