# Pulled the engine out of my Camaro today!



## NYH1 (Nov 28, 2009)

I pulled it and started to tear it down. I only have to take the short block apart. It's a 2 bolt block with 882 heads. They're getting replaced with Vortec's. 

I don't think it's been apart before. There was some sludge built up around the oil return holes in the heads. That sludge continued down into the lifter valley. The heads were a pain in the @$$ to get off. 

My father is going to get his mic's tomorrow so we the measure the bore. I don't care about the crank, rods and pistons. I'm ordering a balanced rotating assembly. I just need to have all the machine work done to this block if it checks out ok.

Then I'll order the parts I need to assemble it.


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## NYH1 (Nov 28, 2009)

My engine is ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!





The block has already been bored .040". The cylinder walls look good. But I want to start with a block that's been freshly bored and torque plate honed. I don't know if this block can be bored to .060" or not. I'll have to take it to my machinist and see what he says.



I'm not going to use the crank.......and I'm glad I wasn't planning to. It's already been turned .020". Both the journals and the bearings look horrible. They are scored/grooved/gouged terribly. I've never seen crank and crank bearings torn up as bad as these are on an engine that didn't spin a bearing.



The rods and rod bearings are just as bad as the crank and crank bearings. Same with the cam bearings. 



I was hoping the engine wasn't touched. It has been. I really wanted to use the block. I don't think I'm going to be able too though!


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## 04ultra (Nov 28, 2009)

How much are you willing too spend?? There are lots of great crate engines out there ............ZZ572 is a great choice for around 12K.............



Also 

http://www.shafiroff.com/


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## ShoerFast (Nov 28, 2009)

04ultra said:


> How much are you willing too spend?? There are lots of great crate engines out there ............ZZ572 is a great choice for around 12K.............
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Speed is a question of money, how fast you wanting to go?


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## ECRUPPRECHT (Nov 28, 2009)

what year camero is it my buddy has a brand new complete 383 sittin in the barn still in the bag from the shop he would sell it cheap


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## 04ultra (Nov 28, 2009)

ECRUPPRECHT said:


> what year camero is it my buddy has a brand new complete 383 sittin in the barn still in the bag from the shop he would sell it cheap



His sig says 78


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## ECRUPPRECHT (Nov 29, 2009)

yeah it would fit it. not sure of all the details but it was for his mid 80s camero that he sold so its on a stand in his barn never put in a car not sure what he wants for it but im sure pretty cheap


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## chowdozer (Nov 29, 2009)

NYH1 said:


> My engine is ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!
> 
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Do some checking before you take it to the machine shop.


Look behind the timing cover. Look for the numbers 010 and 020. 

020 means it was cast with 2% tin to decrease porosity. 
010 mean it was cast with 1% nickel to increase the wear resistance in the bores. (Maybe I got them backwards)

Next, look at the cam bore and check to make sure the hole is _exactly_ in the middle of the cam boss on both ends. Check the lifter bores too. You are looking to see if the cores shifted during the pour. If it is in the center you can probably go to 060 over, but it's a thinwall casting and you takes your chances. Your chances will be better though. If the cam hole isn't in the middle of the cam boss, I would not try boring it more.

You probably have the 3970010 block which is a very good foundation for a mild street motor. Look on the top left of the bellhousing for the casting number. A 2 bolt 3970010 is good for somewhere around 500+ hp.


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## Paul61 (Nov 29, 2009)

04ultra said:


> How much are you willing too spend?? There are lots of great crate engines out there ............ZZ572 is a great choice for around 12K.............
> 
> 
> 
> ...



a "572" for a grocery getter?..............You've been livin in the country way too long Steve-O :hmm3grin2orange:
I like the Shafiroff stuff though, maybe a 16:1 698'r :jawdrop:

Paul


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## NYH1 (Nov 30, 2009)

My block is casting number 3970010. It has 2 bolt mains which is fine for what I'm going to use it for. I think it has a large 010 inside the timing cover, I'll have to look again.


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## Den69RS96 (Dec 15, 2009)

Ny,

My block is the 3790010 block with the 010 and 020 except I have 4 bolt mains. My block is 0.060 over so it can be done like the previous poster said. My engine came with 882 heads as well even though they were freshly rebuilt. Those heads hit a wall around 4000rpms so good move replacing them.


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## chowdozer (Dec 16, 2009)

Den69RS96 said:


> Ny,
> 
> My block is the 3790010 block with the 010 and 020 except I have 4 bolt mains. My block is 0.060 over so it can be done like the previous poster said. My engine came with 882 heads as well even though they were freshly rebuilt. Those heads hit a wall around 4000rpms so good move replacing them.



The 0010 block came machined for 2 and 4 bolt. It was the standard duty car and truck block, I think until they moved the dipstick to the other side. Most of the trucks got a 4 bolt and most of the cars got a 2 bolt. 

The 882 heads were not terribly bad heads (at least they weren't the lightweight heads with the scallops between the outboard headbolts, they cracked badly) and you should easily get more than 4K from them. My opinion is that with a 750 cfm carb, an Edelbrock Performer, recurved distributor and a set of headers w/2.25" pipes you should be good for at least 5.5K at about 350hp. Just my guess though not having built an engine in at least 15 years. 


What cam/carb/manifold/exhaust are you running? Did you deburr or port the heads at all? Those heads can have some bad casting flash in them.

If you really want to wake that thing up, put a set of Vortec heads on it with new springs. The intake bolt holes aren't angled though so you'll need an intake. Vortec's are a high swirl head and one of the best out of the box free flowing heads GM ever made. One thing about the lil Chevy is that it always had really, really good ports for a V8.


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## NYH1 (Dec 16, 2009)

My block is cracked in two places. It's in the scrap pile now. My machinist had the same casting block (not that it matters). It has already been bored .030" over. He said it will clean up nice if bored to .040" over. It's already been magnafluxed and cleaned. He'll sell me the block for $40. 

My total bill will be $610. $40 for the block. $570 for the machine work plus ARP main bolts, cam bearing and freeze plugs installed. The machine work includes boring and torque plate honing the cylinders, decking the block and align honing the mains.

It'll be done next week.


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## Hangtown (Dec 16, 2009)

ECRUPPRECHT said:


> what year camero is it my buddy has a brand new complete 383 sittin in the barn still in the bag from the shop he would sell it cheap



how cheap?? i've got a #'s matching '68 Camaro w/a stock 327 that i'd like to find a replacement for. i'll just cover up the 327 in the garage for when/if i decide to sell it...too bad your in MI.


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## Den69RS96 (Dec 23, 2009)

Chowdozer, 

Your right the 882's can be made to work pretty well. Mine were stockers with 1.94 valves nothing fancy. I had a edelbrock performer cam. I think the duration was 204-214 dur and lift was around .442 lift @.050. Combined with a performer manifold, 76cc heads, my car was dog with the low 8.2 compression ratio. I really wasn't happy with the cars performance, so instead of reworking my heads I opted for 62cc trickflows and a much bigger cam and performer rpm manifold. I raised my compression to around 9.3 so I can still run pump gas and I dropped 30-40lbs off the front end. That combo really woke up my camaro and the sound is so nice. My car still is making power to about 6500rpm now, but with cast pistons, I rarely go that high. It was a night and day difference.


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