need advice quickly - blown engine

[OilBlazer93]

Originally Posted By: Hethaerto
So you guys are thinking that the engine may not be blown at all? Maybe the mechanic is snowballing this dude when it was nothing more than a blown fuse or something very minor?

This reminds me of that movie with Sean Penn called "No U-Turn", I think, and his Mustang breaks down in this out of the way town in the desert, and the mechanic (Billy Bob Thornton) slowly tears his car down to parade rest.


I saw that one.

Ironically enough, Terrence Howard was in a basically Knock-off movie called "Wrong Turn" where their BMW 320i (or 325, it was from the 80s, and i once had one just like it) Kept on having Mysterious Mechanical issues.. in the middle of the Desert.

Turns out he was trying to be framed for Murder along Racial lines...

But, back to the Issue..

OP, do you have the Stingray

And DID YOU PULL THE DRAIN PLUG OFF to see if ANY Oil came out?

If there WAS Oil in there..

a) You got the Worst Mechanic in the world... or

b) ITS A SCAM!!!

I wish you luck. I winder if this was one with one of the Performance Packages..... other poster's Engine Rebuild idea, if it comes to that, is good too. "It can be Saved"....

 

[addyguy]

Where's this guy gone?

I'd love to know what ends up happening!

 

[FL_Rob]

He probably got tired of being picked apart.

 

[L_Sludger]

Originally Posted By: Fishhawk460
Since the 79 Vette isn't really a collector, to me this would be a perfect excuse to throw in an LS1. Especially if your going to spend $4500. 350 to 400 hp would be easy and make that car a real sleeper.
Now that's a goofy point to make. A Corvette will never be a sleeper.

 

[brsmith]

Also, swapping an LS1 into a car and all of the wiring harness, sensors, exhaust, AC, computer, etc. into a car that never had it would be quite an undertaking for someone who can only check oil.

Every year of vette is a collector to someone. No real sense in cannibalizing it when a long block may be all that is needed.

Much speculation has happened and little update.

 

[Gene K]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Assuming it just spun/scored a few rod and main bearings, I would rebuild the original block with new oem .03+ pistons and keep numbers matching everything. Make sure the rods are straight or straightened. Really adds to the resale, Plus corvette blocks are typ better iron than std pass car blocks and they will have the normal deck height v. a truck block. This engine would respond well to a nice cheater 2v short track cam say 208deg @ .05 and .430" lift with a close 108deg lobe splay (cL), Any bigger stick and you would need to do all kinds of "complimentary" work. Ive use Lunati kits in the past - dont even know if they are in business anymore

Factory Cam may be bigger than that. Might be an L82.
Lunati is still in business but no longer an independent.

 

[cronk]

Being a Vette, I would think it has an oil pressure gauge!
Did it have good oil pressure? If it had no oil in the pan, it would have no oil pressure. I would hope no one would be ignorant enough to drive a car 500 miles with no oil pressure.
Assuming the OP didnt do that, I would suspect something else is up. Either a sudden leak, like the drain plug fell out, or an oil system failure.

I wish the OP would answer some of the good questions posed here:
1. Pull the drain plug, does anything come out?
2. What was the oil pressure during this?
3. What were the engine symptoms? A "blown" engine can mean alot of things, thrown rod, seized engine, blown head gasket, shot bearings etc...

If you have taken it to a good mechanic, I would try to get more info, If there wasnt a catastrophic failure like a thrown rod, your existing engine is likely rebuildable.

 

[OilBlazer93]

Originally Posted By: Gene K
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Assuming it just spun/scored a few rod and main bearings, I would rebuild the original block with new oem .03+ pistons and keep numbers matching everything. Make sure the rods are straight or straightened. Really adds to the resale, Plus corvette blocks are typ better iron than std pass car blocks and they will have the normal deck height v. a truck block. This engine would respond well to a nice cheater 2v short track cam say 208deg @ .05 and .430" lift with a close 108deg lobe splay (cL), Any bigger stick and you would need to do all kinds of "complimentary" work. Ive use Lunati kits in the past - dont even know if they are in business anymore

Factory Cam may be bigger than that. Might be an L82.
Lunati is still in business but no longer an independent.


Dont you mean L88 or L89?

And Pardon.. but how is ANY Stingray NOT a Collector?

Everything up until 82 was Stingray.. 82 being the Collector Edition, no 83.. then 84.

I have a Different classic from the Ford side of things.. ut Stingray deserves its Due!

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Originally Posted By: Gene K


Factory Cam may be bigger than that. Might be an L82.
Lunati is still in business but no longer an independent.
I'm thinking it has the smog HP cam (ha) which would be 196/204 duration and about .4" lift. This engine would make power with an HP cam (like the chevy 350hp/327cu-in cam) - if it doesnt make power its the cam. Plenty of CFM on the Q-jet and the factory heads are OK to make 275 - 300hp spinning it slow.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

This thread went NOWHERE.

 

[TomYoung]

This seems to have become a discussion on what constitutes "Numbers Matching." Fact is, if the original block is in the car, the engine is "numbers matching."

 

[TomYoung]

Originally Posted By: bt99
Are you telling us that you bought a car, had it transported to you, and you never checked the fluids ? just started driving it around? and you`re admiting that?



Really, how about a little understanding. Errors are part of the human condition. In this case, we have a fellow who is telling us like it is, and hoping to get some advice. Fortunately the outlook is good with plenty of modern 250-350 hp reliable, drop-in small-block crate engines a phone call away -- the car will be twice as drivable. And watch those oil levels!

 

[Gene K]

Originally Posted By: OilBlazer93
Originally Posted By: Gene K
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Assuming it just spun/scored a few rod and main bearings, I would rebuild the original block with new oem .03+ pistons and keep numbers matching everything. Make sure the rods are straight or straightened. Really adds to the resale, Plus corvette blocks are typ better iron than std pass car blocks and they will have the normal deck height v. a truck block. This engine would respond well to a nice cheater 2v short track cam say 208deg @ .05 and .430" lift with a close 108deg lobe splay (cL), Any bigger stick and you would need to do all kinds of "complimentary" work. Ive use Lunati kits in the past - dont even know if they are in business anymore

Factory Cam may be bigger than that. Might be an L82.
Lunati is still in business but no longer an independent.


Dont you mean L88 or L89?

And Pardon.. but how is ANY Stingray NOT a Collector?

Everything up until 82 was Stingray.. 82 being the Collector Edition, no 83.. then 84.

I have a Different classic from the Ford side of things.. ut Stingray deserves its Due!


A 1979 would have an L48 or an L82.

 

[Gene K]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Originally Posted By: Gene K


Factory Cam may be bigger than that. Might be an L82.
Lunati is still in business but no longer an independent.
I'm thinking it has the smog HP cam (ha) which would be 196/204 duration and about .4" lift. This engine would make power with an HP cam (like the chevy 350hp/327cu-in cam) - if it doesnt make power its the cam. Plenty of CFM on the Q-jet and the factory heads are OK to make 275 - 300hp spinning it slow.


The 1979 L82 cam is the same as the 1969 350/350 Cam and is larger than the 350/327 Cam. It also had 2.02/1.60 Valves, forged pistons, pink rods, steel crank, 4-bolt mains and windage tray. It was only around 220-230 bhp net(dont remember exact hp for that year) but then the last solid-lifter LT1 with no cats and a better intake and carb only made 255 bhp net. The LT-1 lost 75 bhp (330-255) from 71 to 72 with no changes other than going from gross to net ratings.

 

[Mr Nice]

Maybe the person sold him a Vette that they knew had an engine problem and it blew up not long after he bought it.

You can find low mile Chevy engines all day long for little $$$.