Hi all. I blew a head gasket a few weeks back and instead of paying the shop $2800 to put a new one on I took the opportunity to strip it down and rebuild the whole motor. Currently it's down to the block, and I almost have my build all put together.... I am limited on funds as this was not an expected thing. Because of this when it is first put together some parts will not make sense like a 48mm TB with ported intake and heads, I will fix the goofy stuff when the funds are there just need to get it back on the road first!

I need help putting it all together and having eyes look over what I'm doing; here is what I have planned so far.

I bought some heads yesterday.
lt1 561's that have been hella ported and polished,
Manley undercut stock size valves brand new,
supposedly 57cc combustion chamber from porting,
after market springs(brand unknown) said to hold .600 lift to 7k rpm before valve float w/ 20k miles use,
Studs(not arp but have been used previously)
Titanium retainers new,
planning on putting pushrod guideplates, and 1.6 roller rockers, all hydraulic from cam to pushrods.
Also bought an lt1 intake bored out to 58mm supposedly and port matched to heads.
Stock TB w/ airfoil (FOR NOW)
Moroso CAI
STOCK bottom end, just reusing the crank and rods probably balancing both.
Boring it out .030 over so new pistons will be put on stock rods.
Replacing Optispark will be vented, upgrading wires to 8.5mm, and new plugs.
new water pump, and oil pump since I had a lot of water in my oil from blown gasket
NEW main bearings, cam bearings, block will be hot tanked and magnafluxed, same with heads to make sure I didn't get ripped off(craigslist).
Pacesetter headers to y pipe, to single flowmaster, maybe upgrade catback later.
PCMforless tune
New timing chain, new rear main seal,

STILL NEED to decide on cam, it's a daily but I want some *****. I've heard 400hp is easy but I don't need that much power, I've got a bunch of tickets as is. So I'm happy with about 360-375hp.

I want to do the AIR, EGR, and what ever other emmissions deletes, keeping a/c and Power steering though, I live in florida...

Is this plan stupid in some ways, is it almost there, can someone direct me to simple mods, and deletes to help me? Thank you

 

Heres the heads and intake I purchased for $450 while the ad is still up! Says he ran a 12.1 1/4 and lists the cam, he said was cc306. He said that he took them off, re-ported them and checked the springs to see if the compressed well, supposedly 235lbs, thats how the retainers are new too.
http://tampa.craigslist.org/hil/pts/4121849299.html

 

12.1 with a 306 and ported heads is hella weak, from the pics those are not hella ported. You should do at least rods resized for ARP bolts for hella strength in your stock bottom end, only costs about $80 plus bolts. Cam I'd get a custom grind 23x/24x from AI or LE or bullet or tea, and get it dyno tuned for max driveability.

 

anybody who will tell you a spring spec based on max lift capacity and rpm without specifying what lobes they are basing that on needs to be ignored.
Assume the springs are worn out than throw them away the first time they are removed from the heads. 20K is a lot for springs on an aftermarket cam.

My opinion is the heads were likely a mistake and that based on things like you are in way over your head.

I would not replace pistons and reuse stock rods, I wouldn't replace the pistons unless there is a specific reason to.

IMO you should have just replaced the head gasket with the help of a knowledgeable friend. This build doesn't look good.

 

What 96 says, First off basically most of the advice is going to be too late since you already purchased the heads, intake. What was wrong with your heads, Budget build, Should of just resurfaced your heads along with a valve job, check everything and see if you needed pistons, rings ect. I would of just replace the bearings, installed a cam and only what parts were actually needed. Heck a bone stock LT, with bolt ons, cam, tune and gears go a long way..

 

Oh the stock valves aren't bad, really don't see much point in replacing them with stock size and a rough home port job an the 561 castings are the least desirable, both as cast and for porting.

It was thought the 561s were a little better as cast but one of the Stock Eliminator racers tried a few sets and found them to be the worst castings he tried. Then porters don't like them because they are thin.

12.1 isn't necessarily bad depending on the rest of the setup, but understand there are guys with heads/cam cars running a second faster so 12.1 isn't any sort of great result.

I have also seen chinese rocker studs break after some mileage, personally I would use stock or ARP. Many stock parts are very good.

 

I say hella because compared to stock its much more ported and being the 561's I'm glad they didn't go overboard with them. The reason I had to buy heads was because I missed a bolt with 2 nuts on it, on the intake while disassembling and pryed it off and chipped a 2 inch piece off my left head. The intake was just thrown in to the deal so I wasn't going to say no, otherwise I was going to reuse the stock one I have, but ported.

I agree with arp studs, I'd rather not risk it.

I need new pistons due to the .030 bore. I'm boring because I've found some scratches/roughness in 2 cylinders, I want a clean slate. I'm trying to save money by using the stock i-beams balanced with new pistons....

New springs is a good idea, that's something else that worries me, they don't look like the beehive springs he said in the ad. is there some way to find out what kind they actually are? Also what are your thoughts on the 57c combustion chamber? won't that affect compression, more air allowed in more to compress, higher compression?

 

That is a big chamber and will lower compression ratio.

The fact you destroyed a head just taking the car apart and the depth of your missunderstang of how chamber volume affects compression is futher supporting what I said about just repairing the car rather than a halfassed "performance" build.

Find a knowledgeable friend/acquaintance something and have them help you put a complete stock used engine in the car. I understand wanting to work on it yourself and wanting to mod it but you are in so far over your head all I see you accomplishing is making a mess of the car and spending so much money doing so you then can't afford to correct the issues.

We all start somewhere and at this point what you need is a mentor not performance parts.

 

I appreciate your concern 96capricemgr; really I do. I'm clearly no expert, but I'm not a complete idiot. I'm motivated to learn and very excited, lt1 section on here doesn't get many new comers I saw in a recent thread, well if you tell people their idiots when there's just a few things off then what do you expect.

I am not alone in the dark, I have my ASE dad who's built many a 350 in his days, but gen 1 not 2. Also my friend who took his 71 torino from a junkyard, swapped a chevy 350 and rebuilt the car himself. We're limited on our knowledge of the specifics of assembling between gen 1 and 2.

I've read a book specific to lt1's, reading a book that goes over every part of rebuilding a chevy 350, and a book on the 93-02 fbody. I frequent shbox, read things on here, and have spoken to Lloyd through email.

The head being chipped was from being in a hurry, lesson has been learned. Hence this thread to branch out and take my time.

Now, back to the build itself. I don't know why that guy bought new valves without porting to bigger sizes with all the other porting been done. I've seen threads talking down about the 561's, in the end they are still lt1 heads and will flow enough for my needs. It was my first impression that compression would drop, but then I thought if there is more room for air in then there is more to compress, guess I'm wrong.

"You should do at least rods resized for ARP bolts for hella strength in your stock bottom end, only costs about $80 plus bolts." bufmatmusclepants

I'll look in to getting rods resized to match...