Gt500 08 Dream becomes a nightmare.

[Tighteyes]

So a few months back I purchased a car from LA MOTORCARS in richardson,tx. An 08 vapor gt500 with 46k miles on it. I paid a bit more than market price because it had 3.73 gears, long tube headers , magnaflow exhaust , a few other upgrades. Well Shortly after owning the car it was displaying lean symptoms and other weird inconsistencies. Well After talking to the entire world I was told to take my sick car to pro dyno 2-3 hrs away from me. what a buzkill. I took it in for what was a clutch going out. "Met with a few small discussions of rods to strengthen up a bit." this is what I was showed ......a simple 4-5k turned into a complete nightmare. I am curious how much would a gt500 roller 65k miles with brand new tires and practically brand new body. is worth without a motor maybe selling her. I washed dishes for 8 years to get my dream.....now I have to figure something out ..... a new motor build from scratch is just about as much as the car was to purchase...







Complete devastation when Not even my block was usable.

 

[MastaAce03]

It hurts to hear this man. FRPP has a short block you can buy for around 4K. How are the heads?


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[william7635]

Here’s a long block for $7,820 + shipping.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/253281991091


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[TBCobra]

Is there not a warranty on the car?

 

[RedVenom48]

Damn man... was that a flood car from Harvey? Valve cover looks like it was submerged. You need to find out, investigate title history, location, everything. If it was a flood damaged car and they didnt disclose that to you you may have consumer protection rights. It certainly was NOT a premium market value given the condition.

Its worth your time and effort to look into that.

If you have no legal recourse against the seller, I personally would keep her. Its still a hell of a car. Even with a new block it may have some other gremlins pop up electrically if it was a flood car. Then again a rebuilt engine may be all it needs.

An inspection by a machine shop for the heads are in order. I also would have a machine shop give an opinion on the block. I find it hard to believe that an 5.4L iron block is junk unless there are windows in the side of it. Might need machine work to the bores and oversized pistons but from what you have posted it doesnt look catastrophic.

If a reputable machine shop DID condemn the block, scour a junk yard for a 2000-2004 Navigator short block. Many made and they are essentially a similar short block. Assuming the heads are in useable shape. Shit lap the valves, replace the valve stem seals and put some new headgaskets on it. It might not be perfect, and still would need a proper rebuild but it would get your car back to running condition.

Hell, a 4v Navigator long block may just bolt right up to your intake and harness. *EDIT* scratch that, heads are different on the navigator. See my post below. a 5.4L 2v iron block may be usable.

Its a terrible situation man, but there IS light at the end of the tunnel. A Navigator short/long block might not be as strong as a GT500, but it gets your car running and usable and gives you time to get your engine situation in order.

 

[RedVenom48]

Some reading on blocks:

https://www.svtperformance.com/foru...tween-gt500-block-and-navigator-block.575407/

 

[RedVenom48]

According to this thread it looks like a GT500 block was used with Lightning 2V heads. If thats the case, a 5.4L 2V block SHOULD work on a GT500 with some modifications to the core plugs.

http://www.lightningrodder.com/forum/14-gen-2-lightnings/250474-differences-5-4-blocks.html

Jim from JDM appears to have posted in this thread. You may want to give him a call or email and ask his opinion on your options.

http://www.teamjdm.com/contact-us/

If it is indeed true that 2V and 4V iron 5.4L blocks are interchangeble, you may have scored a big win here. There are LITERALLY a metric shit ton of them out there.

If you can confirm and it IS a go, get a 2v 5.4L shortblock. Reassemble and get your car back on the road. Save for a great engine build.

There is hope @Tighteyes, that is the power of the Ford Modular engine.

On a personal note, my car was hit at the track by a GTR. Crushed the left front and cause 5,000 worth of body and part damage. If it wasnt for my own labor replacing parts, stripping the damaged metal off for the bodyshop and buying all my parts at my cost, its easily a 9,000 repair. All out of pocket since it was from racing.

I was beyond devastated. But the next morning I scoured the internet and found a takoff hood for my car. then I found a source for an OEM fender, k member, suspension parts... I bought a few items off our marketplace forum to help with the build.

I got motivated to see my dream car repaired CORRECTLY. No cut corners, just savvy parts allocation and a body shop that was willing to work with me.

You can do this man, even if you arent turning the wrench. If this is your dream car, fight to keep it and it will mean that much more to you when shes done.

 

[jenkins_1120]

ad of the car
http://lamotorcars.com/web/vehicle_photos/37526150

 

[jenkins_1120]

What is this?

 

[Weather Man]

Buying a modified car without a leakdown/compression test by an independent source is an expensive lesson. Taking it to a reputable mustang shop and verifying the tune is good is also a really good idea.

 

[Robert M]

Sorry to see this, WOW!

I see the internal engine damage, but what happened to the valve cover shown in the OP pictures? Did this motor spit out a spark plug? or two on that bank? It looks like it has been on fire (or something) under the coil cover area......


R

 

[Catmonkey]

So this happened after you took ownership? I can't imagine it ran well if you bought it like this. I'd also look to the Cobrajet shortblock, assuming it's still available. As far as truck short blocks go, the stock rods are not up to the task.

 

[blowbye]

water damage in the valve covers is most likely caused by the hood. water runs in from the vents and can find its way into the coil area, mine had similar issue

 

[sleek98]

Autonation ford of white bear lake has the Iron shortblock with forged rods and pistions for around 4,200 shipped. Its a hell of a deal if you cant find a take out iron shortblock.

 

[GT Premi]

ad of the car
http://lamotorcars.com/web/vehicle_photos/37526150

Did anybody notice it's missing three wheel lugs?? It's missing 2 on the rear passenger side and one on the rear driver side. It doesn't look like just the lug nuts missing, but the entire lug!

If it had been me, I would've passed on that one. It has a million exterior pics but only 1 engine bay pic. Plus, those missing lugs would've kept me at bay.

 

[GNBRETT]

I can appreciate ur want and desire to own a GT 500 but if ur barely making enough money to pay rent cars can and will suck the life out of u! this is NOT a cheap hobby and expensive cars have expensive repairs.

sell the car as a roller and cut ur losses. there is no win for u now. tough and expensive lesson to learn but them are expensive motors to either buy or replace and if u can't turn a wrench urself u will be WAY upside down with this.

after replacing the motor which will require another tune add $500-$800 to that. it has to be installed as well so add another $1000-$1500 to RR. ur looking at $10-$15k on the very low side and thats only if u find a used motor and who knows what problems that might bring u.

 

[RedVenom48]

@Catmonkey oh, absolutely the rods arent up to GT500 snuff.

My recommendation for the truck iron block is to get his car running again and driveable while he saves for a built shortblock.

Now, if hes got 4-5k approved for the upgraded rods, scratch that and have them pop in an FRPP shortblock as recommended. That at least gets him back square.

@blowbye, I'm hoping for OP that the water issue seen on his valve cover is from the hood vents. I just saw he purchased a few months after Harvey from a Texas secondary sales lot. I feared the worst.

 

[Zemedici]

Sell the car and cut your losses

It’s highly modified and sounds like it was bought sight unseen, unfortunately this is the chance you take when doing so.

 

[jenkins_1120]

Did anybody notice it's missing three wheel lugs?? It's missing 2 on the rear passenger side and one on the rear driver side. It doesn't look like just the lug nuts missing, but the entire lug!

If it had been me, I would've passed on that one. It has a million exterior pics but only 1 engine bay pic. Plus, those missing lugs would've kept me at bay.

I see that now I also noticed the fuel rails I’d almost assume it had a bigger blower on it at some point.


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[BladeX10]

Looks like a molested to hell car that was modified, driven hard, put back to stock and traded in. Sounds like excitement clouded your judgement and you didnt go over the car properly.

+1 on selling it as a roller and cutting your losses. Maybe look for a bone stock one that is in much better shape afterwards if you want to get back into one. There are plenty of them out there.