Crowhater

I started out Saturday to swap cams in my car and was making good progress when the balancer stopped me dead. We broke two pullers before I called it a day. This morning I went back at it after letting everything soak in penetrating oil and I finally got it to break loose and it sounded like a gun shot when it let go. Then came the camshaft cover plate that we could not get off. We broke three T-40 tors bits before we got all but one of the bolts out. I guess the engine builder figured they should be thread locked with JB Weld. The last bolt was a pain for about an hour and I finally welded a nut to it and took it out with a wrench. Did I fail to mention that the engine did not have a timing chain guide/tensioner? So after all this I figure I have paid for my sins and the engine should come together quick. We pull the old camshaft and I inspect it before we proceed, yep you guessed it the cam had a damaged lob. So off with the cylinder heads and now I have a short block sitting in my car. Like the saying goes if you want it done right you need to do it yourself.



Here are some pics.*

gotjuice?

Lots of wear on the camshaft, Did you hear any knocking noises?

realcanuk

Who built that thing? Sucks when things don't go smooth.

Ls240sx

I actually was going to do a cam swap this weekend in my 60k LS2 and got the cam out no problem but when I got it out I found the cam bearings were trashed. wore straight to the copper in the bearing. So I feel your pain

Crowhater

I am not going to go back into that whole deal, it just is what it is. For years I have always turned my own wrenches because I like to know it was done right and I got lazy when I got the C6. The excuse I told my self was " I dont not know the LS3" , well I will learn it now.

I can't believe the timing chain did not break. It has no guide at all, you should see the video. I will attach the direct link so you can see how much slack a 15k timing chain has on it.

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps9903f225.mp4


It sucks that all this happened but in a way I am OK with it. I knew the engine was not running right, I knew it was down on power and now I know why.

realcanuk

I understand, and it really doesn't matter. Good thing you got to it now. Good luck with getting it back on the road. An LS3 is just another engine!

pit-man

Sorry for all the bad luck. That would sure make me worry about the bottom end as well. Was it put together right...who knows ?

Crowhater

Part of me wants to tear it all the way down but if the bottom was bad it would have failed already, the engine has great oil pressure. I want to build a new engine and I am looking at the LS7 so I am nt trying to spend a great deal on this engine.

Patrick G

Looks like some bad lifter lofting and bouncing on those cam lobes. Probably a combination of too fast of a cam lobe coupled with too heavy of valves running too little spring rate. Your new combo should cure this.

pit-man

you get the right cam\head combo you might be happy with what you have

richietables

I was thinking you probably should never have started the project in the first place but then it occurred to me that it wouldn't have run forever like that anyway... I'm no pro but the engines I've built in the past are still on the road, plus I know who's responsible (good/bad) when things happen...

Hope you're back on the road shortly.

Woodstoc

There is a silver lining here...you found it before it flew apart, causing much more grief!

Love your avatar BTW.

Crowhater

This has gone so far past a cam swap, it is a full blown nightmare. I will post up some pics tomorrow that would make your hair turn grey. A little voice in my head told me to pull the short block out of the car and brother it was the right move. The top ring gap was.035 and the second ring gap was .040. #7 piston skirt galled against the cylinder and all the other pistons show skirt wear. The pistons were not the Diamond piston I paid for, it has Manley in it. The rods are not Cali they are scat, but the crank is Cali. So I will be building a new engine instead of a basic cam swap.

I know they say .030 is as far as you can bore a LS3 but will I run into problems? She is 4.07 right now and I need to go farther to clean her up. How far is safe? Also is it common to have skirt rub on a 416 or is this related to the Manley pistons they installed? Heck from the work I have seen the cylinder might not have been true to start with.

Crowhater

Here you go I uploaded a couple pics for your viewing pleasure.

richietables

Yow!

I'm sorry to see that, friend. Now you start from scratch, huh? I'm not sure how much overbore is safe but somebody here sure will. You sure better carefully consider that... So who built this engine? Did you buy it thinking you had something else or pay somebody to do it for you? When all is said and done, would a crate motor replacement be easier/cheaper?

Keep us updated and good luck.

myfunz

Yes I would consider a crate at this point.

Crowhater

I am thinking about a 427 rotating assemby and boring the block. After this deal I really want to assemble my own short block.

richietables

Any word on how far out is safe to bore?

Crowhater

factory bore is 4.065

my current bore is 4.070 but it needs to be cleaned up as you can see from the pictures.

and the max is .030 over, so that is a 4.095

realcanuk

Honesty... just terrible. I hate to hear when good money is spent with good intention, and some fool ruins it by not doing a proper job.
I hope you get it sorted out quickly and can enjoy your car again.