L29 rebuild - give me ideas

I installed a "new" GM crate engine twenty years ago in my K1500. It worked out OK.

The price of GMs new engines is now double what it was then.

At this point, I'd head to a Treasure Yard, find a used engine in adequate-to-good condition, and either run it as-is, or rebuild the thing myself with the help of a "local" machine shop.

Bore wear on used engines used to be horrible. Now it's hardly noticeable. The "used" engine option is relatively safe now. A "hundred-thousand mile" used engine still has a hundred-thousand miles left in it. Maybe more.

That gives you several options, among them slapping in a Treasure-Yard engine as a semi-permanent fix; installing a Treasure Yard engine as a temporary fix while you "hot-rod" your original engine, or hot-rodding the Treasure Yard engine as you limp along with your current engine.

The really nice thing about GM "new" crate engines is the warranty.

Schurkey said:

The really nice thing about GM "new" crate engines is the warranty.

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There is a nice 400hp/500lbft GM motor for ~$6k. To get the warranty though you have to have a dealer do the install. I'm guessing it would cost a pretty penny for them to do the install.

I hadn't thought about getting a junker to build. Trouble with that I'd finding a decent machine shop... They are getting fewer and father between.

Schurkey said:

I installed a "new" GM crate engine twenty years ago in my K1500. It worked out OK.

The price of GMs new engines is now double what it was then.

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I'd guess that is because none of our engines are built in regular production quantities anymore. Whatever quantity they are running is small compared to the engines going into new vehicles.

Looking forward to this build. Will be a nice change from the usual LS swap

GM HT 502 long block 406hp/541lb-ft, $6,623 from Summit. GM 502 short block is $5,544 from Summit but comes with a bigger cam than you probably want in a work truck.

The long block is exactly what I was looking at. Are those the right heads for a plug and play swap?

How hard is it to do out motors with all of the computer controls? Do you have to have a decent scam tool to get it running right after the swap?

According to GM Performance Parts catalog, heads seem to be the peanut port truck heads if that’s what you have now. I don’t know what it would need computer-wise, probably just a tune. Definitely need to at least upgrade the cat-back exhaust.

I was talking more about what it takes to get it running without codes. Song the disti, crank sensor issues, etc.

Bu327 said:

According to GM Performance Parts catalog, heads seem to be the peanut port truck heads if that’s what you have now. I don’t know what it would need computer-wise, probably just a tune. Definitely need to at least upgrade the cat-back exhaust.

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No peanut ports on an L29, they're ovals. OP just swap all that crap over and you won't have any codes if you get it tuned.

Whatever option you end up going with change all the sensors. Made that mistake on my K3500 and have been changing them all out now as they let go. Would of been easier to do it all at once and not have to worry about it.