How hard to rebuild motor?
How hard to rebuild motor? I'm rebuilding my motor with some new upgraded parts for more boost. now i have never rebuilt a motor before. i can tear down the whole motor myself,but i have no clue how to remove or install,pistons,cam,crank and i'm not to good with adjusting the rockers. the whole motor is apart right now awaiting the machine shop to become a 355. now i do have a buddy or my fatherinlaw that had a 6second quater mile 81 camaro him and his cousin built and raced. so he has knowledge of course but lives a 1hr away... i did find a book that tells you how to rebuild a LT1/LT4 step by step with photos. i'm thinking of doing it myself and wanted to know if you guys think i could do it. anything different with building a blower motor compared to NA? i was told that the top ring on the piston needs to be .024" for the gap.
You should probably just have the machine do the assembly of the motor. Anytime you take a motor the the machine shop to have work done the prices are gonna add up fast. I just had the most basic rebuild done to my motor. Cleaned, honed, new bearings, polished stock crank, install ARP main studs/ rod bolts, re size rods, re ring, deck the block, and assembly of the short block. This cost me a little over $900 and that was still using all of the stock internals. 200 of the 900 total was for assembly of the short block. For $200 I wouldnt even think about assembling the short block myself.
i am going to be doing this too. the good things is my mothers boyfriend is a mecanic. and has his own shop. by the way the book you have is it "small block chevy lt1/lt4"? i just order it from B&N.
Staging Lane
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 75
Likes: 0
Don't be afraid to do this yourself. You wil need a few special tools which are readily available (usually through freinds and/or family). Just remember that the LT-1 is really just a fancy small block Chevy that has been rebuilt under countless Oak trees across the country.
My advice, since this will be your 1st build AND it is for a blower motor, 1) Take your time and triple check everything before you go to the next step. 2) If something is not right fix it NOW, before you go on. 3) If something will not go right (and trust me something won't) back off and take a break and think about what you need to do before you go back and break something. 4) Something will break and stop progress. Accept it, fix the problem and move on (you can gripe about it later). 5) Remember that the idea is to have FUN and enjoy what you are doing. Sometimes it will get aggrevating and you will have to retrieve the tools from the middle of the street or driveway, ect. But you will have the satisfaction of having done it yourself.
My advice, since this will be your 1st build AND it is for a blower motor, 1) Take your time and triple check everything before you go to the next step. 2) If something is not right fix it NOW, before you go on. 3) If something will not go right (and trust me something won't) back off and take a break and think about what you need to do before you go back and break something. 4) Something will break and stop progress. Accept it, fix the problem and move on (you can gripe about it later). 5) Remember that the idea is to have FUN and enjoy what you are doing. Sometimes it will get aggrevating and you will have to retrieve the tools from the middle of the street or driveway, ect. But you will have the satisfaction of having done it yourself.
Yes i like all your points and i do agree that sometimes you just need to walk away instead of beating yourself up. cause i have done that and then come back and bang figured out the issue. i also want to do it like said,to feel good and be able to tell people hey i built the motor myself. plus the fact that it would save alot of money...
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Staging Lane
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 75
Likes: 0
I would not count on it to save a bunch of money. However, it will allow you to buy better parts for the same amount spent.
The book youare looking for is called "How to rebuild the LT1/LT4" or some thing to that affect. I think I got my copy from e-bay, but Barnes and Noble also carries it. I have a copy of that plus the small block Chevy one. I don't build engough of them to remember everything.
The book youare looking for is called "How to rebuild the LT1/LT4" or some thing to that affect. I think I got my copy from e-bay, but Barnes and Noble also carries it. I have a copy of that plus the small block Chevy one. I don't build engough of them to remember everything.
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****, alot more than that to have someone do it. I built mine in about 10 Hours. You need a Ring Compressor, that's about it really. I put mine together using my Stanley Socket set, that's all. It is nice to tell people that you built it, most are in awe of how it is done.
my buddy also has piston sleves i can borrow. i also need to buy some sort of torch wrench so i know what the torque is on the bolts. sure will be nice installing the heads and intake outside of the engine bay... did that twice inside the engine bay and sucked.. a machine shop i have dealed with before told me to punch the block out .030, honing it ,install freeze plugs,clean block,check for cracks,check for flatness,install cam bearing would cost me $301.00 plus parts. and another $136.00 to resurface the block if it needs it. sounds pretty good to me?? i didn't ask how much to balance the rotating assembly.
If your gonna have them balance the motor why would you take it home to have put it together. If you want to learn how to assemble it go in and watch them assemble it. There is no reason to bring them the motor to machine it, then you take it back to assemble it, then take it back to them for balancing. If you think that $200 is alot for assembly you should see how much it cost for a high quality set of tools to assmeble an check all the clearances after assembly.
Originally Posted by 94blownz281
when you get the book look it over and tell me what you think! i will buy it sometime in the next couple months when i'm ready for the building.
If you can get it built by a shop reasonable..... being as you are totally new to engines. I would have them build it. Theres to many things you can get wrong if you don't know what your doing or have the proper tools. A bonus aside most shops stand behind what they build. If you build it and it isn't right you may have to pay twice.
