A while back, I killed the engine in my autocross Camaro. Teardown confirmed my initial guess that I had spun a bearing. Pics:

Stuff I found in the oil



#6 rod bearing



Matching rod journal



Main bearings and cam looked good



As did the bores



Now I'm looking for advice in rebuilding the engine. I'm trying to do this relatively inexpensively, which means no overbore or new pistons. I've never rebuilt an engine, so I'd rather have people err on the side of talking down to me instead of assuming I know more than I do.

With that in mind...

Replace the crank, or get the rod journals turned?

I'd like to replace every bearing in the engine. Any advice on which I should use?

Rings--I never had any problems with them at all, but I assume I may as well replace them. Any advice here?

Obviously, most LS1 gaskets are reusable, and I never had any problems with leaks. But are there any I should replace anyway, aside from the obvious head gaskets/header gaskets? (I'm replacing the oil pan gasket just in case it was hiding any debris.)

Is there a good reference book for someone in my position? Rebuilding LS Motors for Dummies?

In order to prevent a repeat of this problem, I've ordered a new oil pan baffle from Improved Racing, and an SLP oil pump. But the strict rules for my class mean the rotating assembly and heads have to be 100% stock.

Any other advice? Thanks!

 

http://www.eastwood.com/how-to-rebui...FQ6f4AodoAMAPw

Very good reference book, also the assembly manual for your camaro from GM is great to, it's the one the techs use...got mine on eBay

 

I used a book called How To Build And Modify GM LS- Series Engines. Its a outstanding book. That and LS1tech is all i used to build my iron 408 and it runs great no issues. Just take ur time and check then recheck things. If u follow all the directions in the book u shouldnt have any issues.

 

My suggestion is read read read on everything you can about ls motors. They are not hard to rebuild but there are many steps that are special to ls motors that sbc's do not apply to. Take your time and if you don't feel comfortable doing something ask someone who knows to help. There are tons of books about rebuilding ls motors that include everything from machining to what parts to buy etc.

 

I'll be the first to save you some money. Don't BUY a book, download it. If you have Frostwire or any popular file sharing/torrent program, you should be able to find "Building the chevy ls engine" in PDF format. Tons of great info. I'm using it to do the same thing to my first ls1 right now. Good luck.

 

Just not as fun to read a pdf on the toilet......lol
The How to build and modify LS engines by Joseph Potak is a great book.

 

Thank you for the responses so far. Anyone have advice on the other stuff, like what bearings to use?

 

If you are going for a stock rebuild, some sealed power bearings will work fine. Anything over stock, I go Clevite H every time.

 

The car dynoed 343 rwhp/354 rwlbft before I killed it. Nothing special, as only basic bolt-ons are allowed.

 

consider better rods ,or recondition the stock rods with arp bolts.

 

Non-stock rods would definitely be illegal, and rod bolts probably would be.

The short version is that the entire rotating assembly has to be factory stock, as do the heads & valvetrain.

 

Honestly I'd prob just go for an LS6 oil pump seen a lot of problems with others. ls 2 chain also

 

If you do autox a lot, you might want to think about running an extra quart of oil too.

 

I've picked up an Improved Racing baffle and SLP oil pump to handle the oiling duties, and will be running an extra quart of oil.

 

look here

https://ls1tech.com/forums/generatio...ance-mods.html

 

I thought the powdered metal rods weren't able to be reconditioned?

 

I'd just turn and polish the crank and reuse it. As for the rods since Ktech is GM supplier I would think set of their bolts would count as factory parts. Beyond that get a stock master overhaul kit with rings bearings and seals and gaskets and call it a day. Will your class allow head work on the stock heads? A valve job on any rebuild is a must, if the heads got a little port work at the same time who would be the wiser?

 

A valve job would probably be allowed, getting caught with ported heads would probably be a problem. Lol