Anyone have any feedback on Golen LT1 shortblocks?
Had a local guy go run his 383 golen LT1 at the track last thursday. The balancer flew off on the 2nd pass. Apparently the eagle cranks Golen uses dont work too well with the stock balancer if its not keyed. The car otherwise ran okay, if you dont mind be slower than other local stock shortblock LT1's on less nitrous, LOL.
Then again this wasnt my car, so please feel free to flame.
Then again this wasnt my car, so please feel free to flame.
Last edited by kinglt-1; Mar 16, 2009 at 05:13 PM.
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From: Easley, SC
Beats me. Thats just what the guy told me.
It didnt make power on the dyno either. Whats that got to do with anything? Maybe they're just not that good?
The setup as a whole dictates the power, not the shortblock. His poor performance could be because of poorly chosen parts. Whats done to the top end, where the power is actually made?
Thats fine, but you are makin it sound like it's golen shortblock thats the problem, but you really don't know for sure. If the rings are fine and compression is good, then the golen shortblock is not the reason for its poor times/numbers. You can't blame golen for the balancer for coming off either. Whoever put the stock balancer on should of seen that the crank was keyed and fixed the issue properly by recommending an aftermarket balancer such as ati etc...No pissin match here, just be sure your placing blame on the right thing.
The eagle crank's snout is polished so when you bolt the stock balancer on it does not seat to the crank and will spin off. hence why it comes keyed. The stock crank's snout has a cast surface that helps the stock balancer seat when you tighten the bolt. I only ran into this issue when running a procharger, not na tho. So I switched to a fluid dampner wich was keyed and all was good!
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just to add a few more comments on recent posts (after the pissing stopped)
1. The short block by itself does not make the power other than the increased cubic inches it offers if bored/stroked. The "power" is in heads/cam AND all the supporting mods to make those 2 critical componets provide max power. exhaust, fuel, tune, injectors,TC, gears, suspension set up, tires, driver abilities, track/weather conditions etc. are all part of the equation.
Golen advises and offers to use a "keyed" hub. again a note on a Golen motor that had nothing to do with Golen.
3. until a year or so ago the head offerings and cam choices offered by Golen frankly were weak. They now offer LE packages but certainly will put any combo you want.
4. I agree that if there is a competant shop you know of locally there certainly is a advantage in dealing with a local source.
The author of this thread asked a specific ? about a product. Are there other choices he can make, yes but again he asked about a Golen short block and for those who replied with direct knowledge good or bad I hope it helped answer his ?
1. The short block by itself does not make the power other than the increased cubic inches it offers if bored/stroked. The "power" is in heads/cam AND all the supporting mods to make those 2 critical componets provide max power. exhaust, fuel, tune, injectors,TC, gears, suspension set up, tires, driver abilities, track/weather conditions etc. are all part of the equation.
Golen advises and offers to use a "keyed" hub. again a note on a Golen motor that had nothing to do with Golen.
3. until a year or so ago the head offerings and cam choices offered by Golen frankly were weak. They now offer LE packages but certainly will put any combo you want.
4. I agree that if there is a competant shop you know of locally there certainly is a advantage in dealing with a local source.
The author of this thread asked a specific ? about a product. Are there other choices he can make, yes but again he asked about a Golen short block and for those who replied with direct knowledge good or bad I hope it helped answer his ?
from what I've seen the golen long blocks def aren't the best powerwise, the guy is an engine assembler by trade and setting up heads and cam packages aren't exactly his forte from what I've seen. his h/c setups tend to come up short in comparison with companies like AI or LE
Agreed, thats why I went with golens shortblock and dropped off the heads and intake at LPE! Going with AI or LE would be good too. LPE is 30min from my house, so I went with them and got a pretty good deal.
Last edited by kinglt-1; Mar 16, 2009 at 10:01 PM.
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From: Ohio
Very true, and since this topic is about golen I will chime in.
The guy who built my engine installed a golen engine into a camaro a few years back. It smoked from the time it started to this day, golen would not fix it, they told him to run the **** out of it. (not sure if them are exact words, this is what he said).
The guy who built my engine installed a golen engine into a camaro a few years back. It smoked from the time it started to this day, golen would not fix it, they told him to run the **** out of it. (not sure if them are exact words, this is what he said).
That is my other issue with not using someone locally. If there is a problem you have to take the engine out, go through the pain in the *** of crating it, then pay for shipping and be at the mercy of said long distance shop as to whether or not the problem is covered under warranty and if shipping costs will be covered. Screw a bunch of that...
Did/do you know Chris Buchs? He used to work there. Not sure if he works there anymore though...
Did/do you know Chris Buchs? He used to work there. Not sure if he works there anymore though...
i am pleased with my golen short block, the balancer did spin on me but that is my fault, i have replaced with a keyed balancer. i did get a cam from him and i ported my heads myself and very pleased with the results. the engine is noisy (mostly when cold) and have talked to golen several times about it and was told to run it. the warranty is out now and hasn't come apart yet. every time i called tech chad himself answered and was very helpful. i am very pleased with golen.
i am pleased with my golen short block, the balancer did spin on me but that is my fault, i have replaced with a keyed balancer. i did get a cam from him and i ported my heads myself and very pleased with the results. the engine is noisy (mostly when cold) and have talked to golen several times about it and was told to run it. the warranty is out now and hasn't come apart yet. every time i called tech chad himself answered and was very helpful. i am very pleased with golen.
could it be piston slap? i have been through the valve adjustment several times and have run it with the valve covers off and the rocker arms don't make much noise. sounds like it is coming from the cylinders. it gets quieter when the engine warms up.
