someone at a chrevrolet dealership said this.... if one has spun a bearing in a LS1 motor, being all aluminum, there is no reason to try to salvage the block. suggested throwing the block away and getting new. where as i wanted to get a new rotating assembly (forged) and go with it from there. what do you think. money being an issue..

 

have you inspected the block?, how bad is the damage?

 

i pull the engine this weekend, as soon as the oil dropped to 40psi, normally around 65ish, and heard the knock, i pulled over and got it towed

 

Sounds like a spun bearing. You can rebuild it if you had the know how. Your buddy just thinks that aluminum blocks are weak and cant hold up. His is mistakening a spun bearing for a rod through the side. Rebuild it if money is an issue, I have about 700 into mine but that was with a new cam and bearings.

 

motor is out, only took 4 1/2 hours, so time to tear into it and find the culprit

 

someone at a chevrolet dealership has no clue what the hell they are talking about

you probably spun a rod bearing and only lightly messed up the crankshaft.

 

does it matter if he was a mechanic?

 

kick that gay's *** one of two things is going on here: #1 he doesn't know what hes talking about or #2 he wants your block.

 

orrr hes just lazy....a spun bearing is a pretty bad thing and that quick drop in pressure sounds like that could be it...check the last few rods...6-8, it can be rebuilt just inspect the block

 

Can you have the block magnafluxed? I had heard that you can't...I don't know though.

 

If the damage is bad enough, an aluminum block can even be welded to bring the mains back to size, and then align bored. But I'd say that's an extreme case.

If you have the time for the machine work and such, I can't think of any reason why your block couldn't be salvaged.

 

time and money usually determine that outcome

 

Ok, if you spun a rod bearing then the block is fine. If you spun a main, then the block isn't junk, but you do have a problem. You will have to get the block and main caps line bored. You will also need to find oversized bearings on the outter shell to take up the amount that is needed to clean up the spun main, and to keep your crank to cam spacing the same as stock. You may have to get a set of custom bearings made, (I'm uncertain if such a bearing exists for LS1 mains, I know they do exist for the rods though if they have been resized). If it is indeed a main bearing that spun you are probiably further ahead, (Unless this is a MID sleeved block or something special like that) to just get another block and go from there. Your block can be fixed but it probiably isn't financially sensible to do so if you need to have special bearings made.

 

It can be saved if it's a spun bearing, hearing something like that come from a GM dealer, for some reason doesn't surprise me at all.

Get it apart and see what's going on, there's bearings available that can take up the extra slack I am sure of it, and even if there's not, like mentioned above welding the block and reboring it is a viable option, and not that expensive. Alum is repairable and not that expensive to do. Only thing that really will scrap a block is a broken sleeve or a rod /piston breaking and getting ejected out the side.

FWIW< I ahve seen alum heads that had a nitrous hot spot actually melt a hole thru them, and they were able to be saved.. some of the shops out there can really work some wonders with alum if they know what they are doing... get it apart and assess the situation.

 

JL ws-6, I love your signature quote.

 

dont listen to GM mechanics. i bet i have done more work on LS1s than he has

 

if you like that one, you'd like some of the others I've had on there before... these come to mind:

"racing a FWD car is like running in the special olympics, even if you win, you are still retarded"

"the only thing worse on a dragstrip then a ricer, is a snowmoblie"

"neon, great for the sign at joe's diner, not so great for driving"

Those usually really get some people heated though... so I refrain from it now, I just found a decent quotable line on here, and use that. It gets the point across.

Another on topic question for the thread starter... have you gotten the motor apart yet? Is there a spun bearing? If so,how bad does it look?

 

ok found a spun rod bearing on the number 7 cylinder. ive heard our blocks cant be bored, only honed. is that true? and our stock blocks...are they already sleeved? what is the sleeve made out of, if it is... looking to clean up the bore, put a 4 inch crank in there, with new rods and pistons...all forged, for future N2O use

 

you can go abotu .010 over on teh block safely.. rebuildign it is probably your best option.. just make sure the machine shop you use knows what they are doing ,and get the clearances right and whatnot for your intended use.

 

just hone it

while you have your motor appart fix what caused this, modify the back of the block for proper oil return that your motor needs past 6500