austinisspeed

Well guys I bought my z28 back in November,3weeks after buying it I lost a rod bearing. So I purchased a short block off of somebody on here, rebuilt the heads and put a cc503 with 1.6ratio rollers with correct valve springs. All to find that the block was cracked.it looses coolant(I have no leaks and had the heads pressure tested) and pushes oil into my cooling system. I still have the original uncracked short block that I will be rebuilding.I guess I'm not really looking to buy a full rotating assembly more so just use the rotating assembly out of the cracked engine and use oversized pistons(block will be bored .040-.060over). Now for the question, do lt1's use regular style small block pistons? I haven't seen any lt1 specific.

Sorry for the sob story,any help is appreciated!

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

Why such a large bore? You should only bore the cylinders enough to correct them - it shouldn't be used as a method for increasing displacement alone. Typically .030" is MORE than enough.

Any SBC piston will work - there are no LT1-specific pistons.

austinisspeed

Well I'm looking for power.I have been told many times that .040 is safe and you should never go over .060
And Thankyou that's what I needed to know.this car is just my play car not a daily driver so I would like to pull some nice horsepower numbers out of it.

ahritchie

iTrader: (1)

Get some ported heads if you want power...an extra 2 or 3 cubes isn't going to do much....maybe 3-4 hp

austinisspeed

well i figure since the block has to be corrected i might as well go a little bigger than needed.i feel like it cant hurt.

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

If a cylinder is thin and you blindly have it bored more than necessary you could junk another block for no reason. The difference in displacement from .030 to .060 is meaningless and to safely do it you would need to spend extra on sonic testing the block, money that could have been spent somewhere useful.

Far as pistons yeah regular SBC pistons fit but there are a LOT of ancient designs out there that are no better than stock and a lot that have a ring package a step backwards from stock.

I strongly suggest you step back and learn more before you go forward with this shortblock and have another story to add to your list of major hassles with the car.

I saw your location, you might consider talking to Clock Off Racing down in Racine, he is not a machine shop but it is a speed shop owned by someone who knows LT1s. His daily driver 80something pickup even has one in it.

austinisspeed

That's was the best information I have gotten so far on and off the forums.I have heared a lot of good things about clocks off.I will take a ride down there this week sometime.and are there any certain pistons you would recommend?