Suburban Project- Need Help!

[scenic760]

"And I will not purchase any parts or make any plans until I am confident that my efforts will result in a running engine, capable of filling the gap until I have time and resources to complete a more powerful and reliable engine"


Ahhh must be the GM Squarebody creed eh? Haha..

Too many people get excited at this stage and start buying parts - pistons, bearings, cam, etc.
WAIT until you have had time to calculate the cost of repairing this one and getting it back together and running.
Make sure everything is clean enough to determine if it's usable.
No problem with getting a list together, but don't order anything until you know for sure that you'll be rebuilding this one.

 

[Grit dog]

I have looked high and low for a running 350 and I'm telling ya, in SoCal they are few and far between...and if I do find them it's already been pulled and they want $1,500 for it.

Just for kicks, I just searched CL within a 250mi radius of LA (easy drive distance) and only saw a couple that looked promising. One for $200 in the car, hear it run scenario. But you're right, sbc engines seem scarce or expensive around you. Have you looked for a running vehicle that "needs" a bunch of work but has a decent engine? That's another avenue, albeit another challenge to trailer a junker to and from your house.
Based on your post above about LSing it anyways, I'd still be of the mindset to drop a running engine in it and get on with it. Different story if you were planning on keeping whatever engine goes back in "forever."

I would view it as spending undue time (re-building) on something that is not a sure thing anyway and while it may not cost more $, it surely won't save a bunch of $ but depends on how you value your time.

I made the mistake (maybe, based on my value of my time) of scraping the paint off the entire truck (I'm redoing the '86 currently) because it would peel, so it had to go. Seemed like it wouldn't "take that long". Well, I probably have, idk, 80 hours into scraping and sanding that damn truck and just now ready for bodywork and primer. I could have had it blasted for under $1000. Pull the bumpers, cover the windows and let er rip. OR I could have blasted it myself for almost free. Have 185cfm compressors I could borrow and the local rental houses would give me a sand pot for a weekend.
I thought I was "saving", but in the end, I could have had a truck, 95% prepped and ready for paint and body in a day or 1 weekend. The only upside of DIY the way I did it, is I could work on it for 30 minutes or 12 hours depending on how much time I have.

 

[scenic760]

If all your doing is trying to get it running until you can swing a LS swap, I don’t think I would even consider messing with that engine. Find a running engine, who cares if it burns some oil, or makes a little noise? Unless you have lots of of the parts you need sitting around, I seriously doubt you could reasonably fix that engine for less than 500-600 bucks. Or, just let it sit until you can scrap the funds together for the LS swap. Why waste a bunch of time and money on a temporary fix?

Matt, I've looked! Anyone that has a SBC for sale anywhere near me is sitting on a stand that "ran when pulled" or "been sitting a while" and they want $1,000-$1,500... I did see some place that is allegedly selling short blocks for $695 plus shipping but I called and got voicemail which makes me skeptical..

Anyone have any experience with this place?

https://spprecision.com/products/chevy-57l-350-short-block-engine-sale.html

 

[Grit dog]

^ Think of it this way, what else do you need to do besides the engine to achieve your goal of putting it on the road? Whatever that is and however long you think that will take is how long you have to find a running engine. There's like 60billion people in SoCal. There IS a running small block chevy for cheap somewhere not too far away. CL app will search within a 250 mi radius and FB marketplace has as much or more than CL these days.
Expand your search a bit is my advice. Seems most of the "good" deals or things I get are somehow a 3 hour drive away. But $50 in gas and a cheeseburger from McDs is cheaper than $1500 for a used engine or $1000 to piece together a poor man's rebuild plus your time.

 

[Bextreme04]

Or try and find a pre 95 truck with a 350 that has a running engine but blown trans or similar blown something that you can buy for cheap. You can even go up to '99 if you want to run the vortec heads or swap the old engine heads on. Lots of people will sell a vehicle cheap when they start having trans or drivetrain issues because they don't have or want to spend several thousand dollars on a vehicle.

I bought a running, driving 1997 K2500 Suburban with a 454/4L80e last year for $500. It was overheating and the brakes/suspension were trash, but all I wanted was he donor motor/trans to rebuild and swap into my square. I see ones just like it with the L31 350 for $500 or less all the time. Then I turned around and parted out most of the truck while reusing everything I could for my swap. I got $250/ea just for the 2 catalytic converters. After selling the seats, various interior parts, doors, transfer case, etc... I've actually ended up making money on it and I havent even drug it to scrap yet.

 

[scenic760]

^ Think of it this way, what else do you need to do besides the engine to achieve your goal of putting it on the road? Whatever that is and however long you think that will take is how long you have to find a running engine. There's like 60billion people in SoCal. There IS a running small block chevy for cheap somewhere not too far away. CL app will search within a 250 mi radius and FB marketplace has as much or more than CL these days.
Expand your search a bit is my advice. Seems most of the "good" deals or things I get are somehow a 3 hour drive away. But $50 in gas and a cheeseburger from McDs is cheaper than $1500 for a used engine or $1000 to piece together a poor man's rebuild plus your time.

I looked for that running one in San Bernadino but couldn't find it?

Your population statistics are a little off but GM had a market share of about 35% of all the vehicles sold from 1960-1995 and lets say 1/2 of those vehicles had a 350 (couldn't find an exact number but I'm assuming lots of trucks- 50% might even be low). On average 2 million cars are sold in California every year so 17.5% of 2 mil x 35 years = 12,250,000 350s sold in the State of California in the last 35 years...and I can't find one in running condition.. sorry for the numbers game, I was curious

I did find a guy in Oceanside which is about 10 mins away with a 350 4 bolt main (original bore), rebuilt heads complete however disassembled for $350 obo.. I asked him about the condition of block/rods/crank and he said "good but I would at least hone the block" maybe some traction on this one...I'll take a look at facebook again too

 

[scenic760]

Or try and find a pre 95 truck with a 350 that has a running engine but blown trans or similar blown something that you can buy for cheap. You can even go up to '99 if you want to run the vortec heads or swap the old engine heads on. Lots of people will sell a vehicle cheap when they start having trans or drivetrain issues because they don't have or want to spend several thousand dollars on a vehicle.

I bought a running, driving 1997 K2500 Suburban with a 454/4L80e last year for $500. It was overheating and the brakes/suspension were trash, but all I wanted was he donor motor/trans to rebuild and swap into my square. I see ones just like it with the L31 350 for $500 or less all the time. Then I turned around and parted out most of the truck while reusing everything I could for my swap. I got $250/ea just for the 2 catalytic converters. After selling the seats, various interior parts, doors, transfer case, etc... I've actually ended up making money on it and I havent even drug it to scrap yet.

I would do something like that in a heartbeat if I had space. I'm stuffed into a 2 car garage that has enough space left for a bicycle...also the neighbors have been cool so far but if I show up with another parts car on the street I'm 100% certain I would get a visit from code enforcement

 

[Grit dog]

There’s one in Clovis for $200, in a truck can hear run. Craigslist

 

[scenic760]

There’s one in Clovis for $200, in a truck can hear run. Craigslist

I appreciate you looking out for me Grit!

Clovis is about a 5 hour drive from me..so a 10 hour round trip.. I would think I could put an engine together in 10 hours? Or then again maybe not, haha

 

[Matt69olds]

Sbc are pretty easy to find around here. People almost give away 305 engines. It’s not uncommon to find a car/truck that still runs great, but almost undrivable due to rust.

I guess location is a huge part of finding stuff.

 

[Grit dog]

I appreciate you looking out for me Grit!

Clovis is about a 5 hour drive from me..so a 10 hour round trip.. I would think I could put an engine together in 10 hours? Or then again maybe not, haha

Ha, I plugged LA to Clovis. You must be down near SandyEggo.

 

[scenic760]

Sbc are pretty easy to find around here. People almost give away 305 engines. It’s not uncommon to find a car/truck that still runs great, but almost undrivable due to rust.

I guess location is a huge part of finding stuff.

It's probably that and the fact I'm not really running in the car guy circle.. I also think it has to do with regional popularity on vehicles too... a lot of foreign cars infiltrated SoCal in the last 30 years

 

[scenic760]

Ha, I plugged LA to Clovis. You must be down near SandyEggo.

Yea...North County

 

[Wrenchless]

Fill those cylinders with penetrating oil soak for a couple days then get a 1' long piece of 4x4 put on top of each piston and wack it with a decent size hammer. Do each piston then see if it will turn.if you have the motor out unbolt rod caps& main caps and remove the crank then you can knock the pistons loose with same method! Hard to tell cond.from picture .hope this helps

 

[Salty Crusty]

Try a want to buy engine in craiglist, must be running. TBI's are fairly common and it's not difficult to take care of the center bolts issue.

There's something about the roller TBI and Vortec blocks as well as the Gen 6 big blocks that makes 'em very resistant to wear. I've got pistons on the wall from one that cooked and smeared aluminum on the bores. Machinist bolted a torque plate to it and ran a hone through it and we rebuilt it at .005 over. That one had over 400K on the odometer and claimed it had never been out. I have several blocks that still have factory hone marks in them with a lot of miles on them, big blocks included.

*** guy in front of me at Wrench A Part had one in his wheelbarrow, $115 out the door on sale, only got one accessory bracket, though. A running engine with 20 - 30psi of oil pressure at idle fully warmed up should be doable for $250.