So, if I order a machined block from HKE, Erik needs all my pistons in order for it to work?

What?

 

The stock blocks from the factory aren't torque plate honed. I know somebody will come up with an anectdote about it but I don't think it's really necessary unless you are building a full on blueprinted race motor with super close tolerances. But in our community it's also kind of the cool thing to do everything to the max weather it needs doing or not.

 

i am currently using one, all measurements were correct, and we are using a eagle stroker kit and mahle pistons from cnc-motorsports. and like was said earlier, piston manufactering has gotten pretty good these days. but in the end it was my decision and my money so i did what i want, others can do what ever they want and it doesnt bother me so why would what i do bother others.

 

End of thread.....

 

 

I think there is a lot of things to think about here but the basic question was has anyone used them, I have used there Gen1 chevy stuff with no issues. As others say here all machine shops have their own way of doing things theres good ways and bad ways to do things... What is the goal with this engine, a 8000 rpm na motor or a 1000hp turbo build....maybe a 500 horse street driven build, what type of piston do you plan on running, some will expand more under heat and require you to hone to size.... to just generalize it is crazy..... one of my old machinests straight out told me half the stuff he did wasn't needed on a 400-500hp engine some steps they do to cover there own butt in case of failure ... and to just say a performance engine needs it is crazy, if its within the manufactures specs then your probably going to be ok, this is why anyone who builds engines is told to check everything twice... and even if it needed a touch up for a piston the price summit sells it for plus that still comes out a lot cheaper then what some shops charge to do it the first time which isn't always correct either.....

and just a personal experience with piston to wall..... I worked on Manny Buginga's super street outlaw car and we had a major issue at a race where we lifted the ring land on two pistons after qualifying, this was just freshened up using the last spare that we had weeks before so we had nothing in the trailer but the old set of pistons that were .010 smaller, we honed the cyinders to clean them up and installed the old pistons with the same rings..there was .018 piston to wall, we ran it all through eliminations winning the event and then ran it 4 days later qualifying again for another race until we could get the spare engine back to us.....we never even lost a mph during the 10 plus passes but then again I guess 2000+ horsepower and low 7 second et's may not be performance enough.

 

Hello All,

We are glad to see there is interest in our Summit Racing LS Engine blocks and want to address any concerns. A few of the things we have picked up from the posting so far are below and will do our best to provide additional information as needed.

The blocks are an iron 6.0L truck block bored to 4.030" and clearanced for up to a 4.00" stroke with H-beam rods. They are drilled for use with a truck accessory serpentine system. If your build requires a different drive belt layout you may be required to purchase specialty brackets or drill and tap new mounting points.

You should wait to purchase your head bolts until after receiving your new block since it could use either one of the two bolt lengths available. The instruction sheet that will ship with your new block will inform you of your block's head bolt style.

Our block is going to be machined using a deck plate system and the cylinders will be finish honed using the following equipment: Sunnen CK-21 or Sunnen CV-606 Ra spec max 30 after hone, max 25 after brushing. New Durabond Cam bearings and a new steel freeze plug are installed by our supplier.

All of our blocks have been checked for damage and are not used if inserts or major repairs are needed.

If you have any further questions, please post your reply and we will do our best to get you the answer you're looking for.

Thanks!

 

Your a fool. Show me your build sheet with piston measurements.You just add bs to the internet. Most of the ding bats on here dont realize the clearance is built into the pistons. For almost all on here this block would be fine for your so called true performance build. Alot better than some goof ball with a junkyard 4.8 makin 900 horsepower.

 

Sorry, lol.

 

YOU'RE exactly right. This block is beyond any problems. Chances are 100 percent of the people that buy them will have great success.

I'll stick to fitting the bores to the pistons to ensure everything is what it is supposed to be. And not have to rely on what summit tells me.

 

My machine shop always requires me to have the pistons present when doing any bore work. And this is a veeery experienced shop. I'm not saying the guys who don't do this are doing it wrong, but if you are shooting for specific clearances, this is the correct way to do it.

 

^This^ Doing it the GM / Summit way is fine for mass-production but it's one of the reasons why these motors with short piston skirts develop piston slap at low miles. On any performance build where you want specific clearances you should always machine the bores to match the pistons.

 

A lot of people don't understand why ls1's had piston slap. GM has made millions of iron blocks but was new to production aluminum v8 blocks. They messed up on the tolerances. They got it figured out and it's a thing of the past. I'm currently building an engine and the pistons are being fitted to the bores. I'm building an aluminum block for FI and I need to get it right. If I was doing a budget build this block would probably be it.

 

V8pwr I could be wrong but the aluminum block has nothing to do with piston slap.....there is an iron sleeve so the thermal expansion is close to the same if much at all between the two blocks, its piston design and material where the issues are, the rate of thermal expansion is different and requires larger/smaller clearances. Now if they used a different material sleeve or there was say a nikosil coating or anything like that then you have to take that into consideration when bore/honing for the piston..... every material that is being used has different expansion rates....

 

Mahle has been producing the stock pistons for a while. The aluminum block isn't necessaily the problem. It's the manufacturing tolerances that were the problem. Some blocks would have it bad while others did not have it at all. As I stated previously, this is a thing of the past. The top of the sleeve will be a lot hotter than the average block temp or coolant temp. Have you ever noticed that an aluminum block requires different clearances than an iron block? That's one reason why some competent machine shops screwed up building an ls1 with SBC/SBF tolerances. They had no oil pressure at operating temp. A machine shop isn't going to tell you they don't need your pistons. You have a combination of "That's how it's always been done" & it's more money for them. A lot of machine shops don't care to hold +/-.001 anyway. Try to find a shop that honestly holds +/-.0001.

 

Does "Our block is going to " mean this is a new system or have all blocks been machined this way?

 

All of the past and present Summit racing LS Blocks have been machined and produced this way.

 

Thanks summit....was wondering because I just recieved your LS block (150105) and it hand a return tag stating reason "Retail Return Please Inspect" so it was probably sitting for awhile. It looks very clean, will be inspecting very closely because I don't know why it was returned, maybe you would be able to shed some light on that.

 

Thank you for letting us know. So we can take a closer look, we have sent you a PM to get your order information. Please reply to the private message and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

 

So Summit does a deal with ATK Performance on LQ4 engine assemblies. ATK says their blocks are hand picked...at the same time I get a block from Summit that is a retail return. I hate any item that has been returned especially something as suspect as a machined engine block. What does Summit do with ATK rejects