Would never dream of putting cheap parts into my rebuild, but AC Delco HL120 roller lifters average $32 a piece? I mean $360 + tax for a new set of lifters? WTH?

What has everyone else done?

 

Welcome too AC Delco - high price for the name and made in China - I've had good luck thu the years out of Sealed power lifters - $ 9.99 - $11.99 ea at Summit

I've also run Melling and Mahle with good luck

 

From what I can tell, you got about one in three chance of your ac declo part being made in the US. I've had a lot of made in China and made in Mexico Delco parts. I think to myself, why am I paying for the Delco name, if it's just foreign made junk, anyway?

 

For the build I got Comp Cams High Energy roller lifters which could also be a direct replacement at 170$ all 12.

 

Good call, thats what I'll probably do. Still debating on whether to cam this thing or not.

Don't suppose you could recommend a nice set of pistons and rings without breaking the bank? So many on the market, want to stay away from the cheap crap, and again be reasonable in price. I don't mind spending money is on a premium set of rings as I'm hoping to get at least 200K miles on the rebuild as a daily driver.

Was going to get a rebuilt replacement engine until I started reading reviews of all the different builders, ouch! There are some serious complaints out there. Figure I better do it myself along with a good machine shop/builder just to be safe.

 

The build/rebuild yourself has some advantages over buying a complete engine.

Firstly, you know what has been built. And if building the engine out of your own vehicle, you know the history of that engine. You have to know if the block has been machined before and possibly by how much.

From doing my build, but going the expensive way with expensive race parts. The way I build is to get a second, tuned engine on which to experiment. This is the reason why it has been built with a sturdy lower assembly with flat top pistons which will raise the compression quite a bit. Now with different head gaskets I'm able to juggle with the compression. I have seen machine shops cutting the decks by quite a bit to rise compression but this is not the way to go for a perfomance build as it weakens the deck. My build has never been cut before and has a deck height at the factory specs.

This is not necessary for a normal build. Still considering the OEM redline of 5'000 rpm, just building with a nice set of JE flat top pistons from the shelf we can up the compression by about 1 point. Already here we can stop spending money and concentrate on building on the OEM stuff or get a set of rods with floating pins, i.e. Sportsman rods. We're not going to push that engine into the 400 hp range - are we?

I would estimate that a reasonable good build could end somewhere in the 3'000 $ range, including machining. This is depending on how much work you can do yourself. At this time, I only know about the 1994 - 4.3 V6 and how pathetic these engines are. Have a look into my build thread, a lot of information there. Spend a rainy afternoon on the Summit page. It's all there.

Second: It may be cheaper and the parts we can use are manifold. Depending on the build we can reuse most parts. Pistons, rings, bearings may need to be new. Machining will take a bit more consideration but depending on the block and heads it may still be reasonable.
Third: The fun factor building your own engine.

BUT: It will be many, many hours you will have to invest and a couple $ into some good literature.

Getting a suitable engine and taking it apart may be relatively cheap. Once you have it disassembled you can start deciding on how to proceed. The material to be ordered can only be done after you can measure the block and determine the state of the engine. (corrosion, alignment of bores, deck height and thickness, pistons below deck, heads, valve seats, valves, springs, rockers, lifters).

What we do not know and what has never been properly reported on our V6's is the following:

- raising the compression - we do not know how it affects "knock" on different engine years and how it would affect the ignition mapping.
- raising the compression - we have no idea about what can be gained there, as we have no reports or dyno charts.
- camshaft - no flow numbers with different cams
- camshaft - no idea where the limit in change of VE (volumetric efficiency) is. Some cams are said to work with factory computer but, who knows?
- ECU - a built engine would need to be run on the dyno to get a proper mapping and ECU programming - this is expensive.

So, I would guess, yes, it is possible but with a lot of consideration and a grain of salt on the modifications that are possible. To get a modification on an engine to work properly one must address the ignition and injection.

My build thread has more information also on the considerations and information about what I found on the block, heads and innards.

https://blazerforum.com/forum/builds...ueprint-92047/

 

Rebuilding engine actually equals breaking the bank.If You calculate the parts, then double the price cause of machining work. Not to mention a spent time. You may consider getting another used engine (budget option) or a crate engine (the cost to a rebuild one is comparable).
I'd rather say, rebuilding makes sense for the engines of a great tuning value, like 2JZ, but the stock Vortec...? To be honest, for me, it hardly makes sense...

 

I don't know. I was faced with the dilemma of rebuild or replace once for my daily driver 73 chevelle. I was a teenager, and we needed it back on the road quick. We went with a gm goodwrench crate 350.

I wish we had gotten the original one rebuilt. Would have been a much better quality engine for the same, maybe a little more money.

I guess a 350 has more "tuning value," like you say, than the 4.3.

I just know I wasn't impressed with the quality or fit and finish of that cheap crate engine

 

I've called many of the "crate engine" re-builders and I'm not impressed. None of them replace the camshaft. None of them replace the pistons unless its necessary. Most of these places use the SAME valve springs...WTF? My engine has 165,000 miles on it, wouldn't dream of using those old parts on a new rebuild.

My parts list without machining is at $1500 for high quality all new parts that include new camshaft, lifters, valve springs, pistons, rings, bearings, high volume oil pump, high end gasket kits, etc. The only thing I wont replace are piston rods, crank and internal balancer and roller rockers.

I've read a lot of reviews of all the engine re-builders and its some scary stuff. A lot of these engines fail around the 5,000 mile mark. Gee, I wonder why? Lets see.........old camshafts, valve springs, old pistons that are most likely worn at some point....Cheap, Cheap, Piston rings and bearings not to mention most new parts they use are that cheap Chinese crap. I've seen complete engine re-build kits for $300. Heck my pistons alone are going to cost that.

I will re-build this myself along with a machine shop for around the $2500 mark, with very high quality internals.

I guess the old saying still stands: If you want it done right, do it yourself.

 

I see.
A crate may be an option if You want to get back on the road fast for another few more years.
On the other hand, if the machining costs are more or less the same[1] for every engine, I would aim re-working a solid base for the swap and future tuning But this would rather mean You are going to ride Your ride forever and ever Your choice.

I am signing with my both hands to the good, ole "if you want it done right, do it yourself". However, sometimes I have to bear in mind, that You "build a brewery to have a decent beer".

[1] Depending mostly on how many cylinders (=bores/valve seats/bearings) You have.