L92 in 61 belair, do heads need update ?
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L92 in 61 belair, do heads need update ?
Hi guys. i'm new to the site. i've searched all the threads concerning L92 and ls3s and haven't found my answer. i purchased a new L92 crate engine when they 1st were released. i just got around to installing it in my 61 belair. i keep reading about valve keeper or cap problems causing valves to drop. is there something i need to do before starting mine? i'd like to repair the problem before i tear up an engine. thought i may take the heads to a machine shop to be inspected but i'm not completely sure what to tell them what to look for. any help would be appreciated.
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Hi guys. i'm new to the site. i've searched all the threads concerning L92 and ls3s and haven't found my answer. i purchased a new L92 crate engine when they 1st were released. i just got around to installing it in my 61 belair. i keep reading about valve keeper or cap problems causing valves to drop. is there something i need to do before starting mine? i'd like to repair the problem before i tear up an engine. thought i may take the heads to a machine shop to be inspected but i'm not completely sure what to tell them what to look for. any help would be appreciated.
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L92 heads need update?
well it is a cruiser i guess. L92 with no dod and hot cam replacing the vvt. 3;55 posi and 4L70. that being said i still would like to repair the potential problem. the engines dropping valves are in escalades which see basically the same duty as mine will see. i've been in contact with gm powertrain and wasn't given anything much to go on except they admit to some dropping valves but that was about it. i'd hoped someone on this site could offer more help.
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well it is a cruiser i guess. L92 with no dod and hot cam replacing the vvt. 3;55 posi and 4L70. that being said i still would like to repair the potential problem. the engines dropping valves are in escalades which see basically the same duty as mine will see. i've been in contact with gm powertrain and wasn't given anything much to go on except they admit to some dropping valves but that was about it. i'd hoped someone on this site could offer more help.
Well, I still wouldn't say they have a problem. Has it happened? yeah. But nothing crazy. That being said, sure, while it is apart, you can swap out locks and retainers and springs without pulling heads, if that is what you are after. Give Richard over at WCCH (sponsor on this site) a shout for teh hook up.
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L92 heads
yesterday i spoke with the local caddie service manager. he said they had 1 drop a valve. he called GM powertrain and someone there told him early L92s had a nick in one of the valves from a machine that assembles the heads which after some use causes the valve to break and drop. they couldn't give him any production assembly date info though. i guess i'll pull the heads and check the valves. replacing springs anyway because of cam swap.
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yesterday i spoke with the local caddie service manager. he said they had 1 drop a valve. he called GM powertrain and someone there told him early L92s had a nick in one of the valves from a machine that assembles the heads which after some use causes the valve to break and drop. they couldn't give him any production assembly date info though. i guess i'll pull the heads and check the valves. replacing springs anyway because of cam swap.
Well, since pulling heads, go ahead and do ARP head bolts or studs. That sounds kind of funny/weird that their is a "knick" in one of teh valve's Well, not saying it is the case one way or the other, I just not have heard of that one though.
You are putting in a cam now? Well, if you are, and you are taking the heads off, you might as well have them cleaned up. Not ported (unless you want to), just cleaned up, have teh casting flash smoothed out, bowls cleaned, and a valve job.
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l92
yea, i don't know about the nick either. i'm not sure the engineers know what's causing the valves to drop yet. i used chevy's ls hotcam. i believe i'll buy the gm cnc ported L92 heads for this engine. they are 2 ccs less than what i have so it should put the compression about where the ls3 is. should make a very drivable combo. i'll clean up the heads i take off and use them on my tbss. i have the intake off the crate engine so all i'll need is a cam.