Mikelly Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 ...As some of you guys may know, I'm in the middle of swapping from a 1st Gen 383 stroker to a 3rd gen LS1. My 383 shortblock was finished yesterday, and I paid the $1250 bill and picked it up. EB3 had the crank checked/polished, and then went through the block, rebalanced the whole assembly, installing new file fit rings, main and rod bearings, and reinstalled the cam/crank, degreeing it all, buttoning up the timing chain/cover and balancer, then installing the pan and dip stick. When I was paying the bill, they offered to buy the shortblock from me for $2500. I'm trying to sell the complete motor elsewhere here and was going to put the longblock for sale on ebay/craigslist as well. But this seems like it would be painless, load it back up and take it back to them... What would you guys do? I've got the complete motor to finish putting back together (*gaskets and time is all) and everything would be buttoned up. I just don't know if it would be easier to sell an internally balanced and forged shortblock or add the roller valvetrain bits back to it, intake and accessories and see what I can get for it. Little bit confused at this point and I need this motor gone before I dive into finishing the LS1. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnewby Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 i would sell the short block to them, unless you know you could get more some where else. I would much rather by an engine from a machine shop than craigslist, I would pay alot more too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nullbound Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I would definitely sell the short block to them. It's getting harder these days to sell an sbc, regardless of the internals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emeraldlion Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Well, I was going to say sell them the shortblock, especially if there is anything to be made or break even. I would have loved to have bought your longblock, but in all honesty it was just too much engine for my needs, and out of budget range at this point. You may actually have an easier time selling the various gen 1 valvetrain/intake/ignition bits in piecemeal here than the whole package. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Is that $2500 sales price after you already paid them $1250 for their labor, or they cancel the $1250 charge and in addition pay $2500 for the shortblock? Regardless, as others have said, sell it and proceed with selling the top-end parts separately. Perhaps the same machine shop might be interested in those parts as well. But I thought that the complete Z, bumper to bumper, was for sale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted December 1, 2012 Author Share Posted December 1, 2012 MIchael, Thats price is after I've already paid the $1250 for the machineshop bill. I picked the motor up yesterday and paid for the work. The Datsun is no longer forsale. Hasn't been since late last spring. What's odd is I had several people interested in it at the price I was asking, but finally have the car to a state of performance that allows me to "see" the potential in what I've created. And yet I still can't seem to get a single lap in at "top" performance. Teething and such. You know how it goes... There's a reason I still am in love the Porsche! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Yeah, but anybody can go buy a Porsche. Only you and a few others on the planet can build a Datsun to the level you have. I'm torturing myself lately on whether to add nitrous to my car, but I've really enjoyed the fact that I've had NO trouble with it (other than a blown fuse) since I did my Ls swap (excluding a warped flywheel-which was all the driver's -me- fault). I could get faster easily, but at what reliability cost....setting the bar is the hardest thing to do, and you have set the bar VERY high. I wonder what Matt has spent this year on repairs/mods since his car was "completed?" We have a disease. Keep up the good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted December 1, 2012 Author Share Posted December 1, 2012 Yea but here's where that "Anybody can just buy a porsche" thing doesn't work... I go to driving events to DRIVE at a level that is beneficial to my skill development and to my "worth spending the money and time" to do it. With the Datsun, I haven't gotten that yet. I've caught a glimps at the potential. That's not going to keep my interest for more than next year. If 2013 doesn' reward me with GOOD, no GREAT track experiences, I will re-evaluate what I drive at the track in 2014. I don't know how much of his own work Matt does. But if he's stroking checks for all that work, then He's got well over $100K in that car. At that point, I'm driving something else for sure. You have to add in the cost of fees to do road race track days, the cost for hotels, consumables, towing, all that adds up. I spend $600 or more for a weekend at the track. And because I instruct, if my car breaks, I am still there, committed to my student. So that's the issue with "reliability." For a roadrace platform, it has to be reliable or it doesn't make sense to do it. You will spend large sums of cash and not get any appreciable track time in. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 (edited) It's the old debate about maximum performance vs. good-enough performance with reliability. If I were serious about having fun at the track, or eventually bootstrapping myself to a level where my "being competitive" is not some idly narcissistic boast (I am horribly inept at the track!), then I'd make the attempt with my Miata or M3 (my current "daily drivers"). The Datsun is a hobby, not a tool for excelling in competition. It will never be competitive in a class where it's fully legal, and will never have the dogged persistence that really makes the difference between having one glory-lap and finishing at the top. So if the goal is worry-free fun at the track, or comparatively worry-free success at the track, then something newer and less temperamental would be the better choice. At this point, some of our Datsuns have been with us in hybrid-mode for 10 years, maybe 20 or more. We started working on them in our 20s, and are now pushing middle age. Selling these cars, or even abandoning them in place, would profane our own histories. But an engine is just a component. As one is traded for another, performance may or may not increase, but the essence of the car endures. It’s just another aspect of multi-decade hobby-car ownership. Edited December 1, 2012 by Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted December 2, 2012 Author Share Posted December 2, 2012 Well I've decided to sell the shortblock back to the shop and move on. I'll provide a list of all the other parts I have related to the first gen chevy in a long and lengthy forsale ad after I get the shortblock dropped back with them this coming week. Michael, It all depends on what our individual goals are. Having done the SpecMiata thing, I know that's not for me. Having gone thru an M3 within the last year, I know that isn't for me either. So it'll be the Zcar, or I'll sell it and buy a proper racecar. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLave Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Mike, I don't know if you have already covered this and I missed it, if so I apologize, but what made you decide to abandon efforts and a first gen SBC in favor of the LS1? I mean to ask, what is so advantageous about a LS over you 383 that made you decided to go to such efforts to swap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zfan1 Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 I am going to take an educated guess at weight savings, close to 100 lbs and more power. Standard Sbc's make power thru 23 degree heads, Lsx's make power thru 15 degree heads with fuel injection to boot! Wasn't trying to be a smart ass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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