I'm about to tear down a 4.8 for a spare motor. I want to have it built with forged rods and pistons as a backup turbo motor. I thought it the right time as this will allow me to build it on my timeline. I have ordered a couple of books, but I wanted to see if there is a basic list of tools needed for engine teardown or assembly. I have mechanics toolsets and torque wrenches. What else do I need? What are the favorite tools for engine assembly? I prefer Made in USA tools, but I'm open to hearing what others are using. Thanks.

 

Nothing too fancy really, but good torq wrenches if you wanna do it right lol some machine shops sometimes offer to calibrate your TQ wrenchs too when you have your engine machined by them with the intent of building it yourself.
As silly as it sounds make sure you have a spare engine stand and a engine hoist, and an engine specific lifting bracket makes your live 10x easier pulling and adjusting an engine. They make an LS specific valley cover lifting brackets.

Make sure to have a good assortments of the following:
Torx
Allen's
6 and 12 point sockets
various length extensions
Ratchet wrenches will make your life a million times easier
an extra 10mm lol just in case
plugs for hoses if you don't plan on draining everything
lots of rags
several oil pans
magnetic trays
a large working bench (ill get back that in a sec)
zip lock bags
box cutouts (Valves stems, lifters, etc) for various components that you would like to put back in exactly as they came out
good 3/8 impact (electric if you can manage)
3/8 air/electric ratchet
Make sure you have you books and videos book market or saved for each stage, even if you are sure of the step.
Hammers
Pry bars
Picks
Scrappers
maybe a bench vise to hold things or press small things such as trunnions
extractor sets
maybe a torch for those "hard to reach" bolts lol
Feeler gauges
valve stem checker
Ring filer
e-clip plyers
Ring plyers
side cutters
front and rear cover installers (you might be able to get away without this one but you never know)
Cam install tool if you plan on doing a cam more than once
hptuner if you wanna tune it yourself as well

It also depends on how far detailed into the engine building process you plan on going as well determines the tools you need.
for more detailed work:
Calipers
bore gauges
degree wheel for cam
seal/bearing installers
list goes on

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but for a garage weekend warrior deal, you don't need all the fanciest tools in the world, you just need the ones that get the job done. Sometimes you don't know what you need until you are presented with a situation. Biggest thing is take your time and work in stages, and keep your parts well organized. Labeling is very helpful if you plan on really taking your time and you wont be looking at the parts on a daily basis.

 

Something to hold the flywheel/flexplate for installation of the harmonic balancer..

I bought a tool off ebay for this and works great. Also comp makes a tool to check push rod length. Other then that just your basic metric tools

 

Good call! forgot about that one

 

17outs, I'm currently reinstalling my rebuilt engine back into my 99 T/A by myself with no experience in this task at all. From my personal experience, the most VIP tool that I have is a smart phone with a lot of memory! Prior to disassembly, take LOTS and LOTS of pictures, top and bottom, left and right. Also if your phone takes good videos, walk around the entire motor while recording. Without My phone and LS1 Tech.com, I couldn't have gotten as far as I am now.

 

Thanks fellas. I just want to be able to take it down, clean it, new cam, pistons and rods and reassemble.

At this point I think I need a ring compressor, ring filer. I don't really know what degreeing the cam does so I will have to read up.

 

3/8" drive, 8mm, 6 point socket, for the rocker bolts

 

With tolerance stackup of timing gear set, and camshaft, timing can be off by a few degrees retarded or advanced if just "aligning the dots." Within 1 degree of intended install position is normal But if you end up 2 or more degrees off, you'll make a large impact on engine performance. It also ensures the manufacturer ground it correctly or that you even received the correct cam (one member tried to buy an LS9 cam off Amazon and found out it was a LQ9).

 

He did himself a favor! LOL That LS9 would lose a ton of low end power.....

 

So the tool is needed to ensure you are within those 2 degrees? I installed a couple of cams and never did it but I will check out the tool. Thanks.

 

Basic hand tools and a decent 1/2” torque wrench is all you need. You don’t need power tools. In fact, you don’t want power tools if you’re new to this. Power tools are a perfect way to ruin everything. I always cringe every time I see some newbie digging into an engine bay with impact guns. You’re not some flat rate mechanic at a franchise shop scrambling to bang out work in no-time flat, you’re a hobbyist who’s spending quality time with his passion.