Zax570z

New member here long time
Lurker , i recently purchased a 02 ls1 with 60k miles on it , looking to swap it into a non ls1 car ,

My goals are about 450-500 rwhp

My questions is with my power goal in mind , should i keep the stock bottom end or go ahead and invest in forged internals ?

My main worry is longevity with keeping the stock bottom end , and if i do keep it , should i at least replace piston rings? Bearings ? Cam bearings?

Theres no obvious signs of bluing on the cam bearings but i feel like i should replace them since i plan on going with an aftermarket cam.

If i replace those i do beleive i must take out the pistons ,by taking apart the caps on the rods and removing pistons can this affect my chances of ring failure later?

Its my first time building a motor from the bottom up so i have my flame suit on.

HCI2000SS

iTrader: (2)

Stock bottom end will be fine at that power level if it's in decent shape

Zax570z

How can i tell exactly what needs replaced?

And should i replace the rings at least while its in shortblock form?

cosbysweater

Did you do a leak down or compression test? If leak down and compression is good, and the cross hatch is still good I wouldn't mess with the rings, just roll in some new bearings at the most and be done with it. These motors are pretty robust if they are taken care of and abused properly

Zax570z

The motor is only semi complete I got it in pieces the heads were off when I got it but only for packaging and sale. So can't really compression check it ... Crosshatch looks good though , I will also say that the motor looks very clean inside and out , no oil on block , inside is a slight golden brown no sludge anywhere .

I may have made a rookie mistake though ......

I cleaned the old head gasket off and now I have shavings I can see in the cylinder walls and coolant passages , can I clean that out and be ok and what's the best way to go about it? I was going to use compressed air and a shop vac mainly to get it out .


Also would pics help?

Zax570z

Also have some pitting in the block is this normal for aluminum ?

Zax570z

cosbysweater

Ummm what did you clean the deck with? And I would just blow it out with compressed air

Zax570z

Green roll disc tried to go lightly couldn't find any white discs

Zax570z

Also what's my best option for replacing cam bearings should I take it to machine shop or buy the tool

jmac636

iTrader: (8)

It would cost about the same or a little more by the time you buy the tool and install the bearings yourself. Cam bearings are the one and only thing I have a machine shop do when no machine work is required. I say let them do it since they have way more experience.