ILUVMYMONTE Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 well, i heard these are garbage any opinions ill be in the market for a 454 soon sooooooooooooo if this was your chance to buy a new engine and had a 8k budget for a motor what route would you go(doesnt nesssarily have to be a 454)also my 402 was the orginal to the car are these desirable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostnFound Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Hi Dana, it depends on what you want the car to be when it is grown up? You going for big HP or stock? You trying to build an all original car or a modified Monte? What will you be using it for? etc. etc. Cheers, Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILUVMYMONTE Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 well. haha. definately not stock my last motor was supposed to be around 650-700 hp i want big torque. and definately will be doing the suspension. im not sure what they call these cars but i would say around same hp/torque. 410 gears. hotchkis suspension. the works. gonna do the march perf. pulleys etc.fast and flashy i guess you would call it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILUVMYMONTE Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 but classy at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue502 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 I don't know were you heard they are garbage.You are pretty well covered with a 2 year/50K warrenty.The big savings with a crate motor is all the small stuff.Those parts will nickel and dime you to death.I would save the 402 and go with something like this. http://paceperformance.com/i-5146255-gmp...hed-finish.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 I have a 454 HO in my Monte... Love it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Brichta Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 I currently have a GM ZZ454 in my 70 El Camino and love it. I have more then enough HP and torque for my needs. They are supposed to put out 440 HP but an article in Chevy Performance a few years back says that dyno'ed it at just over 500 HP. Â This past summer I had the distributor gear go bad and I took it back to the GM dealer who I ordered it from and they completely rebuild the motor for free, parts and labor covered. Should it have happened in the first place? Maybe not. But it did and I was glad I had the GM warranty. When I purchased my engine they offered a 3-year, 100,000 mile warranty and no one came close to that anywhere else. Â In summary, I love the engine and am very pleased with the warranty. Â I also have a GM zz350 in my daily driver for the past 4 years and it has given me zero problems. Basically plug and play. Â If you have any other questions let me know any maybe I can answer them. Â Good luck!! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waupachino Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 With an $8k budget I would have my Engine Builder put me together a real nice BBC, probably a 496-540 CI Motor with everything set up to my Car and what I'm looking to accomplish. Â I wouldn't say crate motors are junk, but they are all built the same and do not take into consideration what application they are going into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FASTSS454 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Crate motors from GM, this is a company who builds tons of engines that last for 2-300000 miles every day. I would spend my money with them before I take a chance on a local shop who builds 2-3 of these big inch motors a year at best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 If I had a budget of $8k for an engine, this one would go into my Monte: Â Â LS376/525HP Â They also have a carburated version, if you don't want to mess with EFI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILUVMYMONTE Posted October 26, 2012 Author Share Posted October 26, 2012 thanks for all the replys, i didnt take in consideration of the warranty with gm. andreas, would there be aloit of modifying involved in putting that engine in a monte? and do the firewalls differ from a monte that had originally a big block to those that have a small block? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILUVMYMONTE Posted October 26, 2012 Author Share Posted October 26, 2012 i checked out that ls3 it is badass...hmmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
502ci Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 I have had my GM crate 502 in my Monte for like 10 years and not one problem...lot's of trips down the track too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gprimm Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Just my thoughts.  If my choice, I would go with an engine builder. Yes, GM builds lots of engines, but they are mass produced. The knowledge, care and precision of a quality engine shop provides a better engine. I think the exception would be the really high end GM engines which are hand assembled by experienced techs.  Here's my experience with a GM crate engine. My original engine in the 1971 had a valve head pop-off and basically annihilate the engine. Bought the GM crate 350-290hp engine. Brand new stuff. Well, the heads did not last as the valve seals were JUNK. It blew blue smoke first on fire-up and then under acceleration. Just spent the winter doing work on the Monte including putting on Eddy RPM heads.  Was at a car show this year and a fella had a beautiful 50's Chevy truck with the same engine. Guess what? It blew smoke.  Was just at Borowski Race Engines where my son had some heads redone. Guess what they had on a pallet? A new create engine that the owner had them dyno. After break-in on the second pull one of the lifters failed. Brand new engine. Now the owner has got to deal with that.  Just an FYI. Not pushing this builder (he sells internationally) but here's a link www.borowskirace.com  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyDavey Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 I don't know about the lower end 350's (I think most of them come out of Mexico) but the ZZ big blocks are hand assembled by a third party vendor. Whether it's GM or private builder there is always the chance of a failure so do your homework. If you had a motor that really made 650-700 hp that's a pretty serious piece. From personal experience with a ZZ502 it took aftermarket heads, intake, ignition and a custom hyd roller to get 654 hp @ 5700.... Â If you want a crate motor I would lean towards GM simply because of the warranty issues. If you decide to go with something else then do some research on a reputable local builder and talk to them until you feel comfortable.. Â As far as your LS question, no they are not a direct drop in...there is motor mount work involved along with some other items...not difficult but not direct.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71monteme Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 ditto on a local shop. 8k budget can get you a lot of motor. just make sure the shop has a good reputation and will stand behind their work. I'm building a 511bbc @ 650hp. with a budget of 3-4k. so you can get a serious motor for that kind of dough. Â Â thanh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILUVMYMONTE Posted October 27, 2012 Author Share Posted October 27, 2012 to hint back on the ls3, im addicted to this motor from what ive read about it....its a really bad [you said a naughty!] motor and you can turbo it stock wich ive always dreamed of a twin turbo muscle. i would obviously buy the motor first and turbo later has anyone seen a twin turbo monte? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 to hint back on the ls3, im addicted to this motor from what ive read about it....its a really bad [you said a naughty!] motor and you can turbo it stock wich ive always dreamed of a twin turbo muscle. i would obviously buy the motor first and turbo later has anyone seen a twin turbo monte? Â Check out the protouring.com website. Swapping a LS engine into a classic musle car is now a standard procedure and many companies make kits to make this easy nowadays... Â Also, there are plenty of twin turbo LS engines out there, just check out Nelson Racing Engines for work-of-art engines for many $$$$$ Â Plenty of room in the engine compartment of a Monte to do this.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILUVMYMONTE Posted October 27, 2012 Author Share Posted October 27, 2012 thank you andreas again. now the wheels are spinning even faster in my head lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewTimer Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Im with Andreas, ls would be my swap. Especially with the opportunity to have both hp and mpg. But I drive my monte everyday so that is a daily check of the fuel gauge lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILUVMYMONTE Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 yeh my built 402 sucked ALOT of gas with that 850 double pumper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostnFound Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Hi Dana, I'm of a different frame of mind. I would search out a date correct LS5 CPD suffix code 3963512 block and #820 heads and have an authentic "date correct" LS5 built the way you wish it. It wouldn't be considered "numbers matching" but it would be the next best thing IMO and as authentic as you can get. There's lots of "numbers matching" cars out there that, other than the block and heads, have very few original parts on them. I wouldn't get hung up on the numbers matching thing but it would be nice to have your SS as authentic as possible IMO. Cheers, Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILUVMYMONTE Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 thanks for the reply larry im definately going to get an ls5. when i posted this i didnt even know about the ss leo had i was instead getting a 70 from him, but when he told me about the ss thats the route im going for sure. although it wont be numbers matching have a date correct block is the next best thing imo too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostnFound Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 That's awesome Dana. Let me know when I should start looking for one for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILUVMYMONTE Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 thanks larry will do! once again appreciate your time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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