Rebuilding an L05 350 Questions
02-15-2008, 08:06 PM
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Rebuilding an L05 350 Questions My 19 year old younger brother is rebuilding an L05 350 SBC taken from a 1995 Suburban. He purchased a 0.030" over Federal Modgul premium rebuild kit from Summit. He brought the block to a machine shop to be bored and honed, but I feel like he is getting the run around in some ways with 'superfluous' services this machinist is trying to tack on. I'm an electrical engineer, and I'm friends with some mechanical engineers who are automotive enthusiasts. They all thought it sounded nuts. I wanted to drop a line here on LS1tech, and see if you guys could offer me some advice. Basically this guy wants to charge $100 to remove the wrist pins from the existing pistons with a hydraulic press. He also said wrist pins need to be heated for proper removal and reinstallation (I had never heard that this was necessary if you were using a full hydraulic press). He wants to charge an additional $100 to install the new wrist pins. He said that the connecting rod caps need to be matched to the connecting rods they were on and that someone mismatched them. If they aren't matched, the engine will automatically seize, and it will cost us about $75 for him to perform measurements to find out which rod caps went on which connecting rods (when I heard this, I figured it would be cheaper to just buy new connecting rods). He also says the main caps were mismatched, and they need to be measured for proper reinstallation (again, "or the engine will seize").
During the honing process, this guy said that the hone needed to be done specially for the chromemoly rings (I know you are supposed to use a different grit, but I've never heard of charging an additional fee). He also said cam bearing installation tools cost $400, when I've seen them online for $34. He charged my brother $100 to remove the cam bearings and install his new ones. He also was about to paint the block, and charge an additional fee for that. He insisted on removing and installing the new freeze plugs and charging for it, when we were planning to do that. My question is how much of all of this is fact, and how much of it is fallacy?
-Bob
During the honing process, this guy said that the hone needed to be done specially for the chromemoly rings (I know you are supposed to use a different grit, but I've never heard of charging an additional fee). He also said cam bearing installation tools cost $400, when I've seen them online for $34. He charged my brother $100 to remove the cam bearings and install his new ones. He also was about to paint the block, and charge an additional fee for that. He insisted on removing and installing the new freeze plugs and charging for it, when we were planning to do that. My question is how much of all of this is fact, and how much of it is fallacy?
-Bob
02-15-2008, 10:26 PM
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none...different caps on the rods/mains wont allow the motor to turn over freely and WILL chew the crank up/wear the bearings prematures, like within a couple thousand miles...i did it, i know...same thing with the rods, the machine shop i used put 2 rods on backwards, i indexed them correctly referencing the marks on the pistons when i installed them, but it chewed up my crank pretty good and broke the skirts off those 2 pistons....the heat part is also true when installing new pistons/pins
all of what you said is true, you just went to a really expensive machinist who charges for every little thing and doesn't bundle them into a package like alot of places do
all of what you said is true, you just went to a really expensive machinist who charges for every little thing and doesn't bundle them into a package like alot of places do
02-16-2008, 08:12 AM
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none...different caps on the rods/mains wont allow the motor to turn over freely and WILL chew the crank up/wear the bearings prematures, like within a couple thousand miles...i did it, i know...same thing with the rods, the machine shop i used put 2 rods on backwards, i indexed them correctly referencing the marks on the pistons when i installed them, but it chewed up my crank pretty good and broke the skirts off those 2 pistons....the heat part is also true when installing new pistons/pins
all of what you said is true, you just went to a really expensive machinist who charges for every little thing and doesn't bundle them into a package like alot of places do
all of what you said is true, you just went to a really expensive machinist who charges for every little thing and doesn't bundle them into a package like alot of places do
02-16-2008, 10:08 AM
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Thanks for the info guys. I thought the prices sounded high. Why not put money into an L05? it's essentially just the block he bought it for. This '95 block supports a roller cam and hydraulic roller lifters with no modification. It has the bosses drilled and tapped for the spider installation to support roller lifters. He's just using it for the block, crank, and connecting rods. Everything else is being replaced: new aluminum heads, roller cam, pistons, full rebuild kit, and he'll be using a carb. Is there anything wrong with the block, connecting rods, or crankshaft that differs from the Impala L05? He's looking for about 300 hp at the wheels in an F-body Camaro.
02-16-2008, 10:11 AM
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none...different caps on the rods/mains wont allow the motor to turn over freely and WILL chew the crank up/wear the bearings prematures, like within a couple thousand miles...i did it, i know...same thing with the rods, the machine shop i used put 2 rods on backwards, i indexed them correctly referencing the marks on the pistons when i installed them, but it chewed up my crank pretty good and broke the skirts off those 2 pistons....the heat part is also true when installing new pistons/pins
all of what you said is true, you just went to a really expensive machinist who charges for every little thing and doesn't bundle them into a package like alot of places do
all of what you said is true, you just went to a really expensive machinist who charges for every little thing and doesn't bundle them into a package like alot of places do
02-16-2008, 10:14 AM
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I was also wondering, is a re-balance mandatory whenever installing 0.030" over pistons? How much should a basic re-balance cost? I don't think this motor will see beyond 5500 RPM.
