[CadVetteStang]

I called a car lot about a 98 Eldo touring coupe. The lot owner drives this car home daily. He said after a few miles he discovered it had a blown head gasket and had it fixed with a local engine rebuilder. He said he had the repair bill of $2,500. He said he has put 1,000 miles on the car with no troubles and uses that shop regularly.

I called the shop to see what they do to fix the head gaskets for $2500. They said that they leave the engine in the car, pull the heads off, and re-drill the block to accept larger head bolts. He claims that the shop has done ten Northstars that way and none have returned. I asked him if there would be any difference in labor price if I bought a car needing gaskets and we went with head studs in stead. He said the labor would be the same, but I would need to find out what head studs would fit it. If I go that rout, anyone know what head stud to use? Would converting to studs help solve future head gasket problems by preventing reverse torque on the new inserts or will it hide potential in block stud corrosion problems by allowing seepage in some studs to go undetected in future H/G replacements?

I am new to the Northstar- I do not yet own one, but have always wanted a 95 up touring coupe as a daily driver and autocross racer. I have been told you cannot take the engine out from the top side, but someone said they did that with an STS. Is this shop nuts for doing the head job “in car”? Can I assume they use inserts and are not placing oversized bolts directly into a tapped aluminum hole?

I just now started learning about the cars and the head gasket problems. The shop that does those repairs does not think the Northstar is the right choice for me because I will be driving a 66 mile round trip seven days a week and do not have time to work on cars. They feel the Northstar is unreliable. However, I have seen several for sale with above 240,000 miles that have good running non-smoking engines. Those cars were at the price I could afford, but I don’t want to race a car with a quarter of million miles on it. I’m thinking of buying a nicer car with blown gaskets and using this shop to (or a mechanic friend) to perform this type of repair job if it will work. That will make hot rodding this car affordable (IF this shop can do a REAL fix for $2500, that means my mechanic can do the same thing for much less). I would then have about $3,000 TOTAL in the car total (minus wheels/tires, wing, and other racing goodies).

I don’t want to buy a car, use my entire budget, blow the gaskets and park it. I want to drive care free and blow away a few Mustangs and Trans Ams in autocross races--- NOT a few head gaskets. I want a motor strong enough I can put a mild performance cam in and drive for years.

I have the reliability I need NOW with my unfinished hot rod project: a 3680 lb. 1982 Eldorado with a TBI injected 472. I can overhaul that engine, put on some stiffer torsion bars, monster sway bars, and 17 X 9.5” Vette wheels, for less money than it would take to buy and repair a 95 up Touring coup, but I will get 5 MPGs less and will not look near as good (In my opinion). Should I build that car instead? Or How do I get the Northstar hold up? No one has yet answered the question about a later model engine swap. If I buy a 95 Elo ETC, can I eventually put a 2005 engine in it when the budget allows? It there enough room under the 95 Eldo hood to convert the car back to an old school forward mounted 500 on the side mounted FWD transmission?

Sorry for the long post…

Thanks,
Cody

P.S. I wish gas was still cheap enough I could drive my 1970 Eldorado. It was the coolest car ever built.