Man that thing sounds sweet

 

Just hit the 10,000 mile mark and we're still purring along nicely. No oil leaks, etc.

The idle issue was a slight vacuum leak.

On the down side, I am now living in an emissions testing area. The vehicle will pass the sniffer but fails the visual inspection since it is missing the secondary air system and a few other smog parts.

 

I'm getting awfully close to 12,000 miles on the new engine and am glad to say it is all legal and passed smog and is purring along nicely.

I'm finally comfortable enough with the engine that I've order an Old Man Emu suspension set. New shocks and springs are long overdue but I was hesitant to dump a bunch more money into my old rig.

 

Hey, first post here, this site is awesome! I will be doing the same exact build this year to my 95 runner...motor from Denny's and the thornly headers. I was wondering what you ended up using for your exhaust system. I am in Santa Cruz CA, our smog laws aren't as bad as some of the bay area laws or LA county. Nice job! I cant wait to do this build in the spring/summer!

 

I had a local muffler shop install a 3" exhaust. They got rid of the clamps and welded the exhaust into the Y-pipe.

I'm running a "high performance" cat but it was just something cheap that they welded in. I think it was $60 or so so I doubt there's anything special about it.

 

To update, I have ~ 26,000 miles on the rebuilt engine and just recently had the timing belt break. Fortunately it happened fairly close to home so no serious problem other than no small anount of inconvenience.

Anyway, I had the rig towed to a nearby garage for inspection. They determined that one of the pulleys had gone bad on me. Since I'm still within Denny's 3yr or 36,000 mile warranty, they contacted Denny to see about warranty work.

Denny covered the repairs and supplied the shop with the needed parts. He even sent along a new water pump. The local shop said they had no hassles dealing with Denny and I was back on the road within about a week.

 

I had a Pontiac 400 built by Denny Knepper of Denny's Auto Machine. Do your homework before you buy, I wish I did. Very expensive lesson.

 

Update:

The rig recently failed emissions so I took it in for diagnosis and repair. The local shop found that I had low compression on the #3 cylinder due to a burned intake valve.

I called Denny to discuss options even though the engine is out of warranty. Denny said that if I'll ship the head to him he'll do the valve job for free. I'll be responsible for the labor involved and any shipping costs.

Given that the engine is out of warranty this seems quite generous.

Total mileage before valve issue is about 40,000...

 

Any updates on the Denny engine

 

Any updates on this. I am looking at a Denny engine.

 

Did you ever buy one of these?

 

I just bought a 3vze from Denny and should arrive 9-16-21. I will be updating this thread as I go. I'll try to update it after first start up and every few thousand miles. My last motor of course blew a head gasket. According to Denny he also puts ARP head studs in as well which I didnt see mentioned in this thread but he could have made changes sense he sold this guy his motor back almost 10 years ago. Hoping the original guy that made this thread will respond to how his motors holding up after the burnt valve issue. Will keep you guys updated as soon as the motor start up.

 

I am considering purchasing a Pontiac 400 from Denny. Can you tell me what your experience was?