I'd just suggest doing some searching on various 3800 forums before you do. There seems to be an abnormally high number of failures soon after a rebuild (generally spun bearings). Lots of speculation as to the reasons why (personally I think its shops cutting corners and either not resizing rods or not line honing the mains). You'd just hate to turn a good functioning engine into a paperweight in search of more longevity.

 

I did some research like you said and it didn't take long to find discussions and questions as to why the high failure rate after a rebuild on the engine. So based on your and Wht02monte recommendations I'm going to skip the engine rebuild and have the oil leak fixed. I'll have the oil pan gasket replaced and any other gaskets you would recommend replacing that would need the engine removed to do it. The money I was planning to use on the rebuild could go towards the transmission, new radiator, tires, struts, and the front passenger side floor pan replacement.
Thank you for your help.

 

Sounds like youre in for one heck of a project!

Good luck with it, should be really nice when you get everything in.

 

Thanks and yes the car does need a whole lot of work. Besides the oil leak the engine runs good without any abnormal noises that would cause concern. Especially the electrical part of the car needs some attention as well. The previous owner installed an aftermarket stereo and the wires are all cut up so I have to trace the and try to get rid of all the wires that were added to the car.

 

I feel your pain on that one. Used to do car audio back in college and we came across all kinds of messes from less than qualified installers. All to save a few bucks on a proper adapter that could be easily removed later.

 

Exactly, I've installed a few car stereos myself and it's so much better to get the adapter. Very easy cheap to buy and wire that to the stereo. I think something in the wiring job he did is causing my issue with the car not starting at times as if the battery is dead but the battery is good. It did it on Monday when I got to work. I turned it off grabbed my things to head over the road and I went to go move it to a different parking spot and nothing. This time absolutely nothing. No lights on the dash just dead. I'm hopping that when I get back September 2nd that it will start. I'll upload some pictures here so you can see the wires. On top of that the stereo wasn't even working lol.

 

I skimmed this thread. Happy to see a full engine rebuild is being passed and instead some maintenance/TLC. On Facebook, a lot of people are posting 300-400k miles on stock engines with little done. I actually bought a 2nd Monte with over 200k miles on it (granted, I bought it for a rare part that was in it). But I did a lot of work with it, including a new oil pan gasket that ALSO turned into a full oil pan replacement. Link to the thread is below with a LOT of stuff. Now, having gone through the oil pan topic. Some things I will share (and are in that thread). The factory pan is double lined steel. I was not planning to replace the pan originally but I found holes in the first layer. The replacement I pan I got did not use the same size factory drain plug (I regret I did not notice that) and I actually replaced with a better plug because I felt the one that came with the pan I got had a shallow head asking for problems with sockets (I could be wrong). And it was single lined steel. I know other manufactures use the same as factory drain plug, but I wonder if others are double steel like OEM.

Having gone through this, if I had it to do over again, I *MIGHT* consider changing to the Series III aluminum pan. I believe I have read it is a direct swap BUT you might need the oil pick up tube from a Series III engine.

Some food for thought.

https://montecarloforum.com/forum/sh...k-monte-62826/

 

Thank you Maniac. I will be updating the factory pan now as well now that you've shared what you found in yours.
Definitely wouldn't want the second layer crud making its way into the engine.

 

Maniac, I just read through your
Some food for thought thread
https://montecarloforum.com/forum/sh...k-monte-62826/
and wow. You're a full fledge mechanic and great work.
I have a parts list going for when I get the tranny from triple edge performance. One thing I'm wondering why they only offer a 12 Month / 15K mile warranty. If there's an option to purchase an extended warranty I will most likely go with that.
But based on your thread here's what I got going so far.
1- Updated aluminum upper and lower intake manifold gaskets
2- Radiator and hoses
3- Thermostat
4- Exhaust manifold gasket
5- Motor mounts
6- Transmission mount
7- GM oil pan
8- Valve stem seals
9- Valve covers
Thanks again for sharing your work and knowledge.