Engine Overhaul

[ChevyBoat]

Ok guys. Backstory is I bought my truck from a p.o.s. used car dealer in my area. The engine started knocking which I believe is due to improper oil changes by the previous owner (due to all the build up on the engine). It is a 97 Chevy Z71 with of course the 350 vortec. I am only 17 years old and I have just got into wrenching and I am going to be doing my first solo rebuild between work and school and whatever time I have on the weekends. I have done a lot of work to this truck to get it looking good and I am absolutely in love with this truck. (I had a 2003 dodge ram 1500 with a 5.7 hemi before). I fell in love with the truck the first time I bought it. I would hate to be forced to get rid of it by my parents. I need to find a master rebuild kit that is decent quality and is affordable. I have been looking and right now I'm gonna go with the Federal Mogul kit from Summit with 4.030 pistons. If you guys know of anything that is better for the money please let me know. The most important piece of information I need is what camshaft and crankshaft to go with. Again, I need one that is decent quality and affordable. If you could post links to your suggestions. Thanks and wish me luck on the rebuild

P.S. : I will be posting pics of my truck and the progress I have made tomorrow.

 

[polar]

Research is key! Do your research on everything before you purchase the items. You might not need a new crank. But if it were my I would just get a whole new rotating assembly from scat or eagle to start completely fresh.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Constantine]

That sealed power - federal mogul kit is pretty affordable as far as rebuild kits go.

How do you know what bore size you need?
That is a .030" over piston.

When you asked which Crank & cam to go with, were you asking about name brand or what?

 

[Dr.Zoom]

Are you sure it's terminal? What's this knock sound like? I'm only asking because you said you're new to wrenching.

 

[ChevyBoat]

The knock was quiet and I figured it was due to cold weather. Then the truck shut off while going down the road. It wouldnt start again. Thought it was my terminals which caused the same issue. I modified them and still it wouldnt start. Had battery, alternator, and starter tested. Figured the starter was still good even though it failed the test at advance auto because the dude just looked like he didnt know what he was doing. So i replaced starter anyway and it still wouldnt start. I then tried to rotate the crank by putting a ratchet on the harmonic balancer bolt and it would not move at all. I used a half inch ratchet too.

 

[ChevyBoat]

I want to bore the cylinders .030 over to get a little more horsepower since im gonna have the cylinders bored anyway. And yes a brand name. My automotive teacher suggested Lunati I think is the brand name....but after searching them there is no way i could afford that.

 

[Constantine]

I recently learned just how expensive aftermarket cams are myself.
Are you looking for a stock replacement cam or something more?
If something more then what type of power are you looking for?
Low end/torque power in lower rpms or high end power?

 

[ChevyBoat]

I'm looking for the most affordable cam. If that means that I get one with more power so be it. I mean, if there is a more powerful cam for less than $50 over the cost of the "stock" cams then I would be interested in that.

 

[michael hurd]

If you have a small budget, I would swap the engine out for another good running stock engine without hesitation. You can easily spend $ 1000 on an aftermarket replacement roller camshaft with the required spring package and machine work to the cylinder heads, and then to fully optimize the combination, it will require custom computer tuning on top of that.

That's above and beyond any other rebuild costs. ( parts & machine work )

Think about it rationally... it's already 18 model years old, and a lot of these trucks are getting scrapped. You might pick up a good running but rotted out / wreck for $ 1K, pull the engine and scrap the rest / part it out to get close to zero net cost.

If you spent $2500 on your replacement and someone drives into you a week later, what do you think the insurance company will give you? 5 bucks says a case of beer and a hard time.

 

[Loydw]

Having just rebuilt a 350 with a new cam, pistons, lifters, heads, intake, tbi, and a bunch of other stuff, dropping 3 grand would be easy. Go for an engine swap, then build the old engine as time and money allows. Good luck