i think pretty much the only other time i posted in this section was when i first got my camaro last spring: i had pretty much zero experience working on cars and didn't know much about ls1s and was wondering what it would take to put a c5r 427 into my ride(at that time i had a 13 second camaro and a beautiful running electra 225 convertable).......well, since then i had decided to rip my buick apart instead and have stuck to bolt ons for the z28: i installed the headers, did a custom exhaust, put in a stall converter, plus some minor suspension stuff, all in my garage.....my goal was to have a quick, cheap camaro, and to spend most of my cash on the sleeper electra project........so now i had an 11 second(or close to it, didn't make it to the track this year) daily driver and was looking to concentrate on the land yacht(which is now torn apart in the garage with only a custom 9" rear to show for my trouble).......
notice the past tense, had an 11 second... i've yet to tear open the motor, but from all indications i spun a bearing this morning racing a vette......hindsight is 20/20, but i'd noticed the temp gauge rising the last few days and figured it was due to the ridiculously hot weather we've been having...and i hadn't really noticed the oil pressure gauge doing much until i was limping the tick-tocking car home this morning and the "check gauges" light popped on and it started stalling on me........perhaps i had let the oil get low, or the pump went bad, i don't know...
so here are my questions: how feasible would it be for me to rebuild this myself? disregarding the price for now, how many of you have done this yourself, i'm assuming just using basic engine building tools/gauges? obviously "everyone has to start somewhere", but is a ls1 a good place to start, or am i gonna curse the day i didn't take to a shop to assemble?

now regarding price: it seems like some assembled short block prices are right around what a rotating assembly would cost (i was checking out the combination motorsports 383)....maybe i'm answering my own question, but financially is it even worth me attempting to do it myself(other than for my own education?)

kind of random questions, i'm just trying to figure out what direction i'm going; any advice will be appreciated!
pretty much the only sure thing is that the buick is on hold again
josh

 

The LS1 is not too bad, I built my current engine and beat on it daily. Make sure you double check clearances and have a quality shop do the line hone and bores.
Phil

 

The principles are the same amongst motor building, however in the LSx case, they are very particular to clearances (blueprinting) and need to be internaly balanced.
This will end up costing you more the first time around (tools, mistakes etc...)
You can now get very good prices for professionaly built shorblocks. $2100 for 347 as expl, LME has 408's for $37xx, you simply can't beat that.
get a professional to build yours, it will cost you less.

 

Great buys on short blocks from many sponsors. if that is what you need, buy it, do'nt build it, less $ in the long run. I perform all work on my car, but it is a toy, not a dd, so i do'nt care how much it costs or how long i take

 

thanks for the advice guys......

yeah, my car is my "summer daily driver" but at the same time i have
my old truck too, i actually just had my wife put the storage insurance back on the camaro....i doubt i'll drive it again much this summer, i've got some other minor things to get done on top of this new problem....not big things, but i always take a little longer to do things, and they add up........i'm gonna drop the oil pan tomorrow to see what's going on..the way i figure, if i'm gonna spend the money to fix it i may as well do it right and upgrade a bit as well with a built shortblock......the prices right now are pretty awesome, but i've still got stock heads/intake/ect......we'll see, maybe once i get the engine pulled i'll become inspired to have it machined and do the assembly myself, or maybe i'll get ahold of a sponsor and get a crate engine and take my time rebuilding the other one.......

if anyone else has any input, feel free to share, thanks again
josh

 

If I were you, I would get a pre-built forged short and build the engine from there. I don't think that it's worth the time nor money (tools) nor patience to build the bottom end when they aren't much to have done. By the time you get the block machined and the rotating assymbly you are near what they are charging for a completed, blueprinted short block.

 

You could buy a short block, then take it apart and check clearances/torque values just for the experience. This is what I want to do one day. (Forget whether some fasteners on the block/rotating assembly are torque to yeild, but the added cost of new ones would be worth the engine building experience.)

 

If you go with ARP bolts, theyre probably not TTY.

 

ARPs are not TTY, it's actually recommended you torque them a few times. However, the ARP main kit doesn't include the side bolts for the mains. You need to order those (TTY) from the dealer (~$30).

Ryan

 

The side bolts are not TTY so there is no need to change them, they are reusable.