What would you do
 

Im kind of in a pickle right now.

Im pretty sure the motor in my car bit the bucket a few weeks ago. Im pretty sure that I spun a bearing in the motor while I was visiting my GF in up-state NY. It cost me a pretty penny to find out what was wrong while I was up there and it still couldn't be figured out. Thank god I got lucky and a local chevy dealership got me a tow home for practically nothing. I pretty much wasted a good 4 days of work & school. When I start the car I get a horrible screaching noise and a very heavy metal on metal sound comming from the motor. I haven't ran the car for more then 2 minutes. Im pretty sure sometime while I was driving the oil pressure dropped on me, and it continues to stay on the low side.

I don't believe I have that much invested in the actual motor except for the worked heads & intake, but I did spend alot of money trying to get it running right and figure out why it has so many problems. I did the work myself with some help of some very dedicated friends, but we are by no means mechanics. So it could be anything from a poor tune to faulty parts to faulty mechanics. I won't let myself play the blame game. At this point in time I am pretty sure I have surpassed the amount I payed for the car when it was bone stock and right now I am left with a car that doesn't run. I payed about $8k for the car 2 years ago, and I have easily spent more then $8k on the car and right now I am loosing more money on it every day. I don't have another car to fall back on, and even if I were to get into another car it wouldn't remain stock for long no matter what it is. What the hell should I do? I really don't want to sell the car because I love everything about it. If i sell the car I will be taking a financial beating and I probably won't be able to afford a new car that I want.

What do I do?
- Part the car out & cry?
- Throw a stock motor back in, return it to stock & sell it?
- Rebuild the motor & keep the same set up
- go balls out

Either way i can't help but feel Im going to loose so much money from this car. I also don't want to do the work ever again; that whole experience was a nightmare. Not to mention alot of people are telling me to just give up, but I wish it was that easy.

Robs got a stock LT1 sitting on a stand. Ran perfect when we pulled it.

I would toss that long block in, maybe transfer the speed parts onto it before doing so. Theres so many people that would be willing to help i bet. you northerners roll deep.

that would be the route id go with

I would pick up a beater, take the car off insurance, and just think about what you want to do. What would be best/worse for you, you know?

btw, i think you answered your question yourself there ... Fix it, keep it, drive it, love it!

Who are you and what have you done with Matt? :shock:

PM sent.

why buy another car when he could pick up a strong stock motor, get that in quickly, and be done with it. Thats just pissing money away for a temporary solution

just throw another LT1 into it and keep the car

Fix it and drive it hard

keep it, install another LT1 motor (u have over 100k miles right?) and have fun

theres only 2 options the way i see it:

light it on fire

or

drive it into the ocean

Im just saying, if he cant make his mind up thats what he should do, winters here any way..

i would find out exactly what happened to the motor, instead of speculating that you THINK you spun a bearing, find out. talk to someone who has more car knowledge than some weekend mechanics. try to pm johnjzjz, he may be able to help diagnose it if he doesnt see this thread. although he's not an lt1 guy, a spun bearing is probably the same regardless of motor.

then, after you get the diagnosis, suck it up and either fix it (if it turns out to be something fixable) or drop a stock motor in it. no one gets into cars expecting them to be cheap. you said yourself you'll take a bath if you sell the car. one way or another it will have to be fixed, you'll fetch more money for a running car than a broken one.

I agree jOn did this and his car runs great!

I say find an LT1 shortblock in decent shape and toss your mods on it. Then go back to enjoying the car the same way you were before.

- Justin

another vote for a lesser mileage shortblock. if you do sell the car, your only option would be to return it to stock before selling it. otherwise you would take a huge financial hit.

it is obvious you love th ecar or you wouldn't have put so much work into it in the first place. either rebuild your motor to optimize the heads and cam that are in the car or get a low mileage short block to drop in while you rebuild your stocker over time to be a balls out combo.

It's an LT1 man, pick up another with less miles, pull the engine, swap the heads and intake on (while both motors are out of the car), then figure out what's wrong with this one. That way youve got a lower milage engine, plus you can take your stocker and either sell it or build it up, whichever you prefer.

Well, first make srue it's not something stupid

Buy a neon

forget the lt1 time for a LS1 swap

IF THE OIL PUMP WAS FAILING AND YOU DROVE IT QUITE A WHILE WITH OUT KNOWING -- THE VALVE GUIDES MIGHT BE SCORED UP AS WELL SO ---GO WITH THE COMPLETE MOTOR ( deadtrend1 ) HAS -- ITS COMPLETE AND FOR NOW JUST BOLT IT IN -- 2 DAY JOB WITH A COUPLE FRIENDS -- AFTER THE WINTER YOU CAN ALWAYS MOD IT LIKE THE OLD ONE -- DO THE CHEAP THING NOW YOU NEED A CAR NOW DONT YOU -- JZ

yea, thats my philosophy. Just get it running, then go from there.....

If you think its something bad like a spun bearing I would just pull the motor and drop in a stock motor for now just to get you around.

Throw your old motor on a stand in your garage or somewhere and take your time to diagnois it and re-build it for the spring/summer.

I know that is easier said then done though cause that involves a lot of patience, time and money.

I think it all kinda comes down to how much you really love your car.

part it out? are you nuts? the car is in good shape, just because the motor possibly took a **** is no justification to part the whole thing. Find your problem exactly and go from there.

Where is the car at? I'm free Sunday and Mon or Tues night next week and if your close enough I'll drive up and check out your car. Might have to drag NJspeeder and Tru2Chevy with me too!

I agree with all that said "throw a stock block back in there so you can drive the car", then rebuild your motor with the performance parts to what you want from the car.

It's not uncommon for a higher milage LT1 to spin a bearing shortly after being moded, not sure why? I have an option of why, but nothing I can back up with facts. Anyway, I would tear the motor down and find out how much if any damage is done. Since you already have a good set of heads, you can always build or purchase something like a stroker shortblock at a fair price.

Don't give up, stuff happens. I wanted to burn my car to the ground when I had the pull the motor apart the 3rd time because of a stupid coolant leak! I can't even begin to count how many motors I built and still you run into goofy problem to drive you nuts. Also, COMPLETELY forget about how much money you've spent. If your a hotrodder, your throwing money away because you enjoy your car. Understand you get back pennies on the dollar for your parts and time spent. Also remember, It's always something, it never ends. I went to drive my car over the weekend, open the door to find the headliner is falling down. Normally that's not a big deal but with the rollcage it's a freaken major project to drop the headliner! It's takes hours to get the side panels out and even worst getting them back in and lined up. And when I'm done I'll need to repaint the rollbar cause I know I'm going to scratch the H3LL out of it!!!!!!

Once it's running right there is no better feeling! Don't give up!

John

buy a neon X2 :rofl: