5 Liter Eater

iTrader: (5)

I'm moving from my ECS paxton blower kit (already removed) which was making ~725/675 to a TTIX twin turbo kit which should be ready around the first of the year. I've been lucky to have run my stock short block over 700 RWHP for some time now. I plan to run the same 14# of boost on the TTIX that I was making with the ECS kit and expect to be ~750 RWHP/790 RWTQ; over 100 tark more than I was making with the ECS kit. Then there will be the siren song of the EBII boost controller begging for me to turn up the boost. It makes sense to build the bottom end rather than risk cast parts breaking and possibly going through one or both turbos but I don't want to break the bank doing it. In fact I want to do it as cheaply as possible. I don't want an all out race motor, I just want peace of mind that the internals are forged. Here is what I believe I can get it done for at the rock bottom price:

Pistons: Probe/SRS -3cc pistons for use with stock bore and stroke - $480. I'm going to try and get away with not line honing and deck plating .005 over. I don't see much benefit coming from it on a known good block unless I take it apart and the bores ovaled or scored for some reason. I know I will catch hell for this but that is the plan if I move forward with this. -3cc is still going to put me in the high 10:1 compression range. Not ideal for FI most would say, but options in 4.000 are limited. They have a -16cc dish but that would put me way too low. Haven't run the numbers I know it would put me well below the 10:1 I that I do not want to go below.

Crank: Stock - $0. Plenty good for my needs.

Rods: Eagle H Beams wiht 8740 bolts - $360. Nothing special to see here. Move along.

Head studs: $70 from abad71camaro. Not ARP, haters gonna hate but better than stock TTY IMO.

Main studs: Re-use stock ones. $0. Can't say I've ever seen a main bolt fail. I don't see the need for studs.

LS9 head gaskets: $80. No better or cheaper head gasket out there for what I'm doing.

Timing set: $70 (well $72 but rounded of easy math) from Yank here on the forum.

Bearings: $100 for clevette mains and rods. Standard.

Oil pump: Melling - $0. I installed this <1000 miles ago when the relief valve stuck open on my stocker.

Machining/Balancing: No machine work planned other than cross hatching the bores and balancing the rotating assembly which I am SWAG'ing at $250.

All told thats $1330. Flame suit on.

redtan

iTrader: (5)

Going "cheap" on the bottom end of the engine after dropping several thousands of dollars in the rest of the car doesn't sound right. Can you get away with it? Sure, but why cheapen out on a few hundred bux after spending so much on everything else, especially when pushing close to 800 at the wheels?

Just because you have forged parts in your engine thrown together cheaply with inferior/stock parts does not do much for the peace of mind that you're looking for. You could have the most forged parts in the world, if they're not put together well with supporting parts necessary well then you might as well not do it cuz it has just as good of a chance of failing as the OEM block.

It's your engine and your money, but if it was me and I was going through ALL this trouble to work the engine I would at least spend a few hundred more and do some better things. I'd rather spend 2 - 2.5k on a solid bottom end now than save a few hundred bux and know that I have skipped several key parts.

5 Liter Eater

iTrader: (5)

What parts would you change?

LS1x2

iTrader: (11)

My $0.02. BALANCE IT. From my understanding, aftermarket rods/pistons never balance out too well with the stock crank.

I'll take oem bolts over cheap studs that many people have snapped. Never ever seen a stock head bolt failure, and they aren't expensive.

The ARP main bolts are to keep the mains in place. They are larger, and do a better job than stock. Which high cylinder pressure this is a failure point. It's not about breaking the bolt...lol.

10:1 comp is probably fine for what you are doing. You could do some 72cc heads along with bigger turbos some day if you were going to crank it up. Let's face it. You will do that, b/c you will get tired of me dragging you over and over.

redtan

iTrader: (5)

I would do some ARP head studs and mains, I would do some rod bolts, I would do some -10cc diamond pistons.

And most important of all, I would do the machining and balancing work on the block. As perfect as the liners might look, I would never trust that whatever piston I get would fit perfectly in a used bore.

5 Liter Eater

iTrader: (5)

I do plan to balance the rotating assembly.

I understand what you guys are saying about the studs. Cheap ones can break and lift a head and main studs are to keep the mains from spinning. Maybe I'll stick with head bolts for now and get the ARP mains. Someone else even suggested ARP 2000 head studs which are ~$450 . When you say rod bolts you mean upgrade the Eagle rods to ARP2000's? I'm sure they already come with ARP 8740's. Still not sure I am on board with the machining. It'll cost money but if I do it opens up more piston choices which are more money .

I've already done a "done right" scenario with balancing, line honing and deck plating, 4.005 Wisecos, ARP head and main studs, same rods upgraded to 2000 bolts and that came to a little over $2k.

LS1x2

iTrader: (11)

Just do it man. This thread is borderline ridiculous. $2k is cheap as hell for a stout motor like that.

trxman

Event if you just want to brake the glaze on the cylinders for new rings on your used 4.000 piston you need to use a deck plate. The shop needs to put a bore guage in the bores and see how close they are to 4.000. I went with 4.005 3cc wiseco and deck plate honed the .005 out at my shop. I bought the ARP head bolts insted of the studs becuse of the price. Went with ARP main studs and aline honed it(which is a must) and K1 rods with the better ARP2000 bolts. Save up the extra money and you wont regret it.

5 Liter Eater

iTrader: (5)

Why would you need a deck plate to break the glaze? I can totally see it for going .005 over. Why is line honing a must?

v8pwr

iTrader: (19)

The money you save by going cheap on your build will not make up for the dissatisfaction of poor results. You most likely will not need to rebuild again but you will leave power on the table and compromise longevity. Your part selection is fine except for the critical fasteners and machine work. Use ARP head bolts and main studs. The bolts are not much more than the cheap studs. A block that has been properly machined and assembled correcly will make more power and live longer. Also if you decide to push past your current power goals the shortblock will not be a concern.

5 Liter Eater

iTrader: (5)

Yea in my heart of hearts I know this. I just got a wild hair to see how cheap I could do it and was surprised about how much cheaper it got. Upgrading to the TT kit, property taxes and the holidays has me tapped out right now so I'll likely stay stock for the time being and keep the power down until I can build my block or a separate stroker, probably around tax time next year.