well Hinson and a couple of local shops have quoted ~$900 to do it, which isnt a ton, but hey it's still $900. ive done whole motor swaps, transmisisons, etc. but that's more a matter of just not being scared to do it, as thats the equivalence of really heavy legos. i've never cracked into the engine before. i've watched/taken notes, but never done it solo and i'm aching to get in there

thanks again for documenting your experience, both the good and bad.

 

You can say that again - there were plenty of times my forearms and shoulders were burning badly!

I will say... that the tunnel plate was a killer!

Torque wrenches in my opinion are one tool you shouldn't be cheap on. Sears has some decent torque wrenches so you'd be fine - for piece of mind I would recommend getting it calibrated to be 110% positive, and I'm sure you'd be fine.

Personally I use CDI Torque wrenches. They are a division company from Snap-On (and everyone knows how good the rep of Snap-On is). The quality is amazing and the prices are great and I can say CDI lives up to the name of being a branch under Snap-On. So if you are looking to buy definitely give them a look:

http://www.cditorque.com/

 

Yep. In that situation, a cordless(or corded drill) with a bit adapter, works very well for the tunnel plates screws. You just set the torque low, and do a final pass manually.

 

Yep, well it's not just about money. It's also knowing your car in case you run into any future issues. It all starts with watching and learning - then when you feel up to it, just make sure you are prepared and then dive in.

No problem about documenting and taking pictures. I think it's cool to look back on. And like I said man, I still have a lot more pictures to come along with a nice start up video! I'll be sure to post sometime soon (don't have my camera with me today).

 

I actually have a nice corded drill (had it for years) but it's not working which I found out soon enough. While under the car I was thinking "man... if this isn't initiative to buy some new power/air tools then I don't know what is"

It's funny because the very next day I borrowed a corded drill from a friend to drill some small 5/16 holes into the lifter trays to help avoid oil accumulation and I wondered why I didn't borrow it sooner lol. But hey even with hand tools I'm pleased that it only took me 4 days from start to completion and that was taking my time to do things right.

 

Great thread, definitely going to come in handy with my cam/header/clutch install this winter

 

This is a great writeup !! I'll be checking this thread when I do my heads, cam and intake swap after the first of the year !

 

UPDATE:

Alright guys here are the last of the pics like I promised! The "start-up/drive video" I will post this weekend. I'm still trying to work out that electrical issue that I talked about earlier but I should have it all wrapped up this weekend (I hope).

First, here's a shot of the Comp Cams Trunion mod



Here's my little 40 dollar press from Harbor Freight (worked perfectly)



Knocked out each trunion (man, those needles get everywhere! lol)



Here's a naked shot



Here's a shot of the action:



Got them all pressed like so



Here is a complete box of all of them



Here's a shot of the snap ring going on



I would say it took me about 30 mins to finish up all the Trunions, it's definitely a worthwhile mod

Alright, now to the next step:

Drilled some small 5/16 holes into my lifter trays.



Got the lifters and trays in and bolted up. And I laid my new head gasket right on top of the dowels to get ready to install my new Heads .



Got the new heads on



Installed all the pushrods, rocker arms, and pedestal. Then I bolted everything down.



Got my new Ported Intake Manifold on



Here's a close up of my new injectors



Got the valve covers on and bolted up the new longtubes



Here's a shot from under. Looks beautiful in person



Got all the other PITA parts back on the car and just waiting for the finishing touches!



Finally got everything put back together. New Ported Throttle Body and Blackwing on the car!



Finally finished with the motor! Next up will be the suspension. Not too sure when I'll get to that but hey - the biggest part is finished!

I'll post a video of the start this weekend and hopefully my camera will do it some justice! Thanks guys!

 

UPDATE:

Well as I noted earlier, I'm running into those two DTC's:

Charge System Fault

P1637 - Generator L-Terminal Circuit
P1638 - Generator F-Terminal Circuit


I checked, cleaned, and tightened the connections to the Battery, Alternator, PCM, and the ground G104 near the battery. I started the car and measured the BATT terminal (red wire on back of the Alternator) to Ground and it's putting out a really low voltage IIRC around 1.47. I also measured the Positive Battery terminal to the BATT terminal on the Alternator and I'm getting around -10.4 so I see my voltage loss.

I have not yet checked or cleaned the starter connections or ground G106 - didn't have time today as I believe it will be a PITA since it is caged behind the passenger side longtubes lol. BUT I plan to attack it tomorrow and start her up again and see what I get. Hopefully that will solve my issue, we'll have to wait and see.

This is the schematic that I am working with. It's pretty straight forward so hopefully I can have the issue resolved by this weekend (knock on wood).



Well, just wanted to give an update on that situation. Thanks for watching and supporting guys!

 

What's the purpose of the holes in the lifter trays?

 

i had to google that too..

http://ls1tech.com/forums/generation...trays-not.html

 

A lot of LS1/6's tend to accumulate oil on the top end. While of course the lifter trays will fill up and start overflowing; it helps move the oil back to the bottom end significantly by drilling small holes on the lower face of the tray. Though it is rare - there are some reports of LS1/6 guys starving their bottom end because the top end is retaining to much oil.

If you ever are changing your lifters/trays out, drilling holes could prove to be helpful down the road. Truth is, it really benefits you if you stay in high RPM's for an extended period of time (tracking, multiple WOT pulls, etc) but it's good practice. Not absolutely needed and you'd be fine without drilling but it's sort of like a preventive solution.

 

I think that is just one of those internet BS things and truth be known too many guys, especially over on LS1Tech run way too much oil pressure. There is no way that drilling holes in lifter trays is going to really make any difference. My point is this, how much oil do you think there is standing in all those lifter trays from the hole you drill to the top? maybe a pint?

 

Lol yea I know there is some internet hype that came along with it but just for the hell of it - I drilled some smalls holes since it wouldn't hurt. After thinking about it, there seems to be some benefit even if it is slim. The way I see it -it really would only help if you spent an extended time in high RPM's which is when the oil pressure rises the most. But even that is rare unless you often track you car.

 

How is the oil getting in there to begin with? Is it leaking around the top of the lifter?

As they said on Tech, the trays are at the top of the head and sitting at a 45° angle. I can't imagine they'd get more than a few teaspoons of oil before they started to spill over. And if I was racing, I'd put extra oil in the crankcase anyhow.

 

I just stumbled on this today - awesome thread!

 

Well the lifters are actually at the bottom of the head on top of the block. It goes like this:

Cam -> Lifters -> Lifter Trays -> Push Rods -> Rocker Arms

Naturally the trays will accumulate oil due to the placement. You can see them clearly in this picture I posted:



It would definitely be more than a few teaspoons but it also depends on oil pressure. Unfortunately - there hasn't been incredibly testing on the "drilling holes" theory but structurally it should not affect the physical well being of the tray; it can only provide better recirculation of the oil if need be. The drilling requires no effort and takes about 2 minutes total. I wouldn't say it's absolutely needed since plenty of guys run without drilling and are completely fine but again it's more of a safety precaution just in case.

 

Thanks man!

 

Then why did you do it? I find it interesting, that you make a modification(that is quite baseless) to the lifter trays, and completely ignore applying RTV to the knock sensor covers.

You can only hope

Just in case what? What are you expecting, that thousands of other C5 owners(with more extensive modifications) are seemingly unconcerned about?

 

FUD (Google it if you aren't familiar)

I've read many publications suggesting drilling of the lifter trays. To my knowledge, nobody has provided any concrete information that this helps, or hurts, the engine in any way. I personally haven't done it.. and I don't plan to do it.. but I'm not going to insinuate to others they are idiots because they take the advice of many more credible people than someone hiding behind a forum name and avatar.

In any event, let's not derail this guy's build thread any longer. The anti-drillers already made their point... let it go.