G.M.’s Do-It-Yourself Corvette Engine

[csv8]

G.M.’s Do-It-Yourself Corvette Engine
By PAUL STENQUIST
Many of us did it back in the day. Some of us did it more than once and have the scarred knuckles to prove it.


John F. Martin for Chevrolet
Rich McBride, an engine builder at the General Motors Performance Build Center.
Now, those who missed out on the fun of building a power plant have a chance to make good — providing, of course, that their pockets are sufficiently deep. For an extra $5,800, buyers of a Corvette Z06 or ZR1 can assemble their car’s engine.

There was a time when building your own engine was essential to earning your stripes as a car enthusiast. But unless you were a true expert, you could end up with a few leftover parts, adding significantly to the pain of those banged-up knuckles. Corvette buyers who opt for the new build-your-own option won’t have to worry about leaving a part out, because a General Motors technician will supervise the procedure at the Performance Build Center in Wixom, Mich.

Travel to Michigan will be at the customer’s expense, but a G.M. concierge will help coordinate arrangements and local transportation.

“Corvette owners are some of the most passionate — and most involved — enthusiasts in the industry,” Jim Campbell, vice president of Chevrolet marketing in the United States, said on Monday. “The Corvette engine build experience offers customers an unprecedented opportunity to participate, hands on, in creating the car.”

This unusual level of customer involvement is possible because both the Z06’s 7-liter engine and the ZR1’s 6.2-liter supercharged engine are assembled by hand.

The personalized engines will be installed in the customer’s car at the Corvette assembly plant and come with an owner nameplate. So while build-your-own Corvette owners won’t experience the joy of working in a frigid garage under a single light bulb in the dead of winter, they will eventually get to hear the engine they assembled fire up. For many gearheads, that’s a thrill not easily matched.

Those who are afraid that they might make a mistake even when working with the supervising engine guru can rest assured: The build-your-own engines are covered by Chevrolet’s five-year/100,000-mile transferable powertrain warranty.

[Fev]

Interesting, a massive outlay to basically watch the bloke who would usually do it himself anyway though... Worth it though for the pub-talk lol

[Matt47569]

pretty cool idea but i dont see why the should be charging $5,800 for having someone else help them assemble it

[wrongwaynorris]

Yeah and you may even be able to match piston to bore sizes to avoid the dreaded G.M pistonslap . www.pistonslap.com

[DJM83]

Bit pricey, but if your buying a ZR1 then you can afford the extra coin. If it were me id do it, great concept

[mik]

sounds like a good way to build a long time enthusiast base for the company.

[csv8]

Maybe FPV should do it, before HSV do !!!!!

[Iggypoppin']

Too costly I think(for GM) but if it where offered here I'd do it. It's not something you get to do every day!

[XRtowcar]

You pay all that money and still have to do it yourself.
For that cost i'd expect blueprinting and balancing.

[Iggypoppin']

Originally Posted by XRtowcar

You pay all that money and still have to do it yourself.
For that cost i'd expect blueprinting and balancing.

Engines of the calabre used in these cars probably already come blueprinted and balanced as "standard". Some pretty serious cars the ZR1 and ZO6! I'd still rather the 5.0 s/c stang.

[Gaz]

The premium would be because with them supervising someone it'd be freaking slow. They would probably build 4 in the time it would take them to supervise build one.

[82XD393.3v]

i think its a great idea price is steep but if i could afford it id do too

[3vXT]

I'm don't think i'd want anything to do with an engine that's been partially assembled by me. There are things i'm good at and things i'll pay more skilled people to do for me. I know its supervised and the warranty isn't affected but i'd find some way to put something in upside down or otherwise f'ck something up.

[morak001]

Would this affect resale potential though? ie. would you rather a factory built engine or one put together by the owner?

[flappist]

Originally Posted by morak001

Would this affect resale potential though? ie. would you rather a factory built engine or one put together by the owner?

I suspect the whole idea is that you are not going to sell it

[Falc'man]

Originally Posted by morak001

Would this affect resale potential though? ie. would you rather a factory built engine or one put together by the owner?

You raise a good question, as resale is an important factor with some. Flappist also raises a good point; having "built" their own motor this would certainly improve the owner's connection with that car. Which raise another question: Does Chevrolet want owners to not trade these cars in after a while, and would the fact that a novice building the motor come to mean resale is no good? lol.

[FPV8U]

Pretty cool idea, not cheap though.

[SteveJH]

Originally Posted by Falc'man

You raise a good question, as resale is an important factor with some. Flappist also raises a good point; having "built" their own motor this would certainly improve the owner's connection with that car. Which raise another question: Does Chevrolet want owners to not trade these cars in after a while, and would the fact that a novice building the motor come to mean resale is no good? lol.

But the person keeping the car forever rather then selling it on later and buying a new one, is potentially multiple future lost sales.

[Scott]

On the assumption that:
a) I lived in the states and was buying a Corvette;
b) That I had the spare cash to do this exercise;

Then I would be happier paying $15k to have a Van roll up at my place, full of parts and tools and assemble the thing in my garage and install it into the engine bay that had been patiently waiting for a week or two. In my book, that would be cool.

[cheek]

$5800 Tell them they're dreaming lol, Id rather buy the car standard then spend the money on aftermarket parts!

[Falc'man]

Originally Posted by SteveJH

But the person keeping the car forever rather then selling it on later and buying a new one, is potentially multiple future lost sales.

Yeah isn't that what I said in the end, or do you mean something else?

[SteveJH]

Originally Posted by Falc'man

Yeah isn't that what I said in the end, or do you mean something else?

Yeah, I guess it pays to not skim through posts.

Either way, it clearly states the possible effect it would have on sales.

Actually, out of curiousity. What is the statistical chance of a car having an accident that would result in it being written off each year? And the chance of it being sent to the scrappers due to being uneconomical to maintain.

I'm guessing it must be significant since I swear I am seeing way less E-series Falcons and VS/VT Commodores around now then even a couple of years ago.

And considering they were very high volume models.....

Because that would also have to affect sales of Corvette's as the older ones get written off or sent to the wreckers.