OIB63 Posted December 22, 2018 Share Posted December 22, 2018 (edited) Looking for recommendations. Looking for a shop that can pull the engine and trans and rebuild them. I am located near Philadelphia and will to travel up to 1000 miles if required. Edited December 22, 2018 by OIB63 Mistake (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted December 22, 2018 Share Posted December 22, 2018 Look for Telriv (Tom Telesco) in the forum. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted December 22, 2018 Share Posted December 22, 2018 59 minutes ago, OIB63 said: Looking for recommendations. Looking for a shop that can pull the engine and trans and rebuild them. I am located near Philadelphia and will to travel up to 1000 miles if required. Whats wrong with them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 3 hours ago, Bill Stoneberg said: Look for Telriv (Tom Telesco) in the forum. I will 2nd the motion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OIB63 Posted December 23, 2018 Author Share Posted December 23, 2018 4 hours ago, JohnD1956 said: Whats wrong with them? They just have a 120k miles on them and want to refresh them so I can drive anywhere I want without concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 Well, you should do what makes you comfortable. But if you take a look around these forums, I believe you'll find numerous people who drive their cars all across the country. And many of these vehicles have many more miles on them than 120K. I mean with some preventative steps you may find that the original engine in your Buick can go many more miles without the expense and risk of a rebuild. Things like a new timing chain, and some gaskets could allow your original engine to perform reliably for many more miles. Whereas a rebuild of an engine seems to run $5,000 or more, and the rebuild of a Dynaflow seems to be likewise expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 2 hours ago, JohnD1956 said: Well, you should do what makes you comfortable. But if you take a look around these forums, I believe you'll find numerous people who drive their cars all across the country. And many of these vehicles have many more miles on them than 120K. I mean with some preventative steps you may find that the original engine in your Buick can go many more miles without the expense and risk of a rebuild. Things like a new timing chain, and some gaskets could allow your original engine to perform reliably for many more miles. Whereas a rebuild of an engine seems to run $5,000 or more, and the rebuild of a Dynaflow seems to be likewise expensive. It's a wise move to go for the rebuild now. At 120,000 miles many parts can be salvaged and used for another 120K. Perhaps just rings, and bearings but your still miles ahead rather than having a catastrophic disaster. Here's the fortunate thing. The 64 Riviera has the ST400 transmission, NOT the Dynaflow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 (edited) 8 hours ago, OIB63 said: They just have a 120k miles on them and want to refresh them so I can drive anywhere I want without concern. I agree on doing the preventive repairs items like timing chain, etc. If it is not burning oil, making noises, this is the route that I would go. To do an engine rebuild, it is easy to spend about $1,000.00/hole(cylinder) depending on the work done. Might be less. It depends on what the condition of the engine is and where it is located. Edited December 23, 2018 by Larry Schramm (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 I agree with the $1,000 per hole when you look at the total job. It is easy to spend. The risk of getting a good running car back without problems is a greater concern. If you had a compelling argument for an engine and transmission rebuild I could see it. As always, a good compression test, both hot and cold, would be a minimum. Then there are quite a few checks and tests from there. For an example, about a year ago I bought a 15 year old V12 BMW with an N73 engine. The engine is aluminum, has a steel water pipe internally, four cams, 48 valves with seals, variable timing on all cams, a link chain driven oil pump, direct injection with deeply hidden injectors and spark plugs. And a scary enough reputation to make them quite affordable. I just spent $70 on a Stant cooling system test adapter that I will use twice a year to check the system integrity. Some would say, oh, at XXXXXX number of miles it needs seals and a water pipe. I prefer testing like I do on the other cars. When the results conclusively identify a problem I will do the big jobs. I do fix things that aren't broken. Those are minor consumables. If you can drive a car 10 miles and return without problem you should be able to drive anywhere without concern. A 20 mile round trip brings all the operating systems into full use. Also, don't underestimate small issues. I had a small, untenable skip on one cylinder of my '64 Riviera that I didn't pursue. The compression was slightly low, but not much. If I had just pulled the head, not a big job, I probably would have seen the crack in the piston..... before my Daughter put it in the oil pan. Bernie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrlforfun Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 (edited) OK OIB: When I had my car lot I'd tell my customers a few things. First, if you knew what went into a hot dog you may never even want to see one again. The other? If I had a crystal ball we wouldn't be here having this conversation. 1. Just because everything is new doesn't mean it won't break down. If you had 50 64 Rivs in your fleet that were in daily service and the motors were rebuilt vs the motors not rebuilt you'd have some scientific data, otherwise you're only flyin' on your feeling of fear that you're gonna break down in the worst and most dangerous place under the worst conditions. 2. Everything new or rebuilt is NO guarantee you are gonna not break down or be trouble free. Refer to my crystal ball comment. 3. If I were going to have a shop do work I'd choose a local one. If it needs to go back you're local and not 500 + miles away. 4. The forum's consensus is to perhaps check on a few things that ACTUALLY lower odds like belts, hoses cooling system service, etc. 5. If you love the car and don't care about spending 20 grand rebuilding everything....it is your dough, and your fear that is propelling you. 6. Trippple A is a cheap and excellent investment. Being on the road with these old heaps and having Plan B makes every trip much more enjoyable. Mitch Edited December 23, 2018 by lrlforfun (see edit history) 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OIB63 Posted December 23, 2018 Author Share Posted December 23, 2018 Thank you all for your responses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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