So I haven't posted on here in a couple months because I gave up on my lt1 project back in July lol. I was working on replacing the head gaskets (my first time opening up a motor). I had a friend that is very smart in mechanics help me take everything apart but he got married and became preoccupied with that. So I eventually became overwhelmed with certain things I couldn't do/didn't know how to do by myself when it came time to reinstall everything. But now, instead of just putting new head gaskets on a beat up 184,000 mile motor, and thanks to another friends motivation, i've decided we're going to pull the motor and rebuild it.

We're going to pull the motor this Friday or Saturday as long as this blizzard my area is getting blows over by then. If the crankshaft and block check out, I'm going to be ordering this rebuild kit from summit. http://m.summitracing.com/parts/fem-csmhp766-000

I'm on a small budget so I'm really hoping the cylinders look good so they won't have to be bored out at a shop. I can hone them myself. I'll also be reusing the stock rods as well as long as they're in good shape. I want to go with the forged pistons because I do plan on saving up for a nice cam and then heads after I get the car running and I figured that would be added durability.

I have a few questions for the process. Any comments or complaints about the rebuild kit from summit? I know my friend (the one that got married) used the same brand rebuild kit from summit in his 355 late 60's Impala and never had a problem with it. As for removal of the engine, would it be simpler to drop it through the bottom, or use a hoist from the top? Also, would it be easier if I go ahead and pull the transmission along with the engine so I don't have to worry about lining them up once I drop the engine back in the car?

I apologize for the long read. Just want to get as much info as I can from the guys that have done it all before. Thanks for reading!

 

man IMHO just replace the head gaskets and drive it. If youve already bit off more than you can chew, why take another bite?

Replace the gaskets, and if the bottom end fails down the road then buy a stock short block for cheap and slap it in. By then youll be familiar enough with your motor to do it. Im sure your buddys just tryin to help but in the end its not coming out of his bank, and if something goes wrong its not his ***.

Just my $0.02

 

The only reason I had a hard time with everything by myself was because of the limited mobility of working in the cramped engine bay. With the motor on a stand I'll be able to do everything easily. And it's not my first time building a bottom end. Or his. So nothing should go wrong. There arent really any worries that something will go wrong. The previous owner really abused this car (hit a tree while doing a burnout, blew the head gasket, was only firing in 7 cylinders when I got it, lifter ticks everywhere) and I just want to refreshen the motor and make it a reliable fun car.

 

Drop it from the bottom and don't go cheap.

 

If I do end up going with new rods, would these work?
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/es...make/chevrolet

I can't find any rods LT1 specific so I didn't know if small block Chevy rods are the same thing.

 

dont run those eagle rods.......stock rods are a better option if you are hell bent on rods run the SCAT I beam rod with 8470 arp's 3/8" ...........pistons Speed Pro is a great budget piston id look that way.........id have the thing balacned also at a local shop......i can also tell you that a 184k mile motor is going to more than likely require more than just a ball hone to correct the bores.......talk with your local machine shop you will be looking a boring and balancing at the least if you plan on building any kind of a performance motor........

 

All i can say is do it right the First time and be done with it! It might cost you alittle more up front. In the long run you wont have to worry about it as much. Aslong as proper maintenance is kept on it.

 

Oops I meant to copy the link for the scat rods. And yeah I'm trying to get a quote from some machine shops.

 

IMO either fix the stock engine or do a real build with at least Scat rods Mahle Powerpak pistons proper highend machineshop overbore etc., this cheap "rebuild" crap is going to leave you with a step behind stock engine.

The pistons in the kit you choose have a ring package 30% thicker than stock and the pistons weight 13% more than stock which is more stress on the rods, the HV oilpump wont do anything but cause unnecessary wear on the oilpump drive which could a year or two down the road ruin this rebuild.

I am not saying those pistons are "bad" just saying that being heavier and with a thicker ring package they probably aren't as much of an "upgrade" as people will assume. the sizable 4 reliefs mean compression wont be what it could be either. Yes they will handle some detonation without cracking like stock could but other than that where is the benefit in a heavier piston with more parasitic ring package, stock compression etc?

 

I didn't realize the rings were 30% thicker and the pistons weigh more. But this is why I asked you guys. Where can I get stock size rings and what not? I don't really understand why a basically stock rebuild kit doesn't come with stock sized parts. I guess I could piece together a kit then for cheaper since I already have the head gaskets and intake gaskets and everything I needed for the head gasket job

 

not jumping at 96caprice but run the srp pro series piston and ring set over the mahles any day of the week.......ive seen issues with the mahles and the price is less on the srp's

 

Stock rings are 1.5mm and stock pistons are about 530grams.
The pistons in the kit you choose were 600grams and use 5/64th rings which is 1.9844mm
Yes the material is stronger though.

EDIT: I was typing when Mike posted, like I said I am not saying the SRP are bad, they work and are hugely popular, but at the same time folks should understand the specs and features.

A rebuild with stock pistons is going to cost you more than you expect, I have heard of guys saying a "rebuild" with fresh rings and bearings cost them $2000 before they knew it. Now you will have people saying that is bull but when you start adding up gaskets, cap and rotor or whole opti, plugs, fluids, shop labor to recondition rods, some new fasteners etc. It really doesn't take long to spend more than you thought on a "budget" rebuild. That said that sort of rebuild on a motor with stock pistons/rods/crank has made for some very fast cars like a LT1 in a third gen camaro that runs mid 9s on some nitrous and an Impala that runs 10.9 NA at 3800lbs. those guys understood the importance of the topend in HP and just polished up the stock rotating assembly to help it hold the rpm they needed.

 

OP

that kit has "stock" size pistons, which as mentioned, are heavier than your pistons.

first have the block and crank sent out for machine work which "may" involve .030 over bore...thus diffrent piston size this kit has. Also your crank may need .010 grind so that effects bearing size.

The Federal Mogal kit has "ok" parts but not = to what you have or could put in (SRP or Mahle)

If it were me I would use the stock rods resized with ARP fittings on either the stock pistons if a overbore is not needed or get new SRP pistons. Mahle are very good but $.

HV pump...if you are not going with wider bearing clearances than don't use one. Get a steel oil pump drive shaft.

if you have your heads "done" and block machined, new pistons...you need to be aware of what your "quench" height will be and use the appropiate head gasket (thickness)

basically get all your machine work done before you go buying the replacement parts

 

Thanks for all the help everyone. I do plan on getting everything checked out before I buy anything at all. I was just wanting to make a list of everything I need for the future. So looking at the SRP Pro series on jegs, they're less than $100 cheaper than the Mahles. Here are the flat top ones if i have it bored .30 over. http://www.jegs.com/i/SRP/867/271056...ductId=1252212

 

Now with that you need to buy aftermarket 6.0" rods which is a good way to go definetely a nice piston set, see what it takes to buy nice stuff though and those are not highend yet.

What sort of budget do you have?

 

If your doing a rebuild and need some ARP bolts I have some for sale never used, Engine accessory bolts and windage tray bolts

https://ls1tech.com/forums/parts-cla...dage-tray.html

 

Well right now I have enough for the piston set but that's it until my next pay check. But like I said I'll probably put that money towards all the machining first if it needs to be bored over or anything. Basically buying everything I need from paycheck to paycheck.

 

For a proper rebuild with new rods and pistons you are looking at a lot of money in machining, balancing, decking the block, boreing, align hone cleaning, new cam bearings, verifying the sizing on the rods since the cheap chinese stuff sometimes goes out of round after a couple torque cycles.
The topend is where power is made so don't expect this to add much power what you could get would be from the compression bump more than anything else. You would need to get the heads ported and add a complimentary cam to add any substantial amount of power.

Trying to do this paycheck to paycheck probably wont accomplish much but pissing off your machinist.

Have you considered a used engine to swap in and then slowly build a performance engine from what you have?

 

Oh yeah I wasn't expecting any power increases from the rebuild. Just wanted to get it running healthy. But I was planning on just getting a quote from the machine shop for everything that they would need to do then saving up for it all at once. And yes if I can find a good deal on a running lt1 I wouldn't mind doing that instead. But all the LT1 engines I find are $2000+. I'd just rather have a lower mile motor

 

Im with the other people. Get the car running again with the engine thats in it.

Go buy a torque wrench if you dont have one, or have access to one. A good one. This is the first tool required for doing any type of engine work. The rest of the car, tighten at will, but if you want an engine to work and last you need to torque bolts to the right specs and in the right sequence.

Im not sure how you feel your in over your head on this. Are you not mechanically able to do the job? are you just overwhelmed with the pile of things that came out of the car?

I would buy head gaskets for it, assemble and make it run. Use this as a test and a learning lesson to how your engine works. Sometimes Its not fun doing things twice, but everyone who does something like this for the first time, normally does it a second time anyways. You will learn every bolt on the engine, and thats honestly something alot of people cant say lol.

shbox.com has AWESOME info. If you go to cam removal and install you can get a look at ALOT of the parts you are probably confused with and where they go.

Since you are on a tight budget I think this is the best route. I did start out my last build with a tight budget and ended up buying a camshaft that was "priced right" that I wish I wouldve saved another 100$ and gotten a better camshaft. Im just saying that if your budget is make or break by 100$, your over your head and will end up taking a short cut on something, somewhere.

Ive never done heads, but they honestly dont look scary to me. IF you got all the bolts out without breaking or rounding any off then your doing good. There are alot of forums and info out there. Most people are more helpful through PM then actual threads I learned when doing my first cam swap. If its possible to put the new head gaskets on, new head bolts, and then test compression I would do that. IF your compression isnt to crazy, slap the rest of it together and start saving your pennies for a build

Im in cincinnati and I see LT1 blocks and engines ALOT for under 500$ sometimes even 200$(not complete). normally if they are attached to a T-56 is when they get expensive. You have aluminum heads already, so if you go find any old LT1, even if its a iron head, you can build a good engine with the 2 of them.

Hope this helps. btw, we got hammered with that blizzard today lol.