Mild Build or Just a Pan Gasket?? Thoughts?

[Racer66]

Hi folks, so here is the dilemna going through my head...... as I want my car bone dry I need to do something about a small oil leak that I have, either I sink a grand into having the pan gasket changed (mostly labour cost and I appreciate the effort involved with that) or pull a little more out of the RRSP fund and freshen her up mildly to get into the 500-525 HP range. The car is just coming up to 100,000 kms and the only other known issue with the engine is mild knocking noise from one lifter until she pumps up with oil. I plan on keeping the car for many years to come.

While I know many will say, "If it's not broken don't fix it" I can't get my head around spending a grand for a $75 gasket event though I appreciate the work involved. I'm thinking that if I spend an extra $5K atleast I get a new engine out of it with a few extra ponies ..... and a new gasket! I wouldn't go too wild with the build as I would like to stay with the NPP exhaust and hopefully stay in the tuneable range of the original ECU. A fresh rebuild along with a new tranny should have me covered for a while.

Has anyone done a mild build like this that can share some advice?

Looking forward to your feedback on all aspects of this thread as always!

Tony

 

[XFIRE82]

........my opinion, first try tighten the pan bolts if that is for sure where the leak is and not coming down from the valve cover. There are additives you add to the engine oil that sometimes do actually work in stopping minor leaks. As far as the lifter noise, GM sells a good additive called EOS which may help. Another one is made by Power Up and not only aids in lubrication but can quiet down a lifter. Once you tear down a engine then it can get very costly and for a few added horses that you don't really need it may be money wasted. And there are those , like me when I was looking for a car , that if the engine was modded then I walked away from it. So you may want to consider that if you should ever be selling the car.

 

[Racer66]

Thanks Xfire82! Some good points to consider! As they say...... Boys and their Toys!!!!!!