Well Joe...I probably was guilty in multiple respects

HV pump on f body pan
White grease for assembly
Maybe lube on the backside
Maybe out of round

Etc

 

Sounds like a perfect storm lol. I've learned the hard way using lithium grease or thick black wheel bearing grease that small oil filters will get plugged up in a hurry.
I used black wheel bearing grease in a major pinch one time to install a camshaft, and filled with a high detergent oil to dissolve it quickly.
The oil filter plugged within 20 minutes and the oil pressure safety shutoff caught it immediately. Almost the exact same thing happened with white lithium not long after.
They both work OK as assembly lube when you're in a bind, but oil filters can't deal with them, and sometimes they cause a temporary blockage in small oil passages.

High volume pump on an F-body pan is a no-no. I see way too many turbo setups sucking a pan dry on a launch.

 

I'm guilty as well, I've been using white lithium grease for years on cams, lifters, rockers etc.

Is there a good go to lube at the local parts store?

 

Greases contain solids, which are likely what's clogging the filters. I've noticed some assembly lubes more closely resemble sticky viscous oils, Wouldn't that be more what's needed here?

 

When I just rebuilt my LS6 WS6Store included some redline assembly lube that was more like the sticky viscous oil you mentioned. It was a liquid, but very tacky and clung to the parts. No issues on startup.

 

The company I work for deals with hundreds of thousands of pounds of grease a day, nearly all of which is directed towards automotive use.
When pumping the stuff out to the trucks, we typically use LARGE 50 or 100 micron filters we call sock filters, since they resemble a 3 foot long x 8" wide tube sock. No circulation, just from storage to truck.
Its not uncommon for a pair of the filters to get plugged up and have to be changed multiple times just to load a single truck.

Grease is terrible on filters. Automotive filters are usually somewhere in the 10 to 50 micron range. Grease will plug them up FAR quicker.
I wouldn't wait 50 or 100 miles to change the filter. I'd give it one or two heat cycles and do it then.

 

 

The Redline Assembly Lube is probably what I had in mind above but couldn't remember the name! lol. But yeah, KCS, you have the right mindset in using different lubes for different circumstances. The white grease might have worked back in the day, but those days are past.
I remember WAAAY back, some guys used a 50-50 mix of STP and engine oil for assembly lube. It was probably OK as it wasn't a grease, and was REALLY sticky (STP....) and viscous.

 

 

It probably not only washes out well, but, being oil-based, mixes in and assimilates with the rest of the oil, likely improving the whole mix while breaking the engine in. Win-win!

 

We have kings in a .002 over/.010 under.
They are like $40 shipped or so.

 

Thanks for all the help guys. I think I'll stick to 1000 horse th400 and 80e's...thats more my type of thing.

Current plan for this engine is:
-ARP Rod bolts
-Resize rods
-cut main/rod bearing journals
-new bearings
-have the machine shop double check and MIC all clearances
-.002-.0025 target clearance
-stock oil pump
-billet barbell plug
-2 bolt pickup tube support
-new cam retainer plate
-Check cam bearings (replace if needed)
-break in with 30 weight conventional
-1 heat cycle, change, filter
-50 miles, change, filter
-150 miles, change, filter
-250 miles, change, filter
-500 miles, change, filter
-1000 miles, change, filter
-after break in, switch to synthetic


I'll keep record and try to keep this thread updated with results.
I'm in NorthWest Iowa so it will probably be well into 2019 springtime before I actually drive the car.

 

Not sure I would use 30 weight. When cold, it's THICK and won't get to the tighter areas as quick as a good (or cheeeep) multigrade.

 

I am sorry that this happened to your new motor, however the resulting thread has been really educational.

 

It is great for us all that you are doing full disclosure and acceptance of these issues.

 

Well that's what I'm running as TSP spec'd it (296) when they built the longblock for me. I'll squeeze 7 qts in there and hope for the best. Car doesn't get raced much anymore though, mostly a street driver.

 

Not claiming to be an expert on this but just from what i've noted from some of the turbo guys that some of them swear the factory gm ls rod bearings are better than clevites. Maybe too many variables to call it for sure.

 

Most of those turbo build are jy engines and want to justify keeping every stock component they can because they read it on sloppy etc.
The only main bearing that might be on par with aftermarket would be the coated lsa/ls9 main bearings. Otherwise their issues lay in lazy assembly or just not knowing.
The gm bearings are very similar to the A series from clevite.

 

Just because I'm always curious when failures like this happen.... to everyone mentioning clogged oil filter...... shouldn't the filter bypass work if the stock ls1 pan has that function, (like I asked earlier in this thread), and let full flow of oil through when the oil filter is blocked? That's the purpose of a filter bypass.. when an oil filter blocks badly, better to have full flow and allow some shrapnel through, rather than have no oil flow whatsoever.

I found that out the dumb way when I had a canton pan with no filter bypass on my previous ls swapped car.. filters were blocking in no time and oil pressure dropping to virtually zero because the canton oil filter adapter had no inbuilt bypass in it and the ls1 filters it used also had no bypass in them.

 

i use lucas oil treatment as assembly lube.
ive seen white lithium grease used before but that was a loong time ago and i didnt think anyone still did that. the stuff i saw would dry up into chunks in no time.