Figure within 6months, give or take, i would like to upgrade from my ZZ4 engine.
Reason being, after doing the very first oil change when i first got the malibu back in september2021, i was greeted with a slight amount of goldish lQQking bearing material in the old oil, typicaly either from the mains or rod bearings and fine silver like glitter(aluminum?) from the oil filter. I have changed the oil at least twice since then, same amount of bearing material persists, other than that, the engine is sound, nothing out of the ordinary while running, just some light pinging off and on, probably the bearings were beat to death even before i bought the car from the previous owner, again, i have no history on the entire driveline.
But i will not really know from where exactly untill the engine is removed, taken apart and inspected, i wouldnt mind just getting another brand new ZZ4 short block, i'll just need to have the L98(10088113/non fast burn) corvette aluminum heads cleaned up and inspected, along with the roller cam and lifters being checked out, have the intake cleaned and reused, new 8" balancer, new 153 tooth flexpalte, new lifter pushrods and new 1.52 ratio roller tipped comp cams rocker arms instead of the 1.5 ratio stamped steel originals just to give the engine alittle more stability and perhaps a pinch more horses to play with, but sadly, the short block is no longer available.
I didnt want to go with a crate engine that had to be shipped from out of state, just in case i had emmidiate issues with or later on to try and send back for replacement or repair. So i decided go with a SMEDING Performance and their 383cid long block(420HP), based in BOERNE, TX, just 30miles away from where i live. All brand new parts, thicker block casting, priority oiling(mains first), not mentioned in advert, that additional info was mentioned when i visited the place. I'll just need to get an intake, flexplate, new valve covers, new headers, for the set im currently using is the possible "D" port design due to the ZZ4 head exhaust port. Figure i'll reuse my Holley SA 770cfm carburetor, Progression Ignition HEI distributor and passenger side oil dipstick, notice the 420HP cam is almost similar to the LT4 Hot Cam, and not sure if my 700R4 is going to put up with the added grunt without a good rebuild.
SMEDING 383cid - https://smedingperformance.com/coll...roducts/383-long-block?variant=11963797569572
Any thoughts?
Reason being, after doing the very first oil change when i first got the malibu back in september2021, i was greeted with a slight amount of goldish lQQking bearing material in the old oil, typicaly either from the mains or rod bearings and fine silver like glitter(aluminum?) from the oil filter. I have changed the oil at least twice since then, same amount of bearing material persists, other than that, the engine is sound, nothing out of the ordinary while running, just some light pinging off and on, probably the bearings were beat to death even before i bought the car from the previous owner, again, i have no history on the entire driveline.
But i will not really know from where exactly untill the engine is removed, taken apart and inspected, i wouldnt mind just getting another brand new ZZ4 short block, i'll just need to have the L98(10088113/non fast burn) corvette aluminum heads cleaned up and inspected, along with the roller cam and lifters being checked out, have the intake cleaned and reused, new 8" balancer, new 153 tooth flexpalte, new lifter pushrods and new 1.52 ratio roller tipped comp cams rocker arms instead of the 1.5 ratio stamped steel originals just to give the engine alittle more stability and perhaps a pinch more horses to play with, but sadly, the short block is no longer available.
I didnt want to go with a crate engine that had to be shipped from out of state, just in case i had emmidiate issues with or later on to try and send back for replacement or repair. So i decided go with a SMEDING Performance and their 383cid long block(420HP), based in BOERNE, TX, just 30miles away from where i live. All brand new parts, thicker block casting, priority oiling(mains first), not mentioned in advert, that additional info was mentioned when i visited the place. I'll just need to get an intake, flexplate, new valve covers, new headers, for the set im currently using is the possible "D" port design due to the ZZ4 head exhaust port. Figure i'll reuse my Holley SA 770cfm carburetor, Progression Ignition HEI distributor and passenger side oil dipstick, notice the 420HP cam is almost similar to the LT4 Hot Cam, and not sure if my 700R4 is going to put up with the added grunt without a good rebuild.
SMEDING 383cid - https://smedingperformance.com/coll...roducts/383-long-block?variant=11963797569572
Any thoughts?