Possible motor for 89Suburban's Burban

[89Suburban]

I found this guy on CL that pulls and sells used motors. He pulls them as complete units, pan to air cleaner and fan to flywheel and he his 15-20 minutes up the road. He just sold this one:

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/pts/2227537719.html

But he got an '89 5.7 tbi motor in today he is willing to sell me for the same price, I am seriously considering grabbing it to have as a backup for muh Burban and eventually installing it when I get the time to do it. I wanted a complete motor to make the swap easier. He said he can strap it on a skid and load it right into the back of my Burban which is perfect because I have an engine stand and forklifts at work.

If I decide to go for it and get more info to share I will post it here.

 

[burbboysgc]

Sounds good! Not abad price either.

 

[davbell22602]

I'd keep looking to see if you can get one cheaper. I bought a whole truck with low mileage 350TBI for $500.

 

[skysurfer]

If you can verify it has reasonable mileage on it before it's pulled then it seems like a fair price, but if the engine is already out you have no way of knowing and you should wait for him to get another one.

 

[Old77]

I hope you can hear it run prior to him pulling it. Otherwise nice find man!!!

 

[89Suburban]

I don't know, I just saw rebuilt TBI heads on eBay for $300. Maybe I should just get a new set of rebuilt heads and head gaskets and try that when the time comes.

 

[89Suburban]

I called this guy again. He said the motor has 100,000 on it and he pulled it already out of a '88 C3500.

 

[towman]

just my thoughts, people buy one ton trucks to work them hard, wait for another one, like i said just my thoughts

 

[89Suburban]

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[HotRodPC]

just my thoughts, people buy one ton trucks to work them hard, wait for another one, like i said just my thoughts

I agree, and that is going to be a 4.10 gear ratio too, so in a 100,000 miles, think how many RPM's that motor has turned already. The bearing only have so many RPMs in them and then they go away. I'd wait too. And what is his warranty period? If you buy it as a back up, and don't use it for 6 months and he only puts a 30 days warranty on it, and it chucks a rod after you install it, then is your baby.

But, I don't like your thoughts of heads only and head gaskets on a bottom end including the rings, that has almost 200,000 miles on it. I just don't like that idea at all. I have a feeling your rings will say fugg it and end up in the oil pan with the raised compression. (Not Literally of Course)

 

[oneluckypops]

I agree, and that is going to be a 4.10 gear ratio too, so in a 100,000 miles, think how many RPM's that motor has turned already. The bearing only have so many RPMs in them and then they go away. I'd wait too. And what is his warranty period? If you buy it as a back up, and don't use it for 6 months and he only puts a 30 days warranty on it, and it chucks a rod after you install it, then is your baby.

But, I don't like your thoughts of heads only and head gaskets on a bottom end including the rings, that has almost 200,000 miles on it. I just don't like that idea at all. I have a feeling your rings will say fugg it and end up in the oil pan with the raised compression. (Not Literally of Course)

Its not just the Rings that will give up. The added compression with rebuilt heads will cause bearing failures on higher mileage engines

 

[HotRodPC]

Its not just the Rings that will give up. The added compression with rebuilt heads will cause bearing failures on higher mileage engines

Sure it will, the whole bottom end will go, but the rings will be noticed first. I'd say within 500 miles, he'll be blowing blue smoke like a freight train.