Hey! I want to rebuild my engine. I've been listening to it, and it'* making a clatter. I'm told it was rebuilt about 100K miles ago, but it may be that not all the parts were replaced.

Theoretically, all parts in an engine wear down evenly. If you replace some/most, the older stuff should wear down at a greater rate, supposedly. This is what I've been told. Maybe the previous owner didn't replace all of the engine'* parts, but I'm told the heads & cam were replaced at least.

I've been looking around at ZZP, and I've found "Aluminum roller rockers (Series 1 3800)."

I've read a little bit about this, and I was thinking of using this on my Series 1. Could I do that with LS1 springs and whichever pushrods would be best? I want to get a differently lobed cam, and various other things. I'm saving up, so please let me know throughout this thread all that I should buy.

Thanks!

I'm actually considering either a swap, a newer Series 2 Bonneville, or really upgrading my engine with an enormous rebuild. I like the rebuild idea, and after all, the car is freaking awesome. No reason to get rid of it.

In the valvetrain, the only components that are the same as the S2 are the lifters. Rockers, pushrods, springs, locks, retainers, valves, etc are all different.

I went with custom pushrods, but part of their length was dictated by the rockers and lifters I chose. I also carefully chose my springs with alot of investigation and math in order to account for the lifters and rockers, and also fix my old vavle-float problem at the top of 2nd and 3rd gears.

You have alot of homework ahead of you.

Thanks for the great comment. I figured I could use this to learn as much as possible before starting. Initially, of course, I'd like to know if it'* truly worthwhile. 1337ssei got a 14.6s 1/4mi, and he was extatic about it. However, he had a bunch of mods with a ZZP PCM and so on. I went on these forums, and then I found stock Series 1 cars pulling 15.1. There'* a ~2002 SLE that did a few mods - no supercharger - and got a 14.9.

These are really mixed results, I think. A 97 SSEi with an FWI, ported throttle body, 3.4" pulley, Flowmaster exhaust, etc. should have had a shorter-than-14.6 1/4mi if a slightly modded SLE 5 years newer tied but for .03s. Also, shouldn't Series 2 be faster? i'm aware that it needs to be, but if a stock Series 1 almost ties with 1337ssei'* 1/4mi, how many mods are necessary to go below 14.5? Also, I've read several people doing 13'* in a newer SSEi with fewer mods than 1337ssei has done.

All in all, do 3800s take a lot of money to move faster? The main reason I'm interested in a rebuild is because I was recently informed that Series 1 engines were overbuilt by a long shot, and they should be able to do quite a lot with pretty much no strength-oriented mods.

I too am considering an S2 once my hybrid engine takes a dump. Those engines are way more plentiful than the S1 and once swapped in, will ensure your car will be on the road for quite some time. But there are things to consider:

S1 engines, both L27 and L67, make their torque on the lowend of the scale. As such, that is what you are accustomed to. Going to an S2 shifts the powerband a bit. Overall, they are a better engine with an excellent aftermarket, but are a totally different animal when it comes to power.

No matter what you go with, if you need the car to run while the rebuild is going on, you should consider a core engine to rebuild first. That being said, you can start with either a supercharged or non-supercharged core. Follow curt martins build-up of his engine as it is a well-written guide to what goes into a buildup.

I'm probably going to buy a $100 beater or something while I'm working on the Bonneville.

wasn't curt'* motor a S2? aside from that it was an excellent write up and i've spent many hours reading his threads. the man knows what he'* doing.

i have to agree with sandrock here as well. you can find a motor in a salvage yard for a couple hundred dollars and rebuild that, while you drive your car. then when the new motor is finished, you call papa johns, hit the store for a few 18 packs, find your local BC members and swap the engines out. thats my plan.