So I finally got some time off work to go look at everything thats being done. It was like christmas all over. Parts attached to different machines, new parts on a shelf mmmm. I got new pictures of some of it and I'll post them in a few minutes. You'll see the new teflon coated pistons with a 0.020 overbore, very nice. We also got some new chromemoly piston rings that are a little thinner than oem but provide the same control with less friction = more power! You'll also see the block hooked up being bored out, 1 cyl already done. There was a little play in the valve guides so we used some bronze valve guides and he'* working on the sizing right now. The heads are setup and ready for the valves to be hogged out and hardened valve seats to go in. I'm loving this. The crank was also cleaned up and the bearings freshened up. Still on standby about the rod bolts but its not being put back together without them being replaced, at LEAST with fresh OEM. The rods are the next to be machined, make em a little stronger. After that the whole assembly is being balanced and set to the side. Still need to port match the heads and I'll post before and after pictures of that when its done. I went to the money tree out back and picked a few more bills so I might go further with the transmission and a few other things for the engine...or I'll be smart and save it for things like the alternator thats not doing great and the new power steering pump I need, we'll see. Check out the pics!

And so the big numbers start rolling in...I dropped the trans off yesterday to get an estimate on beefing it up "a little". I get a call today and he tells me to sit down before he explains. He'* saying he can get beefed up parts from down south that include:

hardened drum
updated clutch spring
updated valve body parts
updated electronics (the ones in there are very outdated...?)
updated low and fourth gear clutch
new low stall converter

And I found out shift kits aren't available because the updated parts give a firmer shift.
This plus the basic overhaul plus time involved brings it to a grand total of $2146. Nooo nooo nooo thats not happening. I told him to back off of a few parts and gimme a call back when he has it in the $1000-1200 range. I'm thinking the stock trans held up for 10 years so if it holds up another 2-3years after a basic rebuild + a little it'll give me plenty of time to completely replace the trans with a newer one..... Ok really I just wanna spend that money on the engine rather than the trans, I can do it but I'd rather have a new cryo2 intake . So I'm thinking (hoping) the trans will hold up to the power and I'll replace it at a later date. Thats whats up now

Dr Jay..this is going to be one hell of a monster when its done...if it is ever done

Haha yeah well progress is steady now that I don't have to do work on it after my job, its all at a shop . Ahh its nice being lazy haha. I did make the mistake of telling the shop guy that I'm not in a rush but on the other hand I wouldn't want him to rush anyway. Really all thats left is boring out the rest of the cylinders, hogging out the valves and installing hardened valve seats, port matching, balancing, and reassembly. Durring that the trans should be betting rebuilt. Its only one guy and other projects keep comming in so he'* got to share his time. Lucky for me he just finished 2 of them so that leaves me and another guy so it should start moving a little quicker. I'm going to talk to him tomorrow and find out when he thinks he'll be done and I'll post here. We should have a meet up here in WA so you guys can test drive it. haha

What sorta gains do you think that you will be looking at when everything is said and done? Are you gonna dyno?

From the hogged out valves, port matched everything, smaller sc pulley, bored 0.020 over, balanced assembly, valve job, nitrous, msd dis-4, jet stage 2 and the rest of the junk I can't think of I'm looking for around 400hp with the juice. Thats been my magic number since around the beginning. I'm going to get a few dyno pulls in but that'll be after the engine is back in the car and broke in and I feel safe slapping the nitrous.

Dr Jay.... have you kept track of your spending on this "little" project?

If so, what are you @ right now, and how much more do you plan to spend?

Also, any idea on man hours? hehe :P

Dr Jay took out a mortgage for his car... :P

Just kidding man, your work has been top notch

Yeah I actually kept really good track of spending. Some of the dates are rough estimates because my comp crashed and took the original list with it but the prices are either exact or within a buck or two. Take a look:

Need: From: Cost:
Transmission ? $1000-1400
Replace engine Locally $400-600


Ordered: From: Cost: Date:
Jet stage 2 chip www.jet-chip.com $200 01 may
Supercharger oil and coupler www.zzperformance.com $50 01 may
Engine overhaul gasket set www.Gmpartsdirect.com $115 01 may
Supercharger www.Canadiansupercharger.com $500 14 may
Trans Master rebuild kit www.Bulkpart.com $106.89 23 may
Trans mount/Water pump www.gmpartsdirect.com $145.90 23 may
Rebuilt fuel injector www.injector.com $160 approx. 21 may
MSD DIS-4 Ignition www.summitracing.com $330 01 may
MSD 8.5MM Universal wires www.summitracing.com $73 02 may
MSD Coil Packs www.summitracing.com $120 02 may
MSD Coil Interface www.summitracing.com $80.85 12 may
NGK TR6 plugs www.ngksparkplugs.com $15 approx. 12 may
APC CAI Locally $35 01 apr
DEI Exhaust Wrap Locally $27 01 apr
160deg Thermostat www.zzperformance.com $12 01 apr
Switch & Wire for fans Locally $10 01 apr
Zex Nitrous Locally $600 01 apr
12" MTX Subs www.cartoys.com $80 01 apr
8" JL Subs & x-over & 260w amp Locally $150 01 apr
Power cable assembly for amps Locally $60 01 apr
Replacement piston rings Locally $210 01 apr
2.2" Black supercharger pulley www.pulleyboys.com $103.36 23 may


Misc:

Engine pulled Locally $200
Machine work + rebuild parts Locally $1300 (as of date)
PN 24501530 Locally $6.50 (broke durring removal)


Comes to a total of $4,690.50. But all thats without the $100-150 in tools and bunches of other things. I also didn't add in the "Need" category up top so you can get an idea on where this is going to go. Plus the machine work is estimated to go up to $1500 and thats if I don't decide I want something else done. The highest I would let this get is about $7000 and thats with it being cherry. There is probably a few things I don't have listed but for a while I was getting 2-3 packages a day and working long hours so I didn't get to putting them all in here. Total time invested isn't all that much if you consider what all is being done. I helped remove the engine which took 6 hours, then taking the engine apart took about another 6hours (I stopped a lot), then cleaning and painting was another 2 hours. Really thats about all I've invested myself. Of course I go down to the shop when I can to check on the progress but I can't take credit for much of the work being done down there even though I'm there for a few hours. I'd like to do it all myself but I simply don't have the time. I know someone out there is screaming that I'm an idiot for spending that much money when I could have got a big v-8 or gotten way better performance from a different engine. I refer you back to the beginning of this post. Lots of people have benefited from this. When I started I knew the engine made the car move (ok I knew more but not about bonnevilles), now I can answer tons of questions and have links for almost anything you can think of. So basically YOU BASTARDS OWE ME MONEY! haha

To drive Dr. Jays car you must be