[Steve91T]

Man I'm excited. Dailydriver posted his car for sale and I could tell from that add that it was much loved and well taken care of. Unfortunately a nasty knock on the engine forced him to sell it. I thought this could be the perfect car for my dad.

This car looks amazing for having 172k miles. It is pretty rare to find a 1 owner car these days.

So, first things first. I had the car for all of 30 seconds before I broke it. I dragged the exhaust pulling into my driveway and separated the car back from the y pipe. So today I fixed that so the exhaust wasn't dragging on the ground anymore. Next, I need to make room for all the parts Dave packed into the car. It's completely full of parts. Thanks Dave! And finally, I need to figure out what's up with the engine. It has a nasty knock. It has great oil pressure, runs smooth, no smoke, but knocks really bad. I think it's a lifter, but I don't know. I think I'm going to pull the valve covers and see what I find. As well as this car has been taken care of, I'm hoping the engine is healty. I'd love to just replace some lifters and let my dad enjoy this car for a while.

Anyway, let me know what you guys would do to diagnose this knock.


https://youtu.be/AJUsOvgpnmg

https://youtu.be/otobYePJLyo

[JimMueller]

If the lifter bore is damaged, I'd probably take it to a reputable local machine shop to see if they can hone it and/or repair it. Whether or not they can do that safely with the remainder of the rotating assembly installed I do not know. If they can't, then someone will need to disassemble the short block prior to the repair. If it's already at the machine shop it'd be easy for them to perform other cleanup tasks as well, as your funds allow. If they cannot repair the bore, then you'd at least be looking at another engine case or short block. You'd have to move your rotating assembly to the new case if it was bare. Weigh the cost of repairing vs. replacing the block.

Once the block is in order, you can re-use the current heads. The machine shop would be able to disassemble/clean/reassemble with old or new parts and also prepare the head gasket surface if desired.
Some sample numbers I threw together:

lifters 12499225 ($100,per engine)
lifter trays 12595365 (4@$6, need two per head)
head gaskets 12498544 (2@$30, per head)
head bolts 12498545 (2@$24, not re-usable; per head)
water pump gaskets 12630223 (2@$4, per head)
front cover seal 12585673 ($16,if you need to pull the front cover)
front cover gasket 12633904 ($16, if you need to pull the front cover)
crankshaft bolt 12557840 ($4, not re-usable; if you need to pull the front cover)
exhaust gasket 12617944 (2@$11, probably re-usable)

The above new is $300, plus any tax & shipping.

LS6 intake manifold: (PN 88894339, casting # 12573572) No longer sold, need to find used. Expect to pay $300-$400. You'll need to modify the ribbing on the bottom of the intake to be compatible with the LS1 coolant crossover lines, or buy the LS6 coolant crossover lines & plugs.
Cam: If new, expect to pay at least $400. I'd suggest contacting Patrick Guerra, Kip @ CamMotion, or Brian Tooley for your application
LT Headers: If new, expect to pay $300-$1200 just for the primaries, plus whatever you use to mate the primaries to your tail pipes.
Pushrods: You should budget to buy new pushrods for the different cam base circle, unless you want to trust the seller to sell you a cam which definitely works with your existing pushrods. If people won't be sustaining high RPM for a long time (like drifting), 5/16" thickness would probably get you by. In general, you want the thickest diameter, thickest sidewall which has adequate clearance in the pushrod guide. Anywhere from $100-$300 for a set.
Valvesprings: You may need to budget for these depending upon the cam spec'ed.

Going with the lower end costs, that's $1500 above, plus valve springs, the y-pipe/x-pipe/exhaust, plus the cost of repairing/replacing the block, etc. You'll save some if you're able to buy used, and you may be able to recoup some of your costs by selling the old good parts.

After that, it just depends on what else you want to inspect and your budget. Expect to pay $400-$500 for a reputable in-person tune. I don't remember if a new oil pan gasket is recommended when you drop the pan. You might want to consider a better timing chain ($150)... other misc gaskets, lots of knick knack things, only your budget is the restriction.

This post has been edited by JimMueller: Jul 30 2016, 06:34 PM