Thought I'd pass along some costs of rebuilding my 292 and the cost of buying and installing the 4200.
It rambles a bit.....
292 core 150
venoila turbo pistons 800
xray rods 300
rebuild rods 300
intake headers carb 800
rings bearings gaskets 400
block work 2100 (yep its expensive here)
head work including installing the lump ports 1500
crank turn polish 200
comp cam 200
All said and done it was just over 7000 to build a 220hp turbo ready 292 locally.
Last week I bought a 2006 vortec 4200 off of ebay to
build over the winter for 900 plus shipping 210 - its a complete running engine. The 2006 engine is 290HP.
Installation cost for the '02 vortec currently in the truck:
Tranmission core - 120
bellhousing 200 from GM
mounts - 100 material + 12 hours to fabricate
Transmission build - (mind you this is in preparation for the turbo 4200 so its built to take 600HP) 2300
megasquirt + harness 400
hoses + rad modification 400
oil pan mod's + EDIS bracket + trigger wheel I
don't own a mill so I had to buck up for the job 800
Exhaust system - 100
Time to install about 90 hours including all the fab.
So for 3530 assuming a stock rebuild for the 4l60e
this is cost to buy and install a vortec 4200 - call it 3700 all said and done - roughly 1/2 price of building a turbo ready 292.
So for the 292 $$ per HP == $31.8/hp
for the vortec == 12.75 << much better cost wise.
Sure a stock rebuild on the 292 would have been about 3500 parts and labour - with maybe a 190 HP result still this is $18.40/hp...
To prep the vortec for turbo usage its going to be about 3500 for the short block but I'm starting with a 290HP vs 220HP and it will take a lot less boost to get to end power level with the vortec. The DOHC head alone is worth the hassles of building a stout short block. All said and done its most likely going to cost neutral to build the vortec for boost compared to the 292.... Wish I had gone direct to the 4200...
Just my $0.02 if anyone is considering a rebuild - a low mileage vortec is a better way to go. The downside is you lose orginallity - so keep the stock engine for reinstallation before you sell the vehicle.
The 4200 gets about double the fuel mileage of the 292.
