I was just going to keep the 346. But if I end up rebuilding (because again, ugh lol) and can do it for a relative bargain, I'll punch it out to a 383.

Doesn't mean a 454 wouldn't happen eventually. But I don't have $7k to drop on a shortblock.

 

That Darin Morgan fella knows sum sh#t for sure !!!!!
I've really wanted to put a Ls3 block with a .005" hone and stock crank just
cuz I like the sound of a 377 incher but if I'm gonna buy a new GM block
then darn it I may as well get the LS7 and hone it to 4.130 for a 388 incher
Big Bore/Short Stroke.....just as soon as I stumble across 10 grand...

 

He does. He is the most knowledgeable engine guy I have ever had the opportunity to speak with. FYI, he will port LS1/6 heads by hand (for TEA pricing) if anyone is so inclined. He and Reher do some pretty cool things. Motor theory wise, they know their stuff.

 

More updates. Disassembly is pretty much done now. Except for one little problem, which I'll get to in a moment. I took the front cover off, loosened all the oil pan bolts and dropped it a bit, got my wrench on the 10mm bolt for the oil pickup tube, removed the cam retainer and bolts, and removed the cam this morning.

Having it on the engine stand made it a 15 min job this morning.

Pics:















Now, my question is (and I'm going to ask this since I used a shitty tool before, rednecked it, and damanged my crankshaft) is how do I get the crankshaft timing gear off without further damaging my crank? I know Kent Moore sells tools for this, but I really don't want to pay for Kent Moore tools just to remove this damn thing. What have some of you done to remove this? I need to get this off so I can install the Rollmaster timing gear on the crank.

 

Same 3 jaw puller you used for the Balancer. Maybe...

I still had mine that I had rented from Autozone. Well, I broke two, and it was the most frustrating thing in the world. You just couldn't get the arms "in" enough to get a good grip. I even made a thread bitching about it like a whiny school girl.

The 3 jaw puller from Advance literally made it a 3 minute job. It's a STOUT piece, with enough room to get the jaws in without bottoming out on each other, if that makes sense.

 

I destroyed the one from O'Reilly, a socket, and my crank snout tip. Ha. Guess I'll goto Advance.

Btw, looks like I might pay 50 for the balancer install tool since it'll double to install the gear as well. I'll buy a tool if I can get at least two uses out of it... Lol

 

If you ever have to pull a stock balancer off again get the Chrysler style harmonic balancer puller. You can use it on pretty much every engine out there now. IMO it's a lot better/safer.

When pulling the crank gear off I normally thread the crank bolt back in the crank and use a puller with a flat nose on the end of it instead of the tapered end.

FWIW I wouldn't worry about running that crank. Clean it up with a roloc disc and call it good. I wouldn't think that little bit of galling on the snout is going to cause any sort of balance issue. Unless you are just wanting an excuse to go bigger.

 

Memo to Jake....The new Lunati cranks come with no timing chain gear...
no need to fret it...just put the new gear on...hashtag # what puller ???

 

This.

 

That's what I'll do. I have no use for the old GM bolt, so I don't care if I f it. I just don't want to sustain any more damage to the crank and force *whoops* a new crankshaft in there.

I did order the Hawks install tool. I probably could have made one, but blah. I know this will work.

Also, I saw the OTC 6667 is probably as good as the Kent Moore pulley removal tool:

 

Thanks, Jay and Dave. That worked like a charm. Took me like 3 mins to pop the sprocket off. For those wondering how to do it, just reinstall the stock GM bolt as far as you can get it for as many threads to catch and goto Advance and rent the PowerBuilt puller. It's nice and free.

I just oiled up the threads to make it super easy.

Now, I'll work on the fuel pump while I wait for the Hawk installer tool to reinstall the Rollmaster timing sprocket.

 

Alright, so my wife said no to a forged motor. I'll just wait on that until the stock one goes boom. In the meantime, I have suspension work and a rearend that I need. Oh, and a small nitrous shot.

So, I'm continuing on with my original build plan of flycutting the pistons and putting this thing back together. I just got the Hawks Tool on Sat to install my timing chain crank gear and balancer, so now I can go ahead and get the cam installed and degreed.

I also decided to go ahead and get the ARP rod bolts and a new oil pan gasket. I figure why not. I know the argument for resizing the rods, but I'm going to go with it. I'd rather have a rod bearing go bad than the rod come apart and take out my heads or block...

 

Like the nitrous! Also, the resizing the rods will show to be a good move.

 

Yeah, I know. I'll see what that'll cost with the machine shop I'm having mill my heads.

 

You can install the replacement timing chain sprocket by just flipping the OEM sprocket over and using it to push on the replacement sprocket and oil pump drive. The stock crank bolt works fine for pulling the sprocket and pump drive on. It works great, and no special too needed. This does not solves the damper install issue though.

 

That's true, but I didn't want to force it on the crank if I only had a couple of threads catching in the beginning. I'm overly cautious with the crank now due to the damage.

 

Exactly. Use the old one to push the new one on, and use the balancer install tool. Thread engagement is key, as always.

 

When I did mine there were many turns to get the bolt in. The press fit of the sprocket is very light compared to the damper. I would not use the bolt for the damper.

That crank damage is ugly, but if you clean it up the sharp edges with a dremel, I don't see it really causing a problem long term.

 

I have been working on the motor this week in the evenings.

I installed the new EPS cam after cleaning it up with some B-12 chemtool. I coated it in Joe Gibbs assembly lube. I then coated the retainer plate in assembly lube and installed it. It's a new LS3 cam retainer plate and countersunk T40 bolts. They are to be torqued to 11-ft/lbs. My 3/8" torque wrench goes down to 13. So I just went with that.



Next up in the Rollmaster Double Roller timing set. The little guide "nipple" from the camshaft wouldn't fit. So I had to take a 1/4" drill bit and massage the hole for it to sit right on the cam. Because of that, I forgot to check end play. It's impossible to check with the chain on there. And it's a total bitch to install this thing with the double roller. I may end up taking it off to check since the Torrington bearing stuck to the retainer plate when I was trying to get the thing lined up to install. I think it went back on flush or else it wouldn't have torqued down right. I installed Blue loctite on ARP cam bolts and torqued them down to 28ft-lbs.



Next up I started my degree process. I found TDC by checking .050" of travel on my Dial indicator CCW before TDC and CW after TDC. I added the two and divided by 2 and came out with TDC and repositioned my pointer there and zero'd out the timing wheel.



Then, I moved from the piston to the cam. I took an old GM lifter and placed it on the intake lobe and put a 5" extension on my dial indicator on the body of the lifter. I then rotated the crank CCW until I hit maximum lift and went another .050" and recorded the number and went back CW until I went .050" past maximum lift. I ended up with an ICL of 110 when my cam is ground on a 108. Part of it may be that the timing marks were ever so slightly off on the Rollmaster, and I should have played with it some more. Either way, I'm going to remeasure and see if I had an error. If it checks out and I can't reinstall the timing set any closer, I may just advance it 2 degrees and recheck.

 

Nice! Coming along Jake! Did the block make it to the machine shop for rod resizing?