To all LS1 assemblers,
I just came across a freak problem that you will want to know about (if you haven't seen this already). Make sure the head bolt holes in the block are ABSOLUTELY clear of any liquid before installing the bolts. A customer of mine installed his head bolts with residual anti-freeze in the holes and the factory bolt lube on the threads (along with some moly grease) which looks like a thick orange sealant. When the bolts came down on the anti-freeze, the lube prevented the a/f from escaping past the threads and the resulting hydraulic pressure cracked the block around the bottom of at least 4 holes (externally). There may be even more damage inside the block where I can't see it. The bottom of many of these holes are near oil passages and may create even more serious problems.

Just thought you all should know.

HiTech

 

thanks for the heads up, i'm sorry to here about that guys block cracking, sucks to hear that. just goes to show that you really need to know what you are doing with the LS1's.

 

I always drain all coolant from the block (as much as I can with the motor in the car, anyway), and use air to blow any liquid or trash from the bolt holes before putting the heads back on.

I would suck to crack the block from installing head bolts. <img src="gr_sad.gif" border="0">

 

Yep, it has to go somewhere. I use a suction tube to get it all out of there.

 

Yup, sounds about right to me.

 

I go to Radio Shack and buy the "long Q-tips" that they use for electrical work. They are long enough to get down to the bottom of the holes and absorb any remaining liquid. Even after blowing out the holes EXTREMELY well, there is ALWAYS fluid left in the bottom. I usually bunch 3-4 of them together and stuff down there. Sometimes it takes 2-3 tries to get all the fluid up, but it is WELL worth the effort and minimal expense. I've seen factory stock blocks cracked before.

Tim

 

Yup.

Steel head bolts won't break. The block will crack. In some cases the hydrolocking won't be in a key part of the block.

 

Just using an air blower on top of the bolt holes won't get all of it out. I use an air blower attached to a piece of rubber hose that is long enough to reach the bottom of the holes. You'd be amazed at what comes out of there when you blow it out from the bottom, even if you had already blown it out from the top. The Q-tip thing is a really good idea too.

 

Am i missing something here? You spend $25,000 on a car and don't have an air compressor? Thats one of the first things i bought when i got my first car.

[ January 06, 2002: Message edited by: Bob Neese ]</p>

 

Attach a small rubber hose that is small enough to fit down into the bolt holes to a hand pump or wet/dry shop vac and suck out all of the liquid. This is very critical to do this before installing any head bolts.

 

jmX and I role up paper towels and then twist them up into what is basically a 10 inch long paper swab. When you dip this down into each hole and turn it alot to make sure its all the way down, you pull out alot of liquid *EVEN AFTER BLOWING THEM OUT WITH THE COMPRESSOR*. You also pick up alot of crap. When you pull the swab out, use one of those "razor blade scizzor knuckle cutter" cutting tools that were all the rage two years ago to chop off the wet part adn you can use each swab about 3 times, depending on how much liquid is in each hole.

This takes about an hour to do all 20 holes. But it is obviously totally worth it, and part of doing a good, intelligent job on a head swap. The compressor is a great place to start out with to get as much as you can out, but ALOT more will still be down there....

chris