Big Blocks and Burnt Wrecks in SoCal Junkyard!

HOT ROD

Big Blocks and Burnt Wrecks in SoCal Junkyard!

HOT ROD 10/03/2021 00:03:03 John McGann

a car parked in a parking lot: 001-monrovia-pick-your-part

For this junkyard walkaround, I decided to venture away from my go-to tour the Pick Your Part in Monrovia, California, which is about 35 miles north of the Pick Your Part in Wilmington, California, that I normally frequent. It's good to mix things up from time to time, and the change of locations netted some interesting finds. Here are a few in no particular order.

Let's start with a Garrett turbocharger from a mid-'90s Ford F350 with the 7.3L Powerstroke diesel engine. Not being a diesel guy, some Ford truck forum indicates that this is a TP38 that came standard on 1994-1997 Powerstroke engines.

The funky mounting assembly in the engine's valley looks like that's the oil feed for the bearing assembly, which likely makes this unit difficult to adapt to a non-Powerstroke application. The impeller teeth looked a bit chewed up, but some of the message board members recommended rebuild kits from Riffraff Diesel in Eagle Point, Oregon.

We've mentioned before that the junkyard can be a good source for odds and ends like relays, fasteners, sections of wiring harnesses, and fluid coolers. Don't forget things like cooling fans, either. In applications like - and 1-ton trucks and police and taxi vehicles, the fans have to work for harsh conditions for 100,000 miles or more. They are up to the task of cooling a performance vehicle and can be adapted to fit a classic car with a few simple brackets.

The Chevy grille propping open the hood of this Chrysler 300C was a nice touch, but what was under the hood was more interesting.

This is one of four Gen III Hemi engines we saw during our trip to Monrovia. They were all 5.7L, but that's not really a problem. We've seen a few 5.7 builds that would give a Hellcat a run for its money. Just be sure to replace the valve seats before building one of these!

Staffer Johnny Hunkins may shed a tear to see that this 1994 Buick Roadmaster met an untimely end on the slab, so to speak. He's a big fan of the final iteration of Buick's B-body, as evidenced here. Me, I favor the Caprice/Impala SS of those same years (1994 to 1996), but they're basically the same under the skin.

These cars are great because of the LT1 V-8 under the hood. A huge step up in power from the anemic TBI 350s that preceded it, the LT1 in the B-bodies was rated at 260 hp and 330 lb-ft of torque. It was basically the same engine as in the Corvettes and Camaros, but with cast-iron heads. Though funky, these engines seem to have a cult following. Check out this 412 hp LT1 we built several years ago.

We don't see many of these Chrysler M-bodies anymore. This is a 1988 Chrysler Fifth Avenue, corporate cousin to the Dodge Diplomat and Plymouth Gran Fury. The downsized M-body platform was in production from 1977 to 1989.

The Fifth Ave. was sporting a 318 (5.2L) V-8 with Chrysler's "Electronic Fuel Control System," which was basically an electronically controlled carburetor.

Here's a tuned-port injected small-block Chevy that came out of that Firebird in the background. I'm always surprised to see evidence of people going to the lengths of removing the engine from a car, only to leave it behind. The only obvious parts missing from this engine are the upper intake manifold, the distributor cap, and valve covers and rocker arms-all of which could have easily been removed with the engine in the car.

Moving on to the truck section of the yard, we spotted this mostly intact Vortec 350 from a half-ton Silverado. In addition to being an excellent foundation for a stout small-block Chevy build, you can also grab the accessory drive from these engines. This ensures easy parts replacement in the future since all the accessories and serpentine belt are OE pieces.

Like the LT1 350 in passenger cars, the Vortec 350 replaced the throttle body injected (TBI) engines in pickups and SUV, as seen in this GMT400 pickup. This generation of trucks had a production run from 1988 to 1998, with the TBI V-6s and 305 and 350 V-8 as standard until they were replaced by the more efficient Vortec engines in 1996. Note the different arrangement of the accessories on this TBI 350.

Here's a 5.6L V-8 from a Nissan Titan. A vehicle I'd charitably describe as homely, I'm otherwise impressed with the specs of the engine-317 hp and 385 lb-ft of torque from this DOHC 32-valve powerplant. Also note the starter located in the valley of the block. Cadillac was ridiculed for locating the starters in this same location in their Northstar engines (also 32V V-8s). Maybe Nissan's starters are more reliable, or their intake manifolds are more easily removed than the Caddy's should a starter replacement be necessary.

Not to be overly distracted by the Nissan's engine, here's what I came to see-a big-block Chevy ripe for the picking. This is the L29 Vortec 7400 sequential fuel injected 454 in a -ton Suburban. This Gen IV big-block was in production from 1996 to 2001 and was rated at 290 hp and 410 lb-ft of torque. Note the brand-new radiator that I should have grabbed: three-row aluminum goodness. The big-block serpentine drive is also worth some dough.

Here's another -ton Suburban with a conspicuously empty engine compartment. Did it also hold a 454? Probably so, though I couldn't find the emissions label to confirm my suspicions. Depending on the model year of this 'Burban, this was either a Q-jet or TBI big-block.

The engine was gone from this C3500 pickup, as well, meaning it was likely big-block powered, too. According to Monrovia's price list, they charge $224 for a complete long-block, minus accessories. That's a pretty great deal for a buildable 454.

This week's Crispy Critter Award goes to a 2005 Buick Lacrosse that caught on le fire and ended up here, barely recognizable. Insurance fraud or? We didn't care to investigate. Like we always say, you never know what surprises you'll find in the junkyard. Scroll through the rest of the gallery and plan a trip of your own.