Jonmichz28

All I can see right now is the oil pan is cracked. Cant turn the engine with a breaker and plugs out. What are the chances my block is toast and how would I know. Anyone know a good step by step guide to tearing this motor down or even a book?

I'm on a budget. Obviously I'd love tex speeds ls2 shortblock or even a 383 ls shortblocl but 4500 is out of range.

I'm going to port the 241s, new springs, keep ls6 intake and may go bigger then the fms-14 cam. I'd also like to spray more then 150. Would like the potential to safely spray the **** out of it.

I know iron is cheap but I'd like to stay away from the extra weight

Thanks. Hopefully renting a house w garage in a few months and tearing this down. Would like to begin ordering stuff.

redbird555

iTrader: (14)

hey man this is dan from the ucf car club page i was commenting on the post you had there!

There's a pretty good book on building ls motors I forget the title but it should be on amazon. Being on a budget is going to limit you on what you can spray it with lol. What is your budget for a shortblock? Thomson motor sports has some very nice prices.

As far as knowing about your current block, it may or may not be ok. If it only cracked the pan then it might be fine, sadly if it cracks the pan is usually damages the block. Best way to figure that out would be to tear it down and inspect all the cylinders and block webbing.

If you are going to spray the **** out of it then you will want to go forged on the pistons and perhaps choose a slightly different cam. A 150 shot would be about as high as you want to go on stock pistons so if you plan on doing that regualrly or with more then go forged. If you are porting the 241's then I would honestly try to get a set of 799/243 heads. They can be had for around 350 and in the end when they are ported will blow the ported 241s away.

HCI2000SS

iTrader: (2)

Staying cheap, and staying with aluminum is kind of a contradiction in terms lol

redbird555

iTrader: (14)

so is "cheap and a lot of spray" lol

HCI2000SS

iTrader: (2)

Yes that is true lol

Op, how much are you willing to spend...all said and done? You doing any of the work or having it done?

Jonmichz28

Well yes I will be going forged. And yes ill be doing everything I can. Except obviously the machine work and would at least need assistance putting the shortblock together just to make ssure I don't do it wrong. I know plenty of people spraying 250-300 on forged ls1 shortblocks. I'd like to have that option in the future.

As far as the heads I'm going to port the 241s. I thought with the 243s u had to run different pushrods etc. Since when did 241s become bad? Lol. I was hoping to reuse the stock block and crank. That was my plan for this winter. To swap in rods and pistons and ported heads. Guess now I'm looking at doing this sooner.

If all else fails I will wait, order a nice forged shortblock and put all my stuff onto it. Was wanting to explore other options tho.

For 4000-4500 it would seem I could find a lot of used shortblocks throw insome rods and pistons and come out basically the same but cheaper. I meam if I could find a used stock ls1 shortblock couldn't I just build that with rods pistons bearings etc.

Jonmichz28

I was hoping to spend 3000. That would include using everything off the current motor I can. If I can't build a good shortblock for that then I may as well just pull a stocker from somewhere and swap it in.

Jonmichz28

Tms looks cheaper. Not sure what they mean by having to drill stuff out or what the premium block upgrade is. But by the time u add up all the goodies looks to be as much or more. Plus I don't see where they offer the upgraded steel ring set like tsp for nitrous

redbird555

iTrader: (14)

I think you can hit your goal if you are careful on where you spend the money and reuse your ls1 stuff. I'm not sure what you were talking about with the premium block upgrade. If it's on the iron block then they may be talking about the alternator hole that needs to be drilled and tapped to run the fbody alternator which actually isn't even needed. If it's an aluminum one they may be talking about drilling the sides for the newer style knock sensors.

Also 241's aren't bad but 243s are much better and if your spendin the money to port then why not use better heads? The pushrods are irrelevant stock they use the same ones but with what all you're doing you will to measure and buy new ones anyway

Busted Knuckles

Nobody can tell what's wrong with your parts until you have torn the engine down.
I've seen anything from a small chip in the bottom of a couple of bores to an aluminum 565 that had a wrist pin boss break and the steel rod cut the engine almost in half. Make sure you take parts that you THINK are good to a machine shop for crack and straightness checks.