Everything Here Rebuilds Your Block. None of It Includes One.

That is the thing to be clear on before you start comparing kits. Every kit on this page is a set of parts to rebuild the engine you already have. You supply the block, and you have your machine shop prep it.

If you would rather buy an assembled engine and drop it in, that is a different purchase — see our 22R crate engines and long blocks.

Beyond that, the choice is decided by what your block measures, not by what you would like to spend.

Refreshing an Engine

Re-Ring Kit — the cylinder walls are still good

The Re-Ring Kit for the 1985-1995 22R and 22RE is for an engine where the bores and the major hard parts are still within spec. It carries the gaskets, bearings and piston rings — the wear items — and deliberately leaves out pistons, the oil pump and the water pump. If your machinist says the block cleans up without a bore, this is the kit. If it does not, a re-ring will not save it.

Economy Master — a full rebuild

Street Performer hypereutectic pistons, Hastings rings, main, rod and thrust bearings, a complete gasket kit, a timing chain kit and tensioner, and an oil pump.

By year: 1981-1982 22R, 1983-1984 22R, 1985-1995 22R/RE, 1985-1988 22RTE turbo.

Premium Master — the same rebuild with the known failure points upgraded

Same core, plus the four parts most likely to end a fresh rebuild early:

  • Timing chain kit with metal-backed guides rather than plastic. On the 85-95 engine this is the single most valuable upgrade in the box.
  • A new water pump, so you are not reinstalling a 200,000-mile pump behind a fresh timing cover.
  • LCE Pro oil pump.
  • Freeze plugs, trivial to fit with the block on the stand and miserable once it is in the truck.

By year: 1981 22R, 1982-1984 22R/RE, 1985-1995 22R/RE, 1985-1988 22RTE turbo.

Building an Engine: Short Block Kits

A short block kit is a step up from a master rebuild kit rather than a different kind of thing. It gives you all the bottom end components to build your engine — and, like everything else here, it does not include the block. You have your local machine shop prep yours to accept the kit.

The Street kit carries a Street crankshaft, H-beam connecting rods, Safety main, rod and thrust bearings, brass freeze plugs, a complete gasket set, a water pump, the LC Pro oil pump, head bolts, a single row timing chain with metal-backed guides, and a Street piston set. The Pro and stroker kits build on that.

Any of these can be upgraded to the LCE dual row timing chain conversion for an additional charge — worth considering on an 85-95 engine, for the reasons set out on our timing components page.

Street

1985-1995 22R/RE · 1981-1984 22R/RE · 1985-1988 22RTE turbo

Pro

1985-1995 22R/RE/RET · 1981-1984 22R/RE

Stroker — more displacement

Pro Stroker: 1985-1995 · 1981-1984

Street Stroker with H-beam rods: 1985-1995 non-turbo · 1981-1984 non-turbo · 1985-1995 22RTE turbo

Note the turbo and non-turbo versions are listed separately. Order to match the engine you have.

Builder Series — Top End Included

If you want the head sorted as part of the same purchase, the Builder Series Street Engine Kit is our Economy Rebuild Kit plus a Street Performer cylinder head with your choice of camshaft, OE rocker arms, billet wire loom, LCE valve cover, billet oil cap, PCV K&N breather with adapter, water pump and head bolts — enough to rebuild your engine as a Street Performer. The Pro Engine Kit steps that up.

We recommend running either with our Crank Scraper, part 1013022.

If Your Block Is Finished

Every kit above assumes a usable block. If yours is cracked, or bored past what it will take, the bare Street engine block for 1985-1995 comes fully prepared with freeze plugs and a matching piston set — which also removes the bore-size guesswork from whichever kit you pair it with.

At that point it is worth comparing the total against a finished crate engine before you commit to the machine shop bill.

Get the Year Right

The 22R changed enough between 1984 and 1985 that kits are not interchangeable, and the 22RTE turbo engine takes its own again. Order by the year of the engine, not the year on the title — these trucks have been swapped for forty years and a 1990 Pickup with an 83 block is not unusual. If you are not sure what is in front of you, call or email us before you order.

Two Small Things Worth Adding

The engine rebuild oil galley plug kit — the plugs are British thread, which catches people out, and being one short with a block at the machine shop loses you a week.

And no kit here contains a cylinder head unless it says Builder Series. If yours is cracked, warped past a skim, or you simply want more from the rebuild, our LCE cylinder heads run from Street Performer through Stage 5, ported in-house.

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