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Machine shop says Monday or Tuesday for the rotating assembly so I spent my weekend doing expense reports. Weather is finally getting nice so I am excited to get back in the shop and put this thing together.
i have enjoyed following this. keep up the great work and looking forward to your results.
Thank you. I was hesitant to start my first build thread, worried that I would be flogged when my projects stalled. The comradery has been a real motivator though.
Originally Posted by jmilz28
I knew you'd give in on the FAST 102...good call.
Yeah, yeah.. I reserve the right to bitch about the price though.
Got the crank in..used Lucas semi-synthetic assembly lube. Real sticky and smells a bit like bubble gum. Yum. This is way too much but I'd rather err on that side than not enough. For final wiping of anything, I have had good luck with these paper towels. Specifically low-lint. Make sure to get assembly lube on the sides of the #3(thrust) bearings(both halves). Torque the inner bolts to 15 ft-lb and then tap the crank backward and then forward with a soft hammer to align said thrust bearings. Then torque to spec!
My Home Depot ring-squaring tool worked perfectly. I think this will work on anywhere between a 4" to a 4.2(ish)" bore. Non-marring PVC!
Total seal ring and piston assembly lube. I expected it to be just the same as the typical stuff but it actually does have a slightly lighter consistency to it. Still very sticky which is good. Also pleasant smell. A little "grapey" perhaps?
Pistons, pins, rods freshly balanced.
Rods came back with the bolts torqued so got to exercise my rod vice after all.
If you haven't played with a crank before, this might give you an "aha" moment about crank oiling. See my finger through the oil passage? They are drilled diagonally so that the hole starts in the #1 main and comes out of the first rod throw. Continues like that down the crank. Maybe this is obvious to everyone but years ago I didn't really have a good mental picture of it.
So I had the rods checked and with the ARP bolts, Paul @ Greenlee said that all of the rods were out of spec. I asked "would I have spun a rod bearing if I had just run them?" and he said there was no way to know. Might have actually just run. But for $100 with +.002" bearings to have them resized, why not? I previously planned to just run them but I also thought it was a more expensive proposition.
We are out of the hole a little bit. Not all that unexpected. I turned the crank to what looked like TDC and placed another new piston on top(upside down) and measured between that and the cylinder liner with a feeler gauge. I came to .0075" whereas I expected more like .005" but I plan to check with a more accurate method this weekend.
Perhaps my redneck deck operation took off more than I thought but hopefully we are closer to .005" in the end. With a .041 Cometic gasket, we would be at .036 quench cold and probably closer to .040" once the engine warms up and the Al block expands.
At least you know it's flat. How well were the rods balanced to begin with?
Paul said I could have just run it even though I replaced the pistons, rods, pins with new/cheap GM parts I found on eBay. He said even the McLeod clutch and Fidanza flywheel were SPOT ON. He said that's the first time he has ever seen that. So I guess GM and the aftermarket are really getting their **** together as far as weight-matching of parts and balancing. This tells me that unless I make significant changes, my next "budget" build will likely not be (re?)balanced
In case anyone is wondering, I want to test out some bearing and piston skirt/crown coatings in the near future on a 6.0 build for the beater or maybe even the Jeep so I figured I would go with these new GM bits for this build and use the pistons from this engine (skirt coating is a bit thin) for the coating experiment. Looking at this stuff:
Finally got to cc the heads. The GMPP catalog lists the LS9 heads as both 68.5cc and 66cc. 66cc would have made me very happy as I could have gotten down to 64cc without much milling. Looks like these are closer to 68.5. Going to check PTV this weekend and decide how much to mill.
It's harder than it seems to get all those little bubbles out of there. I was about to make use of that shovel but eventually got it. I was leveling the heads on the holding brackets and actually needed to angle them SLIGHTLY in favor of the end of the chamber where the hole in the plexiglass is.
While I've got a 4" bore, the stock chamber(measured at the dimension in the pic below) appears to be about 4.085 or so. Another item I need to measure with more precision. I am hoping since the chamber flares out quite a bit at the bottom that milling will actually tighten it up so that I can run a 4.065(actual) gasket. Small difference but every bit helps.
Paul said I could have just run it even though I replaced the pistons, rods, pins with new/cheap GM parts I found on eBay. He said even the McLeod clutch and Fidanza flywheel were SPOT ON.
Having it checked was money well spent! I have friends who swear by the coatings. Keep us posted!
So I needed some injectors after selling the (loaded)LS3...and they came attached to a sweet-looking intake. Hopefully Geoff doesn't kill me when I show up at his shop with this thing.
I was thinking the build was going great before, now it's just been stepped up a notch.
What sort of air cleaner/ducting are you planning? Will it clear the strut tower brace?
No clue honestly. I just always wanted to try one and can't beat the price even if it needs a little work. Ducting will be pretty complicated so may run it on the dyno before building it for this specific car. The strut tower didn't even occur to me either. Oops! Hopefully it still fits. Supposed to fit under a C6 hood. Harrop does make some bolt-on affairs for C6 and I think some of the Holden offerings? I fear even their accessories might be expensive enough to have me trying to make something.
No clue honestly. I just always wanted to try one and can't beat the price even if it needs a little work. Ducting will be pretty complicated so may run it on the dyno before building it for this specific car. The strut tower didn't even occur to me either. Oops! Hopefully it still fits. Supposed to fit under a C6 hood. Harrop does make some bolt-on affairs for C6 and I think some of the Holden offerings? I fear even their accessories might be expensive enough to have me trying to make something.
If I'm not mistaken, your ls2 brace will clear a maggie so you should be good.
So I needed some injectors after selling the (loaded)LS3...and they came attached to a sweet-looking intake. Hopefully Geoff doesn't kill me when I show up at his shop with this thing.
10-11-2016, 10:19 AM
