Complete 86-87 109 longblock assembly from Autozone for under $2k

[TURBOPOWERED68]

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me too.

 

[Waco84GN]

I will look into it...

I am a parts sales manager at an Autozone in the Austin, TX area and will call Surefire themselves and ask the questions like what the compression ratio is, rolled fillet crank, correct stock cam, turbo drain hole, what the casting number on the heads are, etc. I hope someone on their end knows what they are talking about. Most of those engines arrive at the stores within 5 working days as well. It might be an engine that is only available through Autozone online though as it may not appear on the in store parts computer.

The next time I work is tomorrow and I'll check it out then.

Jerry

 

[Project TNX]

I am a parts sales manager at an Autozone in the Austin, TX area and will call Surefire themselves and ask the questions like what the compression ratio is, rolled fillet crank, correct stock cam, turbo drain hole, what the casting number on the heads are, etc. I hope someone on their end knows what they are talking about. Most of those engines arrive at the stores within 5 working days as well. It might be an engine that is only available through Autozone online though as it may not appear on the in store parts computer.

The next time I work is tomorrow and I'll check it out then.

Jerry

Cool, I'd probably buy one next year, just to have around, if it checks out.

 

[Boost231]

sweet please let us know what you find out

 

[Grumpy]

.040 pistons ... cheap cam and lifters ..NA crank ... thats all I could see without getting into it

 

[Boost231]

.040 pistons ... cheap cam and lifters ..NA crank ... thats all I could see without getting into it

35+ pounds of boost and lots of free motors. better get a engine hoist.

 

[Grumpy]

35+ pounds of boost and lots of free motors. better get a engine hoist.

both car would have been lucky to run 15s ran decent as a DD with no balls

 

[ULOSE2A6]

Sure would be great to know about the "real" details from Surefire directly. Let us know what you come up with. Thanks.

 

[87GNSteve]

IF you complain about the service from Autozone clerks making 7-8 bucks an hour?
Wait until you see the quality of a engine made by "machinists" making 7-8 bucks an hour.

As the saying goes: Good, Fast, and Cheap; pick two.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

What??

35+ pounds of boost and lots of free motors. better get a engine hoist.

a v-sicks turbo Buick owner, and no engine hoist???
Remember back when Jasper Engines were doing the TR stuff?? Can you say JUNK??
Maybe Groomes is doing them for Surefire??

 

[BlackBandit]

I bought a long block from autozone several years ago for my GN. The description in the Autozone computer gave crank and block casting numbers. I paid $1800 after core charge and it came complete with a front cover. It ran great for 8-9k miles and definitely was not a turd. Recon was the manufacturer and about 17 months and 3 weeks into the 18 month warranty it wiped a cam. I got no help from autozone and after some arguing (they said the warranty started when I paid for it and build time counted against the warranty period. I had a warranty card and that's the only reason they said they would warranty it. Read on for more about that) recon told me they would honor the warranty if they tore it down and found it wiped a cam do to parts or workmanship. Then they assured me that when they tore it down they would find that the problem was not caused by parts or workmanship. I tore it down and it looked to be well put together. It had been bored .020 and had hypers in it. The crank was a turbo crank (although it had been turned to the limit) and it wasn't full of mismatched bolts. Would I ever buy from them again? No. I'd rather walk. The moral though, as it pertains to this thread, is don't count on them warrantying the engine. There are lots of ways to get around that for them and not much you can do about it. HTH. james

As an after thought, if you wanted a reliable backup you could buy one of these, check the clearances, and shove a roller cam in it and have a pretty decent engine for around $2500.

 

[Red Regal T]

Yeah, even if it has a turbo crank, it's gonna be a .030/.030 at best. Probably what you'll get is a 30/30 NA crank. If you don't want to do anything but plunk down your money for a motor that runs, what can I tell ya? You could probably buy an NA 109 motor at the junk yard for a couple hundred, drill an oil drain and it would run OK with 20 lbs of boost. I personally think the price of $1800 is too much for a mystery motor. JMO :biggrin:

 

[QuickBuick87]

I am a parts sales manager at an Autozone in the Austin, TX area and will call Surefire themselves and ask the questions like what the compression ratio is, rolled fillet crank, correct stock cam, turbo drain hole, what the casting number on the heads are, etc. I hope someone on their end knows what they are talking about. Most of those engines arrive at the stores within 5 working days as well. It might be an engine that is only available through Autozone online though as it may not appear on the in store parts computer.

The next time I work is tomorrow and I'll check it out then.

Jerry

Jerry.....Did you find anything out?? Just curious whats in these things for parts..........

Ken B.

 

[Waco84GN]

I couldnt find anyone over there with intelligence

Sorry bout not getting back sooner. Supposedly there is a guy over there at that company that knows that kinda stuff but everytime I try to call he is like on smoke break or something. I'll try to call again today to see if he is there.

Jerry

 

[scojack_2001]

I used to work for AutoZone as well. Got out while after the second time I saw red. People around here are just plain stupid. And some of the people I worked with. All the local AutoZones and PepBoys' got rid of thier backroom bolts supply. Even the brass fittings and linkage clips as well.

Anyway, I wouldnt buy a motor from them. Even for my truck. My opinion is to stay FAR FAR away from Surefire and Recon. Recon has gone downhill in recent years as Ive heard, but Ive never dealt with them. Cant say for sure. I would spend the money to do it right the first time, but thats just me.


My .02 after DE sales tax.

 

[SS/GNX]

I cant beleive anybody would buy an engine from AUTOZONE !! LOL!
I cant even get an alternator thats worth a sh!t from that place...
WHY ON EARTH would you buy an engine from them...

Like grumpy said, if you want a lead sled that you can JUST drive around for awhile... I guess that works...

My opinion is F - That.

You get what you pay for.

 

[Project TNX]

You get what you pay for.

I believe several people are just trying to see what they would be getting. So far we've only had a bunch of "F That's" and "My buddies cousins sister's college roommate had one and his next door neighbor said it was junk."

 

[QuickBuick87]

I believe several people are just trying to see what they would be getting. So far we've only had a bunch of "F That's" and "My buddies cousins sister's college roommate had one and his next door neighbor said it was junk."

ROFL......Thanks for the laugh!! Yea, I noticed this too. Sure you do get what you pay for, BUT we're still curious as to what parts are in em......

Ken B.

 

[87GNSteve]

ROFL......Thanks for the laugh!! Yea, I noticed this too. Sure you do get what you pay for, BUT we're still curious as to what parts are in em......

Ken B.

The parts can be all correct "turbo" parts, but what would concern me is:
Rod side clearances.
Crank thrust specs.
Piston to wall clearance.
Oversized bore.
Were rods resized? (not always a good thing)

I worked in a machine shop for years and we did follow up repairs on mass produced rebuild out fits.
Typical to see angle milled heads, rods facing the wrong way, cheap bearings and timing sets, no regard for tolerances, just slapped together and painted nice with cast blast.

But there is an segment of customers that like to shop at these auto stores that abuse the warranty and "purposely" break the part in order to get a new one just before the warranty period ends, I detect that is a motivation for some, but take into account if the engine blows it could take your turbo, oil cooler, trans, tourque converter, and what ever else with it if it does go up.