Find on craigslist

Im kinda looking for an engine to start my 3800 project with, because my rivi is getting up there in miles (162,xxx). I found a really cheap series 2 on craigslist. Do you think I should jump on this?

http://omaha.craigslist.org/pts/1737365894.html

the pic tells me its a rusty piece of junk. did the guy not have the presence of mind to at least cover the motor up? $200 ain't bad,but take a mechanic buddy,if your not comfortable grading a engine that's on the ground,to test it. who knows,it could be $200 worth of nothing...

I think you should do a cylinder balance and a leakdown test to reckon the quality of the engine you have -- because odds are you DON'T need a new engine. Reason is the Series I and later GM 3800 engines were engineered and fitted extremely well. That engine money would buy you a nice fat downpipe and some other stuff.

Now, if you are going to drive the Riv while building a replacement engine then do a swap, that's different and maybe you want an engine to build on. But if you are going to do mods 1 by 1 odds are the engine in your Riv will do - need to measure things to see what the condition and wear really are.

Albertj

I want to drive my car while Im building an engine

go for it. it would be illogical to rebuild an engine without having the heads milled.$250 to $400. milling the block,if necessary,$600. boring the cylinders,$350. $1800 is what it costs around my way to have an engine rebuilt. new pistons.new rods. new everything. plus machine work. and that's a "good" price. give a local engine builder $50 bucks to go with you and have that engine checked out. i can buy a complete junked engine my way for $500 to $650...so....do the math...good luck though.

What about this for a project engine?

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/pts/1732074856.html

you can get a rebuilt engine for $500-$600 robotennis?

SCbuick010 wrote:

What about this for a project engine?

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/pts/1732074856.html

that sounds like BS. there is no such thing as a "minor spun bearing" lol. if its spun,its toast.

I need to find something pretty cheap, I want to start a project hear soon

You should be able to find a low mile complete short block in the $500 range. An L67 or L26 completely stock lower end should take you into the 11s or last 200,000 miles (probably not both) without a rebuild. The perfomance parts you need are all airflow related - head porting, cam, valvetrain, intake and exhaust. But the bottom ends of these are pretty bulletproof.

I would start with a low mile L26 block if you can find one. Morad Parts company usually has a few.

SCbuick010 wrote:

Im kinda looking for an engine to start my 3800 project with, because my rivi is getting up there in miles (162,xxx). I found a really cheap series 2 on craigslist. Do you think I should jump on this?

http://omaha.craigslist.org/pts/1737365894.html

That's probably not a bad starting point, but it's ummm... weathered looking, and unknown milage scares me a bit. But the price is right, so take your chances if you can afford it!!!

If I could get the one with the spun rod bearing for around $100-$125 would it be worth it? I would more than likely completely rebuild it anyway. I just want a starting point.

when you say ,rebuild, how will you rebuild it? and what do you think it will cost you when all is complete?

What specific problem are you having? 162000 is just getting broken in. I have almost 250,000 without any serious problems.

There isnt a problem, my car is running great. But In my opinion 164,000 miles is way too many miles to do any extensive mods to it. So I will just leave the engine in my car as is, and work and learn on a project engine, and when Im happy with it I can drop it in.

no machine work?

That sounds like an interesting way to go about it.

The seller infers that it has been garaged, but it doesn't look like it..????????