I usually pull heads since I dont own a borescope....lot different looking Directly at piston rather than trying to make out small imperfections in the cylinder walls/ rings/ etc.

I know if I was racing a car competitively I wouldnt hesitate to pull the motor or heads and handle issues rather than leaving it up to a mechanic in a can, although sea foam is a good product..

All I'm saying is that if you wanna race the car legitamatley you are better off assessing the problem and fixing it right, rather than hoping it doesnt blow up/ spin rod/ throw rod/ etc

 

The journey continues .... pulled the head today. Found basically nothing. If you look at the cylinders at an angle all you see is the cross hatch. If you look at them straight on (using mirror) then you can see uniform vertical lines. Feel with fingernail and they are all completely smooth. Everything else looks almost new. Very little carbon on anything - most of the top of the piston you can see the machining marks since the carbon is so thin. Intakes runners are completely clean. Rockers and pushrods look new.

So now what? I'm not seeing anything that to my untrained eye would look like anything other than normal and minimal wear. Am I missing something? Anything else to do?

Thanks
Cameron

 

I have had this happen before. 1st and 2nd ring gaps may line up. Put it back together and enjoy.

 

Pull the pistons and check the rest of it. You have already pulled the heads (which is the more expensive thing to do as you have to replace HG and bolts). If I was to the point the heads are off I would pull the pistons and take a hard look at them.

I'll bet a beer that your going to find sticky pistons rings. I've reused rings before but NOT on a track car.

You're already there! complete the "refresh" properly now...

While you have the heads off would be a good time to upgrade things properly in the case of head milling, head gasket selection, verification of deck height, valve pocket creation in the stock pistons, new LS7 lifters, new LS2 lifter trays, the list can be long.....

With the pistons out it's a good time to put ARP rod bolts in and have the big ends resized.

I wouldn't take heads off just to check... I'd DO THINGS while I had them off.

 

.....And here is the whole resizing a cracked cap design argument.

.ARP # 134-6006 doesn't need any resizing, and neither does the Katech. Quick and easy.

 

Anyone know of a reputable shop to rebuild the short block in the Central Illinois area? Just basically stock build reusing pistons, rods, crank etc. Ive built a couple motors before without issue but I dont have the right equipment or experience to do it 'right'. Since it lives its life on a racetrack I want the factory type of quality.

I never have anyone work on my vehicles except warranty work which almost without exception has to be done multiple time because they screwed up the first time. I personally built everything for my swap except the driveshaft. You know the only thing that has failed is the shaft due to poor welds from driveshaft shop. To be honest Im really tempted just to leave it alone because Im more scared it will get screwed up more than it will blow up as it is. If there were a reputable, reliable shop i think i would go that way. Recommendations?

Cameron

 

the regional forum on the main page would be the place to find reputable shop in your area

 

So decided to be conservative and rebuild it. Glad to because they found broken ring lands on 3 and 5 plus 7 rod bearing was flaking and starting to go. It's the land between the compression and second ring so you couldnt see it just looking at the top of the piston. Completely stock '02 LS1. So what makes the ring lands crack like this and how do I prevent from happening again?

 

Are you able to check the ring end gaps? If they are on the tight side, with the RPM and stress level you were at, you could have been hot enough for them to butt and break the lands...