cost of reconditioning ?

[govich]

hey guys, at the moment i drive a S2 VN and was just wondering if anyone knew approximately what it costs to get the 3.8 V6 reconditioned? i'm about to go and ask around but has anyone had this done? does it have a noticeable improvement on power etc? my car has done 202000kms and still goes fine..except i'd like it to keep going for a while yet

cheers guys

 

[BagEmUp]

ur probly better of getting a second hand supercharged factory unit........dont know prices thou hehe.........

 

[ViperVp]

me and my dad re-co my engine in my old Vc... It was about 150$ for parts can't see the vn being much more $$$, unless u get someone else to do it. then its gonna be big bucks.

 

[Ultima RB]

My stock S1 VN has 315 000km's and still drives fine. I'm not going to re build it till it stops working. I don't see the point in rebuilding it unless you want to drag race or just have too much money and time on your hands.
So long as you keep up the maintenance you should easy get another 5 years out of the engine. Other parts will probably fail before the engine does. Unless you drive in 1st gear on the highway. In other words, I would worry about it. A reconditioned engine swap costs about $2000. So I imagine a rebuild yourself would cost about half that or less.

 

[vkberlina]

I wouldnt bother unless theres a problem with the engine or your chasing HP.

If you do go the rebuild route, do it yourself pretty much all the HM gem rebuilds etc are 60thou oversize pistons, reground cam, 10though off the crank and slapped together.
I have had a performance engine built by repco and I would never have another one build, it was supposed to be blue printed but someone forgot to check valve clearances and the motor self destructed.

If you want a good engine build it yourself, bore out about 40thou max, get the bottom end balenced and machine the crank if required. Buy a new cam, when you strip the heads if you want a bit more power, port match the inlet and exhaust ports to their respective manifolds, if your chasing even more get the heads machined out to allow for bigger valves, when you get the valve seats & guides replaced. Also dont skimp on bearings, the builk reco places just use cheap crap the ACL race series bearings are tops from memory you would be up for around $400ish for an ACL race series rebuild kit, that gives your bearings, gaskets, rings etc.
There are more things but thats the basics, I would say you would be up for around $3000-$4000ish for a good rebuild that will last and be a good engine.

This should work but I dont know the differences between different model V6s, you could go out and buy a low km second hand later model V6 from a wreakers, strip off the injection, bolt yours onto it and run it in your car.

 

[Jeff]

If it's still going fine don't touch it. If it needs reconditioning as the others said do it yourself or get a good wrecker engine.
If you want to chase more power then a good rebuid is the starting point but make sure you find someone who knows what you want to achieve and knows how to do it -not one of the companies that just does 'stock' exchange rebuilds. This won't come cheap -maybe $2k to $3k, or more, for a sound motor with good internals, including cam.
Then you can look at heads, manifold, exhaust, throttle body, injectors, chip, turbo or supercharger etc. etc. The list is endless and the cost quickly skyrockets.
Also consider a V8 conversion. It could be more bang for buck, keeps things basically standard and the insurance company will only hate you a little bit.
Jeff

 

[chevy_big_block_bro]

what is the go with V8 conversion, i have a 5 speed 3.8 VN. is it just a rip out and drop in job or do i need all the engineers reports

 

[vkberlina]

Its pretty much a bolt in swap for you, If you buy a VN 5L you keep the same fuebox, just unplug your V6 engine harness, pull out the V6 & 5 speed, drop in the 5L & V8 box and your sweet, the V8 harness will plug into your fusebox.

The V6 gearbox mount should work for the V8 box, you may need to play a bit with your tailshaft, I used my VK V8 one just with the T5 yoke on it. You will also need new front springs.

You _shouldnt_ need an engineers report as the model came out with a EFI 5L. Bet all the same wouldnt cost much for the engineers report.

cheers
Scott

 

[jNINE]

I'm doing the same thing to my VR. I bought a second-hand engine for $500 to reco. My other half is an engine builder so he is doing the labour (including portwork etc) and I'm just paying for the parts @ trade.

So far it has cost me $6 for each valve-stem sleeve and $17 each for lifters. The block should be around $50ish for an acid-dip. There is also the rebuild kit which we only have one price - an expensive $370 but we should get something better than that. We are also getting a custom cam grind.

Labour will be your biggest killer!!!! It took about 30hrs to do the heads alone.