miguelc

greetings everyone


we have a 427 and a 454 ( procharger at 13 psi) that are eating camshaft and lifters.

we have tried diferent springs, lifter brands and lastly a solid cam and lifter combo. NONE worked. The funny hthing is the NA 454 is OK after many passes.
Do you have an idea what could be happening?

thanks

Sales2@Texas-speed

iTrader: (5)

Are you running the lifter trays that are supplied with the block or a tie-bar lifter? We found a few sets of those trays that were not perfectly straight and had the lifters rolling on the cam kind of sideways. After that, we only run tie-bar lifters in any LSx block build we do!

BoostedSS

I heard that the cam bearings that come with the block are junk.

99blancoSS

iTrader: (115)

Yep, we replace them as part of our regular assembly process.

hellbents10

iTrader: (10)

Yes tie bar lifters and different cam bearings are a great way to start out on the LSX.

Tom@SpeedInc

iTrader: (5)

After assembling an LSX and finding the cam being too tight, the cam journal was pretty bad, needed to take a few thou out.

Now on we hone the cam journal, and had custom size coated cam bearings made.

BIG_MIKE2005

iTrader: (116)

WOW, that much for a block & the damn thing comes with **** cam bearings & crappy cam journal. Sounds like they need to drop the price if everyone is gonna have to spend even more to get it to work after recieving it.

miguelcg3

yes we used the "linked "lifters on the mechanical camshaft/lifter combo. About the journals... do we need to under or oversize them??

thanks everyoen for your help

Tom@SpeedInc

iTrader: (5)

what we've done to new LSX blocks is hone the cam journal .002", we find they're on the tighter side of the tolerance.

In GMPP book theirs numbers for oversize LSX bearings, .005" larger

LC

I have the same problem with 4 LSXs... but they were spinning on the trays as Matt said...
all blown too...

427

iTrader: (3)

I have not seen the problems with lifters in these engines, but I rarely use the lifter guides supplied with the block. Certain cam/lifter combonations will bottom out in the retainers before full lift also, causing issues.

Kurtr

racer7088

Yep we only use the link bars in LSX deals as like Kurt said a Crane or Morel drop-in style lifter will break the lifter guides that come with these deals if you aren't careful and use spacers so we just don't use them anymore but only the link bars.

Also have to turn some cams down a bit and hone the cam tunnels every once in a while. I feel sorry for a regular guy trying to assemble one of these deals on their own because it's a disaster waiting to happen if you aren't careful.

novaflash2002

iTrader: (51)

doesnt the lsx block use only one size cam bearing in stead of the 3 different sizes?

racer7088

Yes they use all number 3 position bearings in all 5 holes.

lcvette

iTrader: (3)

Geez, I am putting my build list together and now I have to be concerned with more issues.... what gives? At least I found out here rather then trying to searcht he problem after the fact of more money wasted.

Who would you recommend to have an LSX block prepped near the North Carolina area? I am in the process of building a 427 LSX/AFR setup for boost in a drag car and am curious what the concensus is about builders and who has good experience with these bowtie blocks!

Thanks in advance!

Chris

PREDATOR-Z

Boy am i glad to hear about these issues before I drop the coin on a LSx block.
Hmm might have to reconsider.
Why can't those monkeys at GM build anything normal for the Hot Rodder? There is always a catch, always.

PREDATOR-Z

I did some research and it seems to be quite a common issue
F*** this, LS7 blocks have issues, C5R are atrociously $$ and can have issues.. Grrrr..
LS3 blocks?

99blancoSS

iTrader: (115)

If your a qualified engine builder then you can deal with it and it's not a huge deal. It's just not a good idea for the inexperienced person to try and build an engine and this is one of the reasons why. What are you going to do when something isn't perfect? (doesn't just pertain to the LSX block). This is all part of engine building 101.

lcvette We are not in the NC area but we can assist you if you do not find someone your comfortable with.

Shawn @ VA Speed

iTrader: (3)

I think i can handle that for you.We built the baddest LSX engine in the country.I do a good bit of work for guys in NC.

Give us a call

PREDATOR-Z

Nothing to do with being qualified builder, experience I'm with you, but you would expect a quality product to fit, without stress breaks, core shifts, wrong bearings etc....
I call that inferior quality, especialy for a product comming out from a giant of the industry with highly paid workers and countless hours of testing.
Now a lot of these LSx blocks issues were determined after being put together and failing.
Your logic would dismiss the majority of hot rodders as consumers if only mechanical engineers would be the only ones left to build motors.
Basicaly my point is those issues should not exist once the product hits the market.
Granted blueprinting, slight deburring etc... is part of the whole process but to have to remachine certain parts is not part of that criteria in my book.