1st Gen Lunchtable Thread - General Discussion

Hay now!!

 

You bring up a good point. The thing is already sitting in my driveway, and with my trailer I definitely don't have room for another car. My grandchildren will be dead before my 3RZ needs a rebuild. The only other 4 Cyl I have is the 1.3l in the Honda Civic, but that's boring.

You can't pay me to rebuild the E320 engine.

 

The reason I suggested those Chevy motors in particular is because there is a good market for them after being rebuilt. Chances are it would be sold within the week you finish it and you just need the engine and an engine stand to do your rebuild.

Dont forget your 3RZ craves valve adjustments like a moth craves a lamp

 

I like the idea... those are those old Carb engines right?

Can I test it on the engine stand? We had those engine testing stations at my old auto tech school, but it seemed needlessly complicated with the entire vehicle wiring harness connected to it.

I assume carb'd engines are 100x easier to work with.

 

There is the most information out there for the small block chevies (305, 350, 389) as far as rebuilds go and the parts are cheapo. Could rebuild one in the garage in a weekend if you've done one before. You just buy one out of a wreck at the junkyard, preferable with its intake manifolds and stock carb still on it and you can even rob the simple ignition system from it too. The Iron Duke was sometimes carb'd and is a common motor for small marine applications but it came in chevy cars and trucks too. The 4.3 has carb conversion parts (that are probably not allowed to be sold in cali) but was primarily an EFI engine but its basically a small block chevy with two cyls lopped off

 

What engine would you suggest I rebuild before I tackle the 5VZ?

I really like this idea. I can go pull one from the Pick-n-Pull.

 

Small block chevy 305 or 350 out of an old Chevy or GMC truck like mid 1980s or earlier

 

You've intrigued me, I'll go take a look at Pick-n-Pull this weekend.

What's the difference between the 305 and 350?

 

cubic inches, parts should pretty much all be the same its just different bores and strokes.

 

$200!? Aw, shit.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/pts/d/engine-test-stand/6724342497.html

 

How much would I be looking at for a complete rebuild, machine shop work and all?

And the value after the rebuild? P&P charges $237 w/ core.

 

Does it come with the shitty Ford Vulcan engine or no, cause its worth more if it doesnt

 

Lol wut? That engine is that bad?

 

I dunno, chevy small block rebuilds are likely the most common service any machine shop has to deal with so if you call around chances are theyll have prices for all of the common machine work. Some stuff youll have to decide if you want them to do or not or if you want to do it, like removing and installing cam bearings (needs a special too, actually for engine building you're gonna be buying lots of tools anyway) whether or not you want it hot tanked and decked. But again they'll have rates and someone to advise you on it if youre not too sure, its a case by case thing. Parts you can price out easily when you figure out what year and exact block you have (2bolt main or 4bolt... so on)

 

It's a turd of a V6, old pushrod bastard that hung around too long and didn't make any power all while eating cams for breakfast. At least chevy kept their pushrod engines around and made them make some power

 

Any idea what they're worth after a rebuild?

 

Maybe just under 2k if its just a stock build, can put some hotrod parts in it and itll go for more. Build it for higher compression (gonna be doing some real math if you plan to change specs), bigger cam, higher lifter ratio, nice holley carb and edelbrock intake, vortec head swap. But all of that will have extra costs for you too, its up to you to gauge your market.

 

Looks like rebuilt ones on CL go for $1k to $2k. Not bad, I think I'll keep everything stock for now with tasteful upgrades like the Holley carb.

I'll look into this. Sounds like a fun 'lil project before I tear into the 5VZ.

 

There's the engine stand you actually need to work on engines...

https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/80040/10002/-1

 

Crazy cheap, those HF are more expensive and holds less weight.