Forging an LS1- to hone or not to hone?
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On The Tree
Joined: Jul 2005
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From: Pahrump, NV
Forging an LS1- to hone or not to hone? Hey all- I tried to search this, but couldnt find an answer close to what i am looking for. Here is my question- if you have an LS1 that has strong compression in all cylinders, and you want to forge the motor, is either honing or boring the block absolutely necessary? I realize that the rings wear into the cylinder walls, but if you have the bore honed, wouldnt that make it easier for blowby to occur later on since you are taking some of the cylinder walls down? The reason I am asking this is because if it is not necessary, I was thinking of forging the block while it is still in the car. Drop the pan, pull the heads, and basically you could keep the block in place. My a/c blows unbelievably cold, and I dont want to crack the system open if I dont have to. My 98 when the compressor went out, I had a shop fix the air four times and they could never get it to blow cold. I really dont want to lose my a/c the way the other went out. What do you think?
You have to have the cylinder walls prepped by honing so that the new rings will seat properly. They can hone the walls so lighly that you can keep your stock bore size if the cylinder walls are not worn at all but willl not save you any in cost.
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It wouldn't be a bad idea to have the block checked out by a reputable place while it's apart, have it gone thru and make sure its' all o.k., plus if you want to put studs in the bottom end you should have it line honed anyway to make sure it's all strait and whatnot.
Little $ now will make the whole build alot more solid.
Little $ now will make the whole build alot more solid.
Gives you a much more solid platform to build off of, that I am sure of.
Plus then you can more accurately set your bearing clearnances, you can check and make sure the cam bore is parallell to the crank, etc.etc.
Another thought, is that if you are gonna go to the trouble of having the motor apart and get a new rotating assy all balanced and whatnot, why not throw a 4 inch crank in there and make a 383 out of it? Make a good bit more power, and while it's apart it's not gonna cost much more, hell sell the stock crank and it will almost pay for 1/2 a new 4 inch job.
Just a thought.
You probably coudl detach the compressor and hang it off a coat hangar and drop the motor out the bottom... but it's not gonna make the job any more fun that I am sure of.
Plus then you can more accurately set your bearing clearnances, you can check and make sure the cam bore is parallell to the crank, etc.etc.
Another thought, is that if you are gonna go to the trouble of having the motor apart and get a new rotating assy all balanced and whatnot, why not throw a 4 inch crank in there and make a 383 out of it? Make a good bit more power, and while it's apart it's not gonna cost much more, hell sell the stock crank and it will almost pay for 1/2 a new 4 inch job.
Just a thought.
You probably coudl detach the compressor and hang it off a coat hangar and drop the motor out the bottom... but it's not gonna make the job any more fun that I am sure of.
You probably coudl detach the compressor and hang it off a coat hangar and drop the motor out the bottom... but it's not gonna make the job any more fun that I am sure of.[/QUOTE]
Hanging the compresser is easy. You also have to remove the starter because the wiring harness runs between the AC lines. It's not a huge deal, but GM could have thought that through a little better.
Hanging the compresser is easy. You also have to remove the starter because the wiring harness runs between the AC lines. It's not a huge deal, but GM could have thought that through a little better.
Terrible advise. You cant just hone without the right setup. You just cant get the bores straight honing in the driveway. The lack of accuracy makes this something not to do.
Its worked for years in the SBC world, however I agree, that its far safer just to pony up the hundred or so bucks to get it honed correctly, especially if its going to be a stout build.
If you were replacing with stock pistons, You could probably get away with a bead hone, bottle hone or glaze breaker, which is commonplace when rebuilding SBC motors.
