Long story short, out in the middle of nowhere was making a wot pull and lost oil pressure. Instantly put it in neutral, car died while slowing down. Took a few seconds to crank up and it couldn't idle by itself for the first few seconds. Could also hear faint knocking over 2.5k rpms. Added some oil, checked for bent pushrods, etc... didnt find anything a miss. Being so far out in the middle of nowhere there wasnt much we could do so we had to baby it home. Only trouble i had on the way back was the car wanted to die whenever in neutral. The funny thing is it had no cam surge/bucking at all, where before anytime i was below 2.5k rpms it would. It actually drove great for cruising at such low rpms

Current setup:
Stock 98 LS1 w/Katech rod bolts
243 AI Heads
226/230 AI Cam
Fast 90/90

I dont wanna waste money on the 98 block so the plan is to buy a 370ci TMS Iron Shortblock. Want to keep the rebuild total as close to 3k as possible. So as long as my 243 heads are ok I'll be happy.

Should have some pics tearing down the ls1 tomorrow.

 

Sucks, but that new engine will make you happier.. In a month you'll forget about the money

 

TMS 370 would be good.

 

Yea pretty excited about driving it again. Jake we'll have to setup a cruise sometime.

Didnt get as far as I wanted today, because the crank puller wouldnt work on the ASP underdrive pulley. Didnt want to force it. Found oil pooled on top of the valves when I pulled the intake. Thinking it came from the intake since the majority/all the valves had oil pooled.

Heres a before pic:


Oil on top of valves:

 

That'd be cool, you're just down the road. And that's one clean 3rd gen!

For a puller, goto Advance and RENT one of their good pullers with a force rod. It'll pop the ASP off without damaging anything.

I made an impromptu force rod from a socket and damaged the nose of my crank snout as seen here:

 

Definitely not sure how that happened Jake. What kind of socket were you using? I used an impact socket when i removed my crank pulley. Not as much as a scratch on my crank snout.

 

Ouch! The puller from Advance worked great, just had to buy some 5/16-24 bolts to screw into the ASP pulley. Thanks.

 

So did it have any oil pressure on the drive back home? Did the knock get worse?

 

Yea it had 20psi on the way back. Knock didnt get any noticeable louder. Been finding fine metal shavings, and the ls2 timing chain feels like its got alot of slack.

Are LQ9 blocks pre-drilled for timing chain dampeners? Got lucky on my 98 block and it was, so it'd be nice if i could reuse it.

 

I was surprised too. It was just a chrome socket I had from Autozone. I didn't even use any of my Craftsman sockets because I didn't want to damage them... meh.

 

That may have been why. I used an impact socket the material has more give to it than a standard hand socket.

 

It's cosmetic. The outside diameter fine and the inner threads are good. But, I know now to go find a puller with a force rod.

 

The oil in the runners concern me..Where did it come from?

 

The oils got me worried aswell, for the amount of money in the heads im hoping its not the valve guides. All the valves had oil on them, so im thinking its coming from the intake? Only other causes I can think of are from the rocker arm bolt holes or the valve guides right?

Pulled the block, and found rod bearings #3 and 4 chewed up. Will pull the crank tomorrow and probably find a couple more chewed up.

Also found out the flywheel dowel pins from my Monster Clutch had been flung around in the bellhousing.

Whats a reasonable price to ask for the shortblock?

 

Any sealer on the rocker arm bolts?

Depending on how bad the bearings are, I would think $3-400 would be reasonable asking price for the shortblock, minus the cam, etc.

 

I love Irocs! Thompson is a good company, they will hook you up.

 

No, no sealant on the rocker arm bolts. Didnt know at the time and only learned about it recently. Will be sure to use some this time.

Yea TMS has been nothing but great answering all my questions, placing the order tomorrow!

Some nicks from the flywheel dowel pin:


One just laying around:

 

Yep. Gotta put sealer on the rocker arm bolts.

KCS, what sealer do you recommend? I have both Permatex Blue (couldn't find Loctite around here for some reason and Permatex **** is runny) and Permatex sealant. I believe GM recommends Blue Loctite?

 

Looks like im gonna have a hard time selling the old shortblock, nobody seems to want it lol

Been shopping around for a new cam. I emailed BTR and he suggested his stg III231/242 .617"/.588" 112+2. Waiting on a response back from Tick.

 

I really like Kyle @ Thompson. Pricewise, it's not much different than having it done locally, but he offers a warranty. And based on what I've seen here on the forum, he actually honors it.