Ls1 H/C/I install complete....looking for help/feedback
Well, motor is officially out and partially torn down. Was only able to get intake/heads off today but shooting to possibly get it on the stand and then pan off tomorrow to finally get a look at the damage. Nothing noticable on the cylinder walls so don't expect to see any broken rods at this point.
Was pretty set on going the lq9 shortblock route a few weeks ago but I'm a little weary of the quality of the ATK block/internals because of all the horor stories you hear about machine work these days. Contact there has been very helpful but still not a lot of good reviews out there for them. There's a local machine shop close by that's been around for years so may just go that route with the ls1 block. The idea of going the 383 stroker route has crossed my mind but the cost is tough to justify considering the gains with my existing head/cam setup would probably be minimal at best. Just hate the idea of doing all the work and putting the car back together just the way it was.
Any thoughts on the stroker route? Probably better ways to spend $2500??
Was pretty set on going the lq9 shortblock route a few weeks ago but I'm a little weary of the quality of the ATK block/internals because of all the horor stories you hear about machine work these days. Contact there has been very helpful but still not a lot of good reviews out there for them. There's a local machine shop close by that's been around for years so may just go that route with the ls1 block. The idea of going the 383 stroker route has crossed my mind but the cost is tough to justify considering the gains with my existing head/cam setup would probably be minimal at best. Just hate the idea of doing all the work and putting the car back together just the way it was.
Any thoughts on the stroker route? Probably better ways to spend $2500??
i would rebuild the 5.7 and sell it, that will help offset the cost of your new short block. 383s never seem to make the power they should imo. thomson motor sports might have a short block in your price range. you might be able to find something locally someone is selling. take your time and the right deal will come along.
Well, motor is officially out and partially torn down. Was only able to get intake/heads off today but shooting to possibly get it on the stand and then pan off tomorrow to finally get a look at the damage. Nothing noticable on the cylinder walls so don't expect to see any broken rods at this point.
Was pretty set on going the lq9 shortblock route a few weeks ago but I'm a little weary of the quality of the ATK block/internals because of all the horor stories you hear about machine work these days. Contact there has been very helpful but still not a lot of good reviews out there for them. There's a local machine shop close by that's been around for years so may just go that route with the ls1 block. The idea of going the 383 stroker route has crossed my mind but the cost is tough to justify considering the gains with my existing head/cam setup would probably be minimal at best. Just hate the idea of doing all the work and putting the car back together just the way it was.
Any thoughts on the stroker route? Probably better ways to spend $2500??
Was pretty set on going the lq9 shortblock route a few weeks ago but I'm a little weary of the quality of the ATK block/internals because of all the horor stories you hear about machine work these days. Contact there has been very helpful but still not a lot of good reviews out there for them. There's a local machine shop close by that's been around for years so may just go that route with the ls1 block. The idea of going the 383 stroker route has crossed my mind but the cost is tough to justify considering the gains with my existing head/cam setup would probably be minimal at best. Just hate the idea of doing all the work and putting the car back together just the way it was.
Any thoughts on the stroker route? Probably better ways to spend $2500??
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 78
Likes: 40
Ended up getting everything tore down yesterday and finally seeing the damge! Single rod bearing spun and hammered the crank pretty bad. Will definitely need replaced depending on which route I go. Nothing else real noticable, cylinder walls all still looked great with noticable cross hatching. I wasn't sure what to expect but motor does only have 29,000 original miles in it. Pulled the cam out and it looked great.
So now I'll just continue with the research and see how things go. I haven't talked to the local machine shop yet so plan to this week. Those blueprinted Thompson short blocks look great but are probably going to be out of my $ range. I could probably pick up a 6.0 iron block for around $500 and then have the local shop do all the work. At least that way I'd know exactly what parts are going in it. The stroker idea popped up on account if me potentially being able to get some good deals on parts through my dad and then I would know EXACTLY where the block was coming from. For the money though of a full priced kit compared to the gains, it didn't really seem like a great investment.
I plan to take my trans down to RPM and have it gone through so that bill may end up playing a role in which way I go as well. If all else fails, I may just go the route of rebuilding back to previous state. I never did really get a chance to experience the build so maybe I'll be plesently suprised, who knows!
So now I'll just continue with the research and see how things go. I haven't talked to the local machine shop yet so plan to this week. Those blueprinted Thompson short blocks look great but are probably going to be out of my $ range. I could probably pick up a 6.0 iron block for around $500 and then have the local shop do all the work. At least that way I'd know exactly what parts are going in it. The stroker idea popped up on account if me potentially being able to get some good deals on parts through my dad and then I would know EXACTLY where the block was coming from. For the money though of a full priced kit compared to the gains, it didn't really seem like a great investment.
I plan to take my trans down to RPM and have it gone through so that bill may end up playing a role in which way I go as well. If all else fails, I may just go the route of rebuilding back to previous state. I never did really get a chance to experience the build so maybe I'll be plesently suprised, who knows!
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Staging Lane
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 78
Likes: 40
Forged components sound like they may not be necessary unless I did end up just going with the stroker kit, that's pretty unlikely though I'd say. Considered maybe a fresh set of rods/pistons but probably not really necessary either with the power I'm making. Wasnt 100% sure how much they could grind the stock crank, would say it'll take a good .020-.030 to clean up. Probably fine??
Now that everythings off, I've also considered the idea of just unloading the head/cam package that are basically brand new and stepping up to a better head since I've got plenty of time. Not sure even a premium head (afr, tfs) and slightly bigger cam would make a huge difference though for the money spent. I want to maintain driveability so I can't imagine going too much bigger on the cam. I'm sure I'd have another $1000-1500 in the new setup on top of what I could get for my existing. For maybe 30-40 hp?? The added torque from the 6.0L is still in the back of my head as well. Too many options I guess!
have any pictures of the damage ? i would not sell your current heads because you already have a decent head and you will be losing $ imo. rebuild it with good bearings and ARP hardware and give her hell.
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 78
Likes: 40
Ya, it's probably gonna take .020" or so to clean up. It calipered a good .015 step. Definitely looks worse in person!
Talked to the machine shop and probably leaning towards new bearing and rings and checking out the rod that spun. Maybe throw some arp rod bolts at it but at this point thinking that may be the way to go. Nothing fancy, just get her back together!
Talked to the machine shop and probably leaning towards new bearing and rings and checking out the rod that spun. Maybe throw some arp rod bolts at it but at this point thinking that may be the way to go. Nothing fancy, just get her back together!
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 78
Likes: 40
Oh really?? I hadn't heard that before. Was thinking I had seen the rod bolts in the gen 3's were the potential weak spot of the assembly. I've seen some gen 4 rods posted pretty cheap, considered picking some of those up. Again though, can't imagine it's really necessary unless existing rods are compromised at all. Still not sure whaf caused the spun bearing. Suspected pick-up o ring but everything looked good at disassembly so who knows at this point.
Yep, that's the shop!
Forged components sound like they may not be necessary unless I did end up just going with the stroker kit, that's pretty unlikely though I'd say. Considered maybe a fresh set of rods/pistons but probably not really necessary either with the power I'm making. Wasnt 100% sure how much they could grind the stock crank, would say it'll take a good .020-.030 to clean up. Probably fine??
Now that everythings off, I've also considered the idea of just unloading the head/cam package that are basically brand new and stepping up to a better head since I've got plenty of time. Not sure even a premium head (afr, tfs) and slightly bigger cam would make a huge difference though for the money spent. I want to maintain driveability so I can't imagine going too much bigger on the cam. I'm sure I'd have another $1000-1500 in the new setup on top of what I could get for my existing. For maybe 30-40 hp?? The added torque from the 6.0L is still in the back of my head as well. Too many options I guess!
Forged components sound like they may not be necessary unless I did end up just going with the stroker kit, that's pretty unlikely though I'd say. Considered maybe a fresh set of rods/pistons but probably not really necessary either with the power I'm making. Wasnt 100% sure how much they could grind the stock crank, would say it'll take a good .020-.030 to clean up. Probably fine??
Now that everythings off, I've also considered the idea of just unloading the head/cam package that are basically brand new and stepping up to a better head since I've got plenty of time. Not sure even a premium head (afr, tfs) and slightly bigger cam would make a huge difference though for the money spent. I want to maintain driveability so I can't imagine going too much bigger on the cam. I'm sure I'd have another $1000-1500 in the new setup on top of what I could get for my existing. For maybe 30-40 hp?? The added torque from the 6.0L is still in the back of my head as well. Too many options I guess!
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 78
Likes: 40
What's everyone's thoughts on potentially just upgrading to the gen4 rod with perhaps some RPM/WS6Store "HD" pistons vs. going the fully forged route? Much advantage over sticking with stockers or not really? At this point, I really don't see jumping to all forged. FI would be great but would be 5yrs+ down the road assuming I still have the car. Maybe a 150 shot in the near future but even that is probably pretty unlikely. Mostly just interested in reliability at this point!
TECH Junkie
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 3,051
Likes: 716
From: Poplarville, MS
Oh really?? I hadn't heard that before. Was thinking I had seen the rod bolts in the gen 3's were the potential weak spot of the assembly. I've seen some gen 4 rods posted pretty cheap, considered picking some of those up. Again though, can't imagine it's really necessary unless existing rods are compromised at all. Still not sure whaf caused the spun bearing. Suspected pick-up o ring but everything looked good at disassembly so who knows at this point.
I Ran ARP rod bolts in my last car and running ARP main and rod bolts in my current ride. 0 issues thus far. to my knowledge they don't make a gen 4 rod for a 5.7. I would just rebuild it with Good bearings, add some forged pistons if you wanted to spray it a lot down the road and call it a day.