kossuth

iTrader: (12)

Getting back into the LS game after being gone for roughly 20 years. I have a LS swapped S10 pickup that I swapped way back in 2004. This is before there were any header or mount kits or wiring harnesses etc. Built everything myself and learned quite a bit and had alot of fun with it. Unfortunately I ended up having a motor issue and didn't have the capital to sort it out. Ultimately I discovered it was due to how I modified the oil pan to fit in the truck. As with most of us life happens and kids and other things got in the way of my toys. Kids are older now so I've got the itch to get back after it. I might take it to the track once in a blue moon but to be quite honest, I'm too old at this point to be breaking **** left and right and I'm not made of money with kids in college.

I have a ton of LS parts I've squirreled away over the years but never had all of the needed pieces to get one back together or the spare capital to have it machined. Anyways I picked up an iron 4.8/5.3 block for free from a 05 truck a few years back that had 200,000+ on it that swallowed a bunch of coolant. It didn't spin anything but it hurt the cam and lifters. Being the heads I want to use have bigger valves I had the local machine shop sonic check it to see if it could be bored to a 5.7. It checked and he bored it. He didn't think the block needed decked, that is until he had bored 7 of the 8 cylinders for the 3.898" bore and found some porosity in the number 2 cylinder wall. Being the other 7 were fine I told him just to sleeve it. Well, if you got to sleeve it you have to deck it and the pistons I got have a pretty tall compression height. I slapped the crank in it and threw two pistons in it (1 and 8) to check how far out of the hole the piston is and also check the crank thrust.
1. Piston was .015" out on the passenger side and .0135" on the drivers side. Is this too much out of the hole? I see that Cometic makes .056" and .060" compressed head gasket set so I figure that's what I need. I just want to be sure all is well there.
2. Crank thrust was about .0035". This is alittle tight from what I've read it should be but it's within tolerance.

Pistons: Basically a forged Mahle 3.898 OE piston for a OE 6.098" rod with a 4 cc valve relief. Rods are 3rd Gen LS1/LS6 rods with ARP bolts. Rod bores have been checked and they are true. If these are too far out of the hole I'm gonna have to get another set of pistons and probably have the block zero decked TBH and run something like a .040" gasket, but I don't want to spend it if I don't have to.

Heads: The heads I'm looking at using are the circa early 2000's TEA 1.5 862 truck heads. These were the setup back in the day. Basically plan to get them cleaned up and install new springs. I have a set of 918's still on them. If I recall correctly the chambers are in the 62 cc area. Roughly speaking this will put the compression somewhere close to 11:1 if my math is right.

Camshaft options. Want this thing to have some manners, I'm closer to 50 than not, so my definition of manners is going to be different than most of you LOL. I have two good camshafts here at the house. I have an 02-04 LS6 camshaft that I came across at some point and I also have a TR224 on a 114 that was in the original motor all those years ago. Both are in ok shape. Which would you run? The S10 has a T56 with 4.10 gears but I'm honestly considering putting a 4l60e or 4l80e in it just due to my left knee not being what it was. Had a daily commuter car that was a stick awhile back and TBH there were days I could barely get out of the car my knee hurt so bad.

Rockers: I know the Comp roller trunions were an upgrade that alot of people did back in the day because the OE rockers puked the trunion. Any other ways to go now or is that still the go to?

Are there any good resources on torque specs or rebuild books out there on the LS motors? IE setting up the oil pump and other things like that? I want to have something fun but I don't want to build it on the ragged edge. Thanks for your help. Hopefully I have it back together soon.

Che70velle

iTrader: (6)

Having the pistons that far out isn’t ideal, but it can work. I built a sleeved block engine that needed decked badly and those came out .0215. We went with a .056 Cometic MLS and made 650ish wheel and it was N/A. Very tight quench, but it runs good.
I like at least .0045 thrust, with a manual trans. If your going auto, I’d shoot for .006+ especially if your going to drag race it. Unless your going with a high dollar converter, they swell pretty badly on a hit, and balloon out, pushing forward on the crank. A little extra insurance in the thrust area will save a thrust bearing. I’ve done .010 in an LS and seen even bigger for drag setups.
Compression numbers look good here.
That little 224 cam will be nice in this situation. Camshaft lobe technology has grown leaps and bounds since you last messed with this stuff. If you can swing it budget-wise, look into something new.
The Comp rocker trunnions ended up tearing up more engines than they helped. Races came apart because they weren’t hardened enough. Hot ticket today is the CHE bronze bushing trunnion.
Go with a Melling oil pump. You don’t need a lot of pump with a street driven LS, unless your going to run an oil cooler, axle-oiled lifters (big money), or oil squirters for cooling the bottom of the piston crowns. A basic 295 Melling is perfect for 95% of builds driven on the street.
Torque specs are posted online everywhere. A simple search will pull up many pages of specs.
Any other help you need, just ask.

kossuth

iTrader: (12)

What would you be looking at camshaft wise? Bearing in mind stock gen 3 rods and a LS6 intake.

Che70velle

iTrader: (6)

It will come down to driving style, manners, and usage. I don’t spec camshafts for others. Too many folks out there, that will ensure you that I’m wrong. I stay out of that circus. Good to see you getting back into the truck however. You’ll be glad you didn’t get rid of it.