sleeving lq4?????????????
Some OEM and almost all aftermarket aluminum blocks are fitted with replaceable sleeves. All the rest are made with the "cast in" liners meaning iron cylinder liners where placed in the mold and the aluminum poured afterwards, making it impossible to just remove the liners. LS blocks are as or no more difficult as any other that share the same design. Early on, a few machinist where just boring the holes out and driving straight, non-flanged sleeves in just as if it where an old skool SBC. It didn't/doesn't work well as the sleeves had a tendency to drop (slide down). Any machine shop equipped to handle flanged sleeve installs will have no problems provided they keep in mind the proper interference fit and/or the expansion rate of aluminum. For me, flanged sleeves are too time consuming to justify installing them (at this time). If I had CNC stuff, it would be painless.
and other problems !like the 6.0 factory block isn't siamesed.]
This is where the custom sleeves come in.........or at least custom modified sleeves. Flanged sleeves aren't necessary on iron blocks as they are for aluminum so no specialty there. But, when we get into the big bore 4.125"+ stuff, the sleeves have to be cut (flat-sided) where two sleeves meet side by side................just as the sleeves ERL installs and as are the factory sleeves in LS7 blocks for example. This is nothing new as it is standard practice in sleeving old skool SBC 400 blocks.
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Last edited by 1994z; Dec 5, 2011 at 07:58 PM.
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Some OEM and almost all aftermarket aluminum blocks are fitted with replaceable sleeves. All the rest are made with the "cast in" liners meaning iron cylinder liners where placed in the mold and the aluminum poured afterwards, making it impossible to just remove the liners. LS blocks are as or no more difficult as any other that share the same design. Early on, a few machinist where just boring the holes out and driving straight, non-flanged sleeves in just as if it where an old skool SBC. It didn't/doesn't work well as the sleeves had a tendency to drop (slide down). Any machine shop equipped to handle flanged sleeve installs will have no problems provided they keep in mind the proper interference fit and/or the expansion rate of aluminum. For me, flanged sleeves are too time consuming to justify installing them (at this time). If I had CNC stuff, it would be painless.
http://www.gmhightechperformance.com...s/viewall.html
Considering the cost of sleeving versus iron LSX blocks priced at $2000, it's beginning to be clear why LQ4 blocks aren't sleeved.
I also install MID sleeves in the iron 6.1 Hemi blocks and they are not inexpensive to do either. Looking forward to getting my hands on one of the new 6.1 aluminum Hemi blocks!
Steve
Steve Demirjian
Race Engine Development
Oceanside, Ca.
760-630-0450
web: www.raceenginedevelopment.com/
e-mail: race-engine-development@***.net










