NEW MOTOR, Now what

97 blazer Ls 4 door 4x4

Its still in the air Jasper or GM long block but ither way im getting a new motor, and before it goes in i want to have everything i wanna do to it, in there. I was thinking of a cam, but i dont wanna play w/ the internals of a new motor, I was going to do the

1.6 roller tips
Hypertech III
High flow cat

im gonna reuse
Flowmaster muffler
Throttle body blade mod
Cold air intake
I have a throttle body spacer but i dont think it will go on

My big question is the rest of the exhaust. I want to get headers for it, considering that its the weakest point for the intake and exhaust that im doing. I have a 2" body lift on it. I herd that headers wont Fit. I saw an OBX pair on ebay, and some on summit racing. they all say they fit the 4.3 4x4 but ive saw in other fourms that, it may hit the steering shaft and i would have to notch the shock braket. Does any one know if i will have a porblem with them. And if any one has them how well they work? Also if there is anything else i could think of thats mild to make this new motor run strong, esp long.

No offense, but why are you getting a new engine for?

No offense, but why are you getting a new engine for?


none taken. I have a spun bearing in the bottom end. If i would decied to fix it with a crank kit (new crank and bearings) I would want to make sure the block is ok and the heads rebuilt. From what i understand to get everything ripped apart and everything checked over for cracks and warpage. If i would put a little more money into it. I would have a Jasper motor installed in a fraction of the time for a little bit more money. I havnt pulled the trigger on a new motor v/s rebuilding mine. Im taking everything in to consideration before i do.

Compare prices and see the difference.

Compare prices and see the difference.

Used motor with 66k on it, Installed - 1750.00 USD
Jasper motor Installed - 2900.00 USD
Rebuilding my motor With all the checking 1850.00 USD

The jasper is the only one that comes with a warrenty

I called a dealership about all 3 ideas, they said less headach to go with a used motor.

My only concern is the life of the car. I was on the fench between buying a smaller car (focus, neon) But id would rather fix my car. So it will HAVE to last me though school with out an major problems around 5 years. The tranny was rebuilt last year. so with taking care of that i should be okay. I dont wanna get a used motor it and it die on me in 3-4 years and be SOL. for me to pay a little more money now, and not have the headach of dealing with it ever again is ok by me

The thing is, you never know what you will get with the used motor.

when they are rebuilding it, are they rehoning the cylinders or just the crank and slapping it all back together?

The thing is, you never know what you will get with the used motor.

when they are rebuilding it, are they rehoning the cylinders or just the crank and slapping it all back together?

I got ahold of two shops that bebuild, They actually told me they do a shitty job rebuilding motors. They just slap it together. No magnaflux, heat crack checking, honing nothing. I wasnt gonna go though that BS and have it last me 3 months. I pulled the tirgger on a JASPER motor 4 year 75000 mile warrenty if anything goes wrong they take care of parts and labor. Even if its gonna cost me a little more money. Ill be able to sleep a little better about it. As of upgrades im gonna do a full syentic oil and just a hypertech for now

I think that I would always prefer to r&r the same engine (unless changing specs or size) and taking the time to rebuild the existing engine with known problems and all the holes, accesories,options are all there so there's no mistake.

I don't know how these 4.3 are, but typically there are many versions of chevys,buicks, ect. engine shops sometimes do not even keep them straight.

I think that I would always prefer to r&r the same engine (unless changing specs or size) and taking the time to rebuild the existing engine with known problems and all the holes, accesories,options are all there so there's no mistake.

I don't know how these 4.3 are, but typically there are many versions of chevys,buicks, ect. engine shops sometimes do not even keep them straight.

I wouldn't for the same money. I would get a new engine with a new warranty and be done with it.

Why wait two weeks when it can be done in a couple days for the same price. When you add up the costs of the parts and labor and rehoning and resetting everything properly, you will actually have a larger bill.

I have a jasper engine in my blazer. Im very satisfied I have had absolutely no trouble with it.

I wouldn't for the same money. I would get a new engine with a new warranty and be done with it.

Why wait two weeks when it can be done in a couple days for the same price. When you add up the costs of the parts and labor and rehoning and resetting everything properly, you will actually have a larger bill.

Yes, brand new would be an excellent choice, far better than a "rebuilt" or a "remanned" if it was comparable cost.

Yes, brand new would be an excellent choice, far better than a "rebuilt" or a "remanned" if it was comparable cost.

True, rebuilt engine are so prone to problems and I have yet to see one example of a rebuilt engine that was redone properly and problem-free.

I would expect any rebuilder to get away with as little cost as possible when rebuilding engines, anything that is reuseable adds to profit but can cause problems later if out of spec. The key to making money and having no service problems is experience in knowing what to get away with and has a lot to do with the application. At least a new one should be within specs. I tend to do thing way different than the average builder but have always purpose built engines for a specific app. Getting feedback over years and miles helps a lot.

I got ahold of two shops that bebuild, They actually told me they do a shitty job rebuilding motors. They just slap it together. No magnaflux, heat crack checking, honing nothing. I wasnt gonna go though that BS and have it last me 3 months. I pulled the tirgger on a JASPER motor 4 year 75000 mile warrenty if anything goes wrong they take care of parts and labor. Even if its gonna cost me a little more money. Ill be able to sleep a little better about it. As of upgrades im gonna do a full syentic oil and just a hypertech for now

I don't know how Jasper is but the last engine I got was through NAPA. They had Jasper but the guy I was getting to put it liked these engines better. What I was getting around to I was going to do the swap myself but the warranty is no good unless it is installed by an approved installer. So you might need to check the fine print with Jasper.

I would expect any rebuilder to get away with as little cost as possible when rebuilding engines, anything that is reuseable adds to profit but can cause problems later if out of spec. The key to making money and having no service problems is experience in knowing what to get away with and has a lot to do with the application. At least a new one should be within specs. I tend to do thing way different than the average builder but have always purpose built engines for a specific app. Getting feedback over years and miles helps a lot.

Sears and Roebucks or Sears as everyone knows them today use to sell engines back in the '60-'70. You could order them out of the catalog. I rebuilt one of these engines one time a Ford 312 truck and what I found was amazing. On the crank two of the mains had been turned one rod one size two another size and here is the boom it had one .030 over piston on the left side. They only fixed what needed fixed and shipped 'em out.

Haha, that pretty good. Of course I'VE NEVER done anything like that.

Reminds me of 2 different shops in the same town that to a customer looked identical.

I knew what each one did to the engines and needless to say I would buy an engine from the shop that made the least amount of money, if you know what I mean.

...I have yet to see one example of a rebuilt engine that was redone properly and problem-free.

I rebuilt my 4.3L almost 2 years ago, properly and problem free for 20,000 miles now.

If you install new or rebuild it yourself MAKE SURE YOU FLUSH OUT THE OIL-COOLER LINES, OIL FILTER HOUSING AND THE OIL COOLER ITSELF. THERE WILL BE METAL PARTICLES FROM YOUR SPUN BEARING HIDING IN THERE, AND YOU DON'T WANT THEM IN YOUR NEW MOTOR.

All my rebuilt engines have been fine.

Execptions are ones that were purposely built "IFFY" or close to the limits of destruction and were expected to fail, just wanted to test the limits or see how long one may last. Those ones are the most fun though.

All my rebuilt engines have been fine.

Execptions are ones that were purposely built "IFFY" or close to the limits of destruction and were expected to fail, just wanted to test the limits or see how long one may last. Those ones are the most fun though.
Never built a "IFFY" motor before.

I've built grossely overbored chevies, ultra high compression gas engines, cast piston blower engines, v-12 with 12 "big" sleeves, spacers between heads and blocks with multiple gaskets, long rubber band sroker cranks, ultra low compression dsl engine, Many many pistons turned down the center for lower compression , Thinned out piston tops, Offset piston pins, knurled pistons, too much clearance, too litle clearance, purposely mild camshafts.

Pretty much only successful ones were the grossly overbored chevies.

I've heard of some wild stories too with sroker cranks, 200 mph driveshafts out of old exhaust pipes, lots of crazy stuff.

I've heard of some wild stories too with sroker cranks, 200 mph driveshafts out of old exhaust pipes, lots of crazy stuff.

:eek: Come again?

"un-named for privacy" had cranks that the rod pin was hanging out beyond the sides of the crank with negative rod/main journal overlap. He's also the same one that I heard stories about scrounging thru junkyard to find exhaust pipe for drive shaft, welded yokes onto it and proceeded to go out and run 200 mph with it.

Anybody who knows him probably has heard many crazy stories and knows exacly who I'm talking about.

I forgot , those cranks had two full rows of mallory metal in them. I wondered how they ever stayed together, in fact I think I remember a number of broken ones.

I suppose if you need just 1 run, pull or race to stay together and win then who care if it breaks? lol.

I've built grossely overbored chevies, ultra high compression gas engines, cast piston blower engines, v-12 with 12 "big" sleeves, spacers between heads and blocks with multiple gaskets, long rubber band sroker cranks, ultra low compression dsl engine, Many many pistons turned down the center for lower compression , Thinned out piston tops, Offset piston pins, knurled pistons, too much clearance, too litle clearance, purposely mild camshafts.

Pretty much only successful ones were the grossly overbored chevies.

I've heard of some wild stories too with sroker cranks, 200 mph driveshafts out of old exhaust pipes, lots of crazy stuff.
I use to do some crazy stuff to chain saw motors and 5 HP Briggs&Straton engines to go on go carts and run them on alcohol sometimes the kind you drink. We tried to put propane injection on a diesel tractor damn near blew our selfs up and the tractor so I don't do no "IFFY" things much any more.

My local GM dealer had a reman GM 4.3 for 1790.00 +250.00 core. Came with a 3yr 100K warranty. I also bought the installation kit (all gaskets, seals, timing cover) and all new sensors (including EGR) for another 600.00.

The thing that scared me was warranty on a self install. 1000 miles after install found that the timing (CAM retard) was off 17 degrees. Pulled it into a dealership, game them by bill of sale and they pulled and replaced the engine....no $$. Even gave me a loaner car for the week (although it was a purple lumina).


Mike

Wow, you have a good local dealer.

The only parts that Jasper re-uses is the block, crank, heads, cam, rods, pan and timing cover. All cylinders get honed and deck surface of the block and heads get milled, the heads get wet-fluxed and the block gets magna-fluxed, the crank gets turned and polished along with the cam and a new valve train except for the retainers and rockers and studs. I've been working there for 6 1/2 years and we rarely have problems with the 4.3's coming back. Quality is our #2 priority behind safety.

If you had the time I would rebuild from the bottom up.
Have the heads done, roller rockers. Forges pistons the whole nine.

Rather than have some one else do it buying the new engine is the way to go.
Then you can go to the manufacturer if you have a problem.

Cheaper to usually get a Jasper.

When you do all the work they do in separate shops, more than likely it will cost more for the same work being done.

And you know they do it properly seeing they do one helluva lot of the same engine at one time. It isn't a differenet engien everyday like some other small rebuilding places.

Well other than machine shop work it can all be done in the garage.

But the main thing is I would replace basically everything, wheras Jasper saves money by not replacing everything. They can gamble with the warranty and how long the old parts would last. I would rather have a better than stock engine. If you can get 200k out of GM's engine, how many could you get out of your own?

Although odd, I would trust Jasper rather than the small shops around here.

:iagree:
At least you know Jasper will be there to honor the warranty if something goes wrong where as the small shop might have folded his tent and moved to the next state or gone bankrupt or out of business.

I myself have had two jasper engines. both remans. one is great and I still have it today. the other had so many mistakes that it is rediculous. three different main bearing sizes, four bore sizes, mistorqued head and rod bolts, it was just plain junk. so what ever your choice DO NOT BUY A REMAN FROM JASPER!!!

I myself have had two jasper engines. both remans. one is great and I still have it today. the other had so many mistakes that it is rediculous. three different main bearing sizes, four bore sizes, mistorqued head and rod bolts, it was just plain junk. so what ever your choice DO NOT BUY A REMAN FROM JASPER!!!

Oh give me a break. How about you over react a bit.

You just said the one engine ran fine and because the other doesn't we should all avoid them.

Don't you think that is a bit weird......