383ls1blazer

iTrader: (8)

engine is 347 ls1 gt42 turbo 8.2:1 comp, 317 heads shooting for 700-800rwhp.

So i had this motor built by lawless engines back in the day, ive never fired it btw, i noticed the machine surface was kinda rough but thought hey these guys know what they're doing. So i installed the heads which arp studs and cometic .040 gaskets and hoped for the best. well last week i found out that the block should have dowels to align the heads and i was like damn it guess we have to tear down the engine and put those in. So i take the head ff and can see a nice black line where the gasket was sealing. however upon closer inspection i noticed breaks in the sealing line where there were rough machining marks and came to the conclusion that the gasket must not be sealing there. So my question is what can i do about this:
should i not worry?
use copper spray with existing cometic gaskets?
get ls9 gaskets?
hand lap the deck?
get a thicker gasket?
use a different material gasket like felpro or graphite?
and dont tell me to remachine the block cuase if so well this project is over for the time being
pics
This was pic of dek before install


pick of deck close up of rough machining marks and break in sealing line

lsxmalibu

iTrader: (50)

id be more worried about what looks to be a crack in that one cylinder liner.

68 SS

iTrader: (23)

Copper coat LS9 gaskets is the way I would go

Moter

iTrader: (20)

Exactly! That does not look good

9sectruck

iTrader: (9)

if you can feel the ripple with a finger nail its to rough for a mls gasket, I forgot what ra its sopposed to be for the finsh but it looks way to rough.
the cylinder does look f--- up

BLOWNBLUEZ06

iTrader: (17)

Since you have dish pistons and are posting in F/I, I'm assuming you're going to boost this motor. No way I would run it with that radial crack in the liner. If you insist though, I would hand lap the surface. Either disassemble the motor, do it, clean it and reassemble or on an engine stand, upside down to keep any grit from getting down in the motor. Start with 180 and then move to 320, understanding if you don't to it right, your deck surface will be uneven and your problems just got even greater.

383ls1blazer

iTrader: (8)

so that cracking along the top isnt normal thisis what happens when uve never seen another block close up and trust people. I just noticed the cracking in the cylinder yesterday night and was wondering what hell that was all about. So im thinking iron block what do you guys think is the cheapest route from here just transfer the old stuff into a new block. but first lets talk more about the block i have now so what will happen will the sleeve deform at that point. (the cracking is along the outside and not deep it looks like when the sleeve was installed the stress broke the upper lip along the outside) and blow out or what. And u guys agree this block it too rough for mls gaskets?

383ls1blazer

iTrader: (8)

I will take more pics of the engine deck as well

383ls1blazer

iTrader: (8)

pic of 3rd piston on passenger side


closer pic of 3rd piston


pic of fourth piston


close up of fourth piston



is this normal or do i rly have a problem (now that you have a better perspective from the pics) can post as many pics as u guys want

stevieturbo

Maybe the pics are showing something else, but it certainly doesnt look good around the top of the liners.

And in the very first pic you posted, around 2-3 oclock on the first liner, is that a dent in the surface ?

In general the deck finish is very poor, and far from ideal for a MLS gasket. But Ive used similar or worse myself and it sealed fine. Problem is useless ******* machine shops here who dont have the correct equipment to deck them smoothly.

For the price of a new block, it would make a lot of sense to get one.

The Alchemist

iTrader: (19)

My machinist said you can't have too smooth of a surface when it comes to a MLS gasket and boost.

383ls1blazer

iTrader: (8)

is there another type of gasket i can use then in place of mls?

And stevie turbo i think what ur refering to is a drop of oil the deck has no dents at least and ur right these machine shops dont have the pcn bits to cut the decks flat and i dont think they wanna take the time either cuase ud have to feed real slow so the overlap of each cut is mininal to nothing. Plus the engine shop said they xray and etch tested the whole block to make sure it was good bull. Does anybody know anything about lawless engines i heard they got run out of town (las vegas)or at least brett did. i paid good money (3500)for this thing and this is what i get i trusted them. I dont want you guys to think i just hacked this thing together.

any more opinions on the condition of the sleeves

BigRich954RR

iTrader: (1)

Dont worry to much about the crack it not great but i dont think it will be a ending reason.

What i dont understand is the deck looks rough but why can you still see the old gasket lines ???

3500 is a real low price for a FI short block

I wounldnt go sanding anything on the deck to make the finish smoother as a low spot will fuckyou just as much as a rough finish how much power are you looking to make ??

2000RATA

I don't see anything wrong with any of it. Pictures can't show what the bare eyes do. I took some pics of my motor and heads some close up of the deck surfaces. Badass finish from a $30,000 Rottler surfacer. The pics with even a fingerprint smudge made it look messed up. So I believe yours looks fine.

383ls1blazer

iTrader: (8)

Im looking to make about 700-800, i thought 3500 is an average price for 347 shortblock thats about how much they cost from tsp or is that just a base line or something how much would a iron 370-408 cost for fi cuase thats what ill prolly b putting in if this thing goes.

383ls1blazer

iTrader: (8)

so what do u guys think about the area circled in red? can so copper spray and ls9 seal that? should i just install the head with the ls9 gasket and then remove it to see if the line is continuous?

pwrtrip75

iTrader: (8)

I think it looks fine. I dont even deck my blocks, just run a file over the top and check for high spots and then rough it all up w/ like 180 grit sand paper. Those are nothing where the cylinders meet the block, it is two different metals and the edge is just rough.... I wouldnt worry about it. Id run a sanding block over the whole deck lightly and use copper spray and put it together... no worries.

BLOWNBLUEZ06

iTrader: (17)

As I mentioned earlier, I will add to this recommendation to take measures to keep the grit out of your cylinders as it can do damage.

68 SS

iTrader: (23)

You cannot judge the sealing of the head gasket by the imprint you are seeing especially seeing how you never ran the motor, heat will stick the gasket to the block that combined with the pressure from the head bolts once it heat cycles a few times. The RA of the block surface is a little rough but i have seen way worse take a lot of abuse like i said above copper coated LS9 gaskets and run it.