Darth_V8r

iTrader: (4)

Agreed. Built my 346 sbe at 147k

Z28_Demon

Wow, really? Even at 111,100 miles you would just recam it, change heads, intake and TB and then get it tuned?

I’m so paranoid of it blowing up having that many miles on it and then wasting my money and time rebuilding a new one.

I mean don’t get me wrong, if I can save money by not having to rebuild the bottom end I don’t mind putting that money elsewhere.

Z28_Demon

But didn’t you say yours blew up? :-o

LilJayV10

iTrader: (39)

do a leak down test, cut the oil filter open, stick a bore scope down the cylinders. if that all looks good. send that bitch.

given that's probably more than most do but I've also seen people buy used engines that were seized, cylinders full of water, etc.

Z28_Demon

Cayenne - If you didn’t mill the heads and used the same cam, would you need to cut the valve reliefs? I admit that I don’t want to have to do something like cutting the valve reliefs. Plus I don’t know the stock thickness of the stock head gaskets so I don’t know if your 0.040” is stock, thinner or thicker.

If I stay with my stock auto, I’ll definitely have to pull it and rebuild it. Since I got it, it feels like first gear is slipping a bit. After it bangs out of first it isn’t too bad if you get on the gas but I really haven’t played around with it yet to be honest.

However there are a few 4L60Es around here on FB and CL. I might pick one up and rebuild it how I need to and then just swap it in with a new higher stall converter.

Utinator

MAF? We don't need no stinkin' MAF.

I also think it's better to start with a manual car if that's what you really want. They get better MPG on the highway. That might not be important if you don't drive it much.

Z28_Demon

Launch - that sounds like a decent setup. Did you pull it to do the work? Even if I decide not to rebuild the bottom end I’m thinking it might be easier to still pull the engine and trans anyway and do all the work outside the car. Especially since I have to swap or rebuild the trans anyway. I had a hell of a time getting the balancer back on while my 5.3 was still in my 07 Tahoe. So I’m thinking for all of this, it would probably be easier out of the car.

Can you pull the the engine and trans together like you could on the older Camaros and Chevelles? Or do you have to separate them to get them both out? (Trans below and engine up top)

Z28_Demon

I hear what you’re sayin’. If I had a choice I would have waited for a manual. However, it looks like most are around $1500-$2000 just for the trans and I’d still need the interior parts not to mention the flywheel, clutch, master and slave cyl and pedals.

Probably would be cheaper just to pull my 4L60E and find a good rebuild kit and rebuild it and put it back in with a 3200-3600 stall. It is my project car, so it isn’t going to be my daily driver.

Dont some people replace the 4L60E with a 4L80E? Isn’t that like going from a TH350 to a TH400? Anything special need to be done to swap the 4L60E for the 4L80E? Or is it a direct swap/fit?

Z28_Demon

Good idea. Maybe I’ll do that. It actually runs well except for the trans’ first gear. One of the prior owners put in dual exhaust with regular mufflers dumped right at the rear axle. It doesn’t sound bad but they hang too low and can hit stuff and I get pretty loud drone inside and a gas smell in the car at idle.

I know my 07 Tahoe 5.3 at 161k actually looked pretty darn good when I took those heads off. I was surprised. I expected it to be a disaster at 161k. LOL! So hopefully this engine will look even better.

Majestic9C1

iTrader: (19)

My engine is still internally stock... hopefully I can start gathering parts for a nice mild build during the upcoming winter months

YOKED

iTrader: (2)

No doubt an LS3 has more head room for power than an LS1. With that said, for your power goals, an LS1 can provide just that and then some. The better cylinder head will afford you not having to go to a 230 range cam to achieve good explosive power.

Darth_V8r

iTrader: (4)

because I took it to 539 rwhp and revved to 7600 a LOT. and it did not blow up. It was burning a quart every few hundred miles and I found a crack in the rear of the block because I likely hydro-d a head bolt hole from not cleaning it out properly. Without that head bolt hole thing I could have re-ringed, rebearinged, and sent it.

bammax

There's quite a few people on here with over 200k miles that never got deeper into their engine than an oil pump. Just remember to do valvetrain as a set and don't go for the high volume oil pump with the stock pan and you're good for a lot more miles. The most common killers are oil starvation and water in the rear cylinders from an intake leak under the cowl. Plus bad maintenance or upgrades of course which are common problems for all engines.

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

After reading the thread here's my cliff notes

Cam that motor. Don't open up or rebuild the bottom end. Nothing wrong with camming a 200k motor, a 117k motor is just getting broke in.

DO A STALL in that car with a cam and those memories of how fun/fast the 2010 6 speed car was will quickly fade

I would plan on doing ported heads, cam, intake, long tube headers, true dual 3" exhaust and a 3600-4000 stall. My last stall was a 3600 that flashed to 4100 so if it's a toy go for a 4000. If it's a daily maybe keep it at a 3600, or go 4000 anyway. I did and I drove at least 500 miles a week with mine, sometimes over 1000 miles a week and did that for over a year.

With the above combo I mentioned you'll go from upper 13's to low 11's or upper 10's on a really well put together combo.

Z28_Demon

Oh, okay...sorry, my fault for assuming it blew up. I just saw the info on your sig and figured that is what happened. I still have to go through your Ghost Hawk build thread. I have it saved, I just haven't had time yet to read it completely through.

However I do like the info that Launch proposed in an earlier post in the thread. That seems doable for me, price wise anyway. It looks like getting 5.3 PRC heads is about $1200 outright or $950 if I send them my castings. Problem is, I don't know what castings I have on my LS1. Is there an easy way to find out while the engine is still in the car without taking the valve covers off? If so, I can look it up. As I mentioned, he said something about the 5.3 PRC heads. They also give an option of 58 to 62cc heads. I'm not sure which would be best. I don't want to go with the 58cc heads and find out that a big cam will hit the pistons. :-/ Then again, I don't want to go with 62cc heads if I can get a bit more power by having a smaller combustion chamber.

Again, that all depends also on what set of heads I have on my LS1. If those are basically the same and I can send them into Texas Speed to have stage 2.5 work done on them and it costs less than buying the 5.3 heads outright, then I might as well do that. But if the 5.3 heads are more beneficial, then I'll save up for those, purchase them and then maybe sell my stock LS1 heads when I pull them.

Z28_Demon

Bammax - Thanks for the info. Sounds like I'll be leaving the bottom end alone except for scoping it and doing a leakdown test to be sure.

Question - Why is it a problem going with a high volume oil pump with the stock pan? I figured since I'll be in there, I was going to replace the oil pump anyway, so should I just stay with the stock oil pump (but new, of course)? Of course in all older SBC/BBC, I always replaced the oil pumps with high volume/high pressure pumps. But again, the LS lineup is new to me, so I want to make sure I check into all of this info first rather than cry later after something gets screwed up. Normally I would think a high volume pump would be good, but not in this case? If oil starvation is a normal killer for the LSx engine, then why would I not be getting a high volume pump? (sorry, truly asking, not trying to be an arsehole about it)

From the info I've seen here thus far, I would like to do a pretty decent big cam (even possibly the cam that 98CayenneT/A is running, if it will fit with "stock" heads and head gaskets) and then get my heads done or get a set of the 5.3 heads from Texas Speed and then get new valve springs to match the cam, of course.

Z28_Demon

00pooterSS - Thank you for the cliff notes. Much appreciated. My list is starting to come together. I'm planning on eventually creating a build thread (even if just for me to track everything I'm doing. LOL), but I wanted to get a general plan in place first. I'm going to check the other sections on the forum to see what LT headers most recommend and/or run, what X or Y o/r pipe with a cutout (electronic?) that most run and then a X or Y pipe "back" exhaust system for the rest of it. I did research this morning and I put on the SLP long tube headers and SLP cat back system on my 2010 SS. It was the Loudmouth II system. I don't like it obnoxiously loud all of the time, so that's why I went with the Loudmouth II system. I liked it. At the dragstrip, that's a whole 'nother ball of wax...that's why I'd like to have the optional cutout. They have a similar system for the 00 Camaros, but no headers, which is weird to me. Plus, I'm almost wanting true dual exhaust (as you mentioned) anyway, but I also don't want it dragging or hitting anything under the car either (like my current "regular" oval muffler setup the last owner put on).

Also, I have the SS hood (came with the car, but I like it), but I'm pretty sure I don't have the functionality of it. So, I'm wondering if it is better to try and buy the parts to make that SS hood ram air functional or go with a different type of CAI.

Wow, a 4000 stall...that will be different. I think the last time I built up a 454, I only put in a 2800 or 3200 stall in front of a TH350. So a 4000 stall seems outrageous to me, but everyone appears to be suggesting 3600 and up for decently cammed LS. So, I can dig it. It's not going to be a daily driver, just to fun car things and to work once in a while to annoy people. LOL What RPM is "normal" for people to rev LS1's up to? Obviously it shows like 5800 on the tach on the dash, but I sure as heck have seen videos on here (Cayenne, for example) that go up way past 5800. Is 7000 a truly acceptable number with a cammed car with a stock bottom end? Or are you guys just crazy and are waiting for it to let go at any second? LOL!!!!

Sorry for all of the questions to everyone, but honestly this thread already has helped me a ton and given me ideas on how to get things going in the right direction for the build. Plus, I may even be able to complete it faster with everyone's helpful suggestions here. So, thank you to everyone. I truly appreciate it.

Darth_V8r

iTrader: (4)

All good! I definitely shortened its life, but it became a R&D project byt the time it was done.

FWIW, figure 0.007" per cc milling. You really should be looking at 0.080" PTV clearance minimum. If 62cc clears and 58cc doesn't, you're too close and need to flycut anyway. The smaller chambers will help a bigger cam run better. And if you flycut, you will reduce compression, so you may find that the smaller chambers are actually necessary if your cam is large enough.

Really what matters more is if you want 500 flywheel or rearwheel. 500 flywheel is almost a layup by comparison to the midcourt buzzer beater shot that is 500 rear wheel on a 5.7.

Che70velle

iTrader: (6)

Nothing wrong with a hi volume pump if this is a street car. It would be different if your building a road race car which navigates lots of turns with high g-forces that tend to keep oil away from the sump. A Melling hi-volume pump pushes 13% more oil than a standard pump, which isn’t enough to make anything starve for oil on the street. Extra oil volume helps cool the bearings also. Some here will argue this, but it’s true. Now...do you need a hi-volume pump? Probably not. I run one in my 434, that’s been ported. Excellent pressure and I like the oil volume. I run 6 quarts in my pan as well. I also run a pretty elaborate oil cooler setup to help keep oil temps down. Hi-pressure/hi-volume pumps were the standard replacement for a sbc build, but not a lot of folks run them in LS land. Hope this helps some.

edit...And to add to this discussion, the Achilles heel of the LS platform is the oiling system. These engines are not priority main oiling. In fact the mains/rods get oiled last, which is another reason I don’t mind pushing a little more oil through.

Darth_V8r

iTrader: (4)

I run high pressure standard volume. I'm always worried about draining the sump with a high volume pump at RPM.