02fbody35th

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AW794

iTrader: (7)

This update brought to you by levi's..... because i had to change mine after tonight... ill explain below

I havnt been able to get much done because of the rain. Seems like every time i try to do something a storm rolls in and i dont have a garage. Here's a few progress pictures







First "oh ****" moment.... Check out how loose the chain is




Now heres the real "oh ****" moment....
Im getting ready to pull the oil pump. I go to stuff my rag in between the oil pump and oil pan, that way if i drop the pickup tube bolt i can catch it in the rag.

WTF? Wheres the bolt for the pickup tube? I immediatly call a friend who has experience with ls1's to confirm what im seeing. I also referenced LS1howto, and sure enough there is supposed to be a bolt there. How my engine lasted with GREAT oil pressure, i dont know. At this point...
This is where the bolt is supposed to be


I apologize from this point i didnt snap anymore pictures, as i was trying to contain myself and not panic.

I continue to investigate, and try to pull the oil pump. But the damn thing wont budge. I cant push down the pickup tube far enough for it to clear. I get a flashlight, and peer into the oil pan. Only to find my missing bolt, wedged between the oil pan and oil pickup tube. With the bolt lodged in there, it held the pickup tube into the pump just enough for it to retain pressure. I couldnt believe how fortunate i was, as it could (should) have been catastrophic. With this luck I need to play the lottory!

Well thats all for an update today. After all this stress, im whooped!

adkunlimited

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jamesSS

+1 Im going to be doing this next spring. Love seeing pictures, really helps me get an eye on things before I actualy see it. Good luck.

AW794

iTrader: (7)

Glad i can help out!

180ls1

iTrader: (4)

nice work so far

KirkEvil

iTrader: (36)

Nice progress! Just a few pointers from problems I ran into...

Take your time with re-installing the oil pump to seat the O-ring. I had problems with the blue O-ring being to skinny and ended up going to napa to find a better fitting one.

Use locktite on the cam retainer plate bolts. Drove me nuts chasing oil pressure issues only to find that the bolts started backing out.

I had the same slack in my stock timing chain, and the ls2 chain I replaced was slightly tighter. As another member said, grind down the side of a stock head bolt and thread it in and out of the bolt holes to get the crap out. Do not rely on compressed air to get all the coolant out! Use twisted up paper towels (bolt hole tampons) to get all the fluid out. If you dont get all the liquid out you could hydro lock the bolt holes and crack the block when torquing the heads down.

Nice job so far, keep it up!

LilJayV10

iTrader: (39)

Looking good man. I just did a H/C/I/E swap on my Firehawk. I too used a roloc disc and made things easier. I have no idea how people get the oil pump back on in the car with the pan on. I was doing mine on an engine stand and it was a pain in the ***.

Double check to make sure the bolt holes are clean. I used compressed air to blow them out. I didn't think that was good enough so I used a blow gun with about a ten inch nozzle on it to get to the bottom on the holes and there were all sorts of **** still left in the holes.

AW794

iTrader: (7)

Today I got some things finished. Made great progress, as it didnt rain for once.

Started out by pulling the stock cam.


I actually had better luck pushing the condenser down, to clear the cam.




looks like normal wear


new parts ****




lube it up!


and stick it in! LOL










Dot to dot


I had to loosen the oil pan bolts - all of them actually. To allow clearance of the new oil pump over the pickup tube.


no pinching





Thats all for today. Thanks for looking

chrs1313

iTrader: (24)

what cc are you going to mill the heads to?

AW794

iTrader: (7)

Im not sure yet. Im going to check PTV clearance soon using the clay method. I will make that decision then.

chrs1313

iTrader: (24)

probably right around .040-.050 intake with a .40 gasket and stock unmilled 241s...

AW794

iTrader: (7)

Ill hold you to that! haha

ill post results when i measure, probably this weekend

adkunlimited

build looks like its going pretty well! i cant wait to get out of this desert and get started on mine. im looking forward to the flycutting

Squirts11

iTrader: (14)

I did the same thing. Granted, it was February and cold as *****, but now that it's summer, I'm fixing it asap!

Squirts11

iTrader: (14)

Also, I'd suggest getting a magnetic base and dial indicator and measure ptv vs. the clay method. I did both and the clay method showed .020" more clearance than what the dial method indicated (it's just too tough to get a great reading with clay, even modeling clay).

You'll need a couple checking springs and solid lifters (make your own, just turn the plunger upside down) as well.

AW794

iTrader: (7)

Been awhile since an update. Last weekend i was able to check PTV clearance. After much thought i checked PTV using a solid lifter feeler gauges and an adjustable pushrod checker. With a .40 cometic head gasket, i was getting numbers of .040 clearance on the intake and .055ish on the exhaust. So if the heads get milled .030 to 59cc, i would need to fly cut about .080. I decided to cut .100 just to be on the safe side. I spoke with several builders and verified that it would indeed be ok to cut .100, but no more than that.

Here is where i begin making flycuts.

Here are the lindy fly cutting tools (i borrowed the intake from someone, i dont think its a lindy tool, but worked just the same)


I invested in a 20$ 3/8's right angle drill from harbor freight. It allowed me to reach the back cylinders with ease, and did the job well


Rotated the crank until the piston is at TDC, and taped it up to prevent aluminum shavings from working their way to the rings


I collected a few feeler gauges and verified that they were the the set i wanted.


Measuring the depth to set the stopper can be a little tricky. You want to make sure you mark your cutter on the shaft verifying the location of the cutting flute. The reason? You can get a false reading if the tool is hitting the piston in between the cutting teeth. After thats verified, insert your feeler gauges (in this case .100) and bring the stopper down to set it. Make sure the stopper is tight!


Attach your right angle drill to the shaft, and cut away!


The result?


Heres a few that are finished


Its not really all that hard. I thought it would be tougher. Remember to measure 50 times and cut once!

ZROCWS6

iTrader: (3)

Wow not bad there!

printmanjackson

iTrader: (1)

man that's a big cut. good job

AW794

iTrader: (7)

A small update today, i got a few things wraped up. I forgot my camera so please excuse the crappy cellphone pics. First off i finished fly cutting. I only had #5 and #8 to complete the job. After they were cut, i hit the flycuts with some 220 grit paper to knock the little burs off. Then i moved on to clean the front cover and remove the seal


All clean! Added the new seal, gasket, and a bead of silicone at the bottom


I left the timing cover bolts loose and lightly hammered on the harmonic balancer to the crank snout. Then proceded to tighten the old crank bolt to finish pulling the balancer into place. After the balancer was in place, it was time to torque down the timing cover bolts to 18ft lbs


I dont have my heads back from TEC, so i installed the remaining head studs and called it a day.


I tool a look at my ls6 intake, and noticed it had a substantial ammount of oil in there. Im quite sure its from the PCV system. I would like to eliminate it all together.

Question: What are you guys running for a breather setup?

Thats all for today, thanks for looking!