tommypenguin

I wanted to create a thread of a compilation of all the things I learned while uninstalling, rebuilding and reinstalling my engine on my 2001 Supercharged Corvette. Prior to doing this job I would have considered myself more than a DIYer but by no stretch hardcore in terms of working on cars, this was the first time I had torn down a motor. I’m by no stretch an expert and could not have done this job without the help of many members on this forum and ls1tech, thanks for everyone helping me along the way. I hope this is a way I can give back to the forum through posting my trials and tribulations regarding this first timer motor build experience to others.

For added context my car has FLP long tube headers and GHL exhaust, methanol, fast 92 intake, ported LS2 TB, A & A supercharger with 3.6 pulley, Ported 243 heads with 3 angle valve job

Preparation/Tear down Methodology:
• Every time you disconnect a plug from a sensor wrap the plug in white masking tape and label what it went to
• Every time you remove bolts throw them all in a zip lock baggy and label the baggy with where the bolts came from
• Every time you remove a sensor or anything that exposes the heads or engine to atmosphere I recommend covering the hole with masking tape so you don’t accidentally allow dirt to get inside
• Do as much preventative maintenance as you can afford, I replaced the following…
o OPS
o Water pump
o Timing Chain
o Fan motors (one of mine was squealing)
o Starter
o Alternator
o Pilot Bearing
o Rings, Rod and Crank Bearings
o Seals/Gaskets
o Timing Chain Dampener
o Belts
o Slave Cylinder
o Remote Bleeder
o Spark plugs
o Pulleys
o Lifters
o Lifter Trays
o Cam


• Pick up a tap and die set, chances are you will have to retap at least a couple of bolt holes while doing this job
• Make sure you have numerous 13mm sockets, flex 13mm, wobble extensions. 13mm was by far the most used size during this process
• I would pickup at least a dozen cans of brake fluid for parts cleaning, I used probably 18 cans throughout this process
• You need two high lifting floor jacks and some jack stands with some ground clearance. I used big red 12 ton locking jack stands and two harbor freight floor jacks with 24” lift height. Also picked up one cross beam to mount to the floor jack from harbor freight to lift and lower the front cradle
• When disassembling the heads get and ls1 valve spring tool, I tried using a universal tool and it sucked
• Pick up ARP hardware for the clutch, flywheel, heads and crank bolt
• You really need an air impact to remove the crank bolt, that was one of the only things I used an air impact for during this job, could not do it without it
• For a cherry picker I went with harbor freights 2 ton, worked great and an all star engine plate
• Autozone and other shops loan specialty tools like a blind hole puller or piston ring compressor or crank pulley puller for free, take advantage and save your money by using these programs
• Hit up Saccity for a timing cover and rear main seal alignment tool
• Straighten your wheels and tie your steering wheel to lock it in place
• Label where each bracket came from on each bell housing bolt
• Label where each spark plug, cylinder and valve train component came from
• Take a ton of pictures and videos, you cannot take too many
• Pick up two fender covers

Tearing Down:
• Remove your hood, you can technically do this whole process with the hood in place but having it removed makes it so much easier to do this job
• Disconnect harness on passenger side near radiator prior to pulling radiator, makes removal so much easier
• When uninstalling and reinstalling longtube headers, put a jack underneath the bottom of the headers to support them a bit. I recommend removing spark plugs first as I broke one on the ceramic portion from banging my headers against it.
o On passenger side I installed/removed headers from the top after unbolting starter and valve cover.
o On driver side I installed from underneath and disconnected clutch master cylinder to slave line and also disconnected strap ground

• Do not use an Impact to remove your cradle bolts, you can break the retainer clips if you do
• Record how many washers were used for each control arm bolt if they were used and what location they were at



Rebuilding Motor:
• Record each bearing and ring measurement, place each piston ring set in a bag for the cylinder you measured it on. Use a sharpie and write on each bearing which main or rod they went to
• Be extremely careful not to drop a bearing, I did and nicked it, had to buy a whole new set
• Do not forget to set the thrust on the crank going forward
• Pick up 3 bottles of assembly lube and lather everything you touch in the motor, ie every crank journal, bearings, cylinder walls, cam lobes, lifters, etc.
• Make a checklist for every bolt you must torque down in each stage for the mains and rods along with preassembly for checking tolerance. I would tighten down a bolt in one stage in a specific sequence and check mark it, to ensure I did everything in the correct order and correctly. I also made a checklist of when I installed each bearing half that it was seated perfectly flush in their seats in addition in the correct orientation.
• When mounting your oil pan have your bell housing assembly handy and ensure you have aligned it correct using a big straight edge and actually mounting the bell housing to the block.
• Clean out your head stud bolts by using a schwab brush and compressed air and brake fluid. If you tighten your head studs down and there is any moisture or dirt in there you can crack your block
• I would hold up installing the heads after the shortblock is in the car, will make reinstalling headers easier and getting the motor in easier.

Installing Motor:
• When reinstalling motor, do not underestimate the difficulty in doing so, I found it easiest to loosen clutch disc bolts, install bell housing and brackets torqued to spec on block and disconnect slave to master cylinder line. If you do not disconnect the slave to master cylinder line your slave cylinder will create resistance preventing you from being able to seat the motor, it took me two tries to get this done, I was able to do this by myself
• I wrote with a sharpie on each clutch bolt and rotated the engine by hand and torqued the bolts down in the sequences and specs listed in the manual, takes forever but worth it
• Install AC bolts in AC before raising the cradle or you won’t have the clearance to do this
• Install the rack underneath, bolt to steering rack and cradle mount bolts
• Tighten Cradle bolts without using impact
• Hook up the connector to the crank position sensor behind where the starter goes, I forgot after putting in the starter and headers, had to back track a lot, which really sucked
• Then install headers, be sure to use a floor jack to support underneath them or you will spend a long time trying to get the bolts into the head, I learned the hard way
o Once headers are mounted to heads reconnect slave to master cylinder line
o Install o2 sensors
o Install bell housing inspection cover
o Loosely thread bolts from headers to bell housing inspection cover exhaust braket
o Install clamps/flanges from headers to cat back
o Tighten bell housing exhaust bracket to header bolts
o Install ground strap and other ground wire going to ground point on driver side

• Relocate your Oil pressure sensor, using fittings and braided line, there is a thread on the forum about it
• Install cables to your cam position sensor, knock sensor.
• Do not forget to attach the extremely small hose on the back of the intake manifold
• When installing the manifold, I attached the brake booster to manifold and installed the rear two bolts first
o Then I installed the PCV hose that plugs into driver side head and wraps around to the passenger side near the TB

• Use a floor jack to support under the control arm when installing to frame
• I installed the radiator first with the fan separated, then installed the fans

Wrapping up the install:
• Double check all clamp connections
• Double check all connector connections
• Remember to torque down oil pan bolt, filter and radiator valve
• Fill fluids
• I bled my slave cylinder prior to starting the car using the remote bleeder
• When going to start your car make sure you have charged the battery using a tender and don’t forget to remove the cables or you’ll get a charge fault code (I forgot), I pulled the fuel pump fuse and disconnected the white plug on each side of the car for the coil packs and tried cranking the car with a manual oil pressure gauge hooked up. I saw no oil pressure however
• For my first start up I had to crank the motor for about 12 seconds for it prime fuel and start. Idle was a little lumpy for 20 seconds or so before it smoothed out. Also make sure to remove your radiator overflow cap during this first startup to bleed your coolant system.
• Then top off coolant and restart car, let it get up to running temp with heater blasting, bleed power steering and inspect for leaks and odd sounds

Misc: Given my cam and lifters were damaged my valve train was VERY noisy before, I chalked it up to normal sewing machine noises, but after tearing down and replacing those components my valve train is drastically quieter

Break in Plan: I plan on changing the oil filter and oil at 50, 100, 150, 200 miles and cutting open the filter at each interval and inspecting for shavings. Then at 500 miles, I will get retuned and change oil again after going to the dyno and then wait 500 miles before the next, then 1000 and back up to 2000 where I normally used to change my oil. During the first 500 miles I plan on taking my car to redline at least 10 times by being in very light partial throttle , in 1st or 2nd gear to keep boost and engine load minimal but also to seat rings.

That is all I got for now, if you have any constructive criticism or other suggestions feel free to chime in.

zachaeous

Sounds to me like you are on track. I rebuilt my 2001 LS1 in April of 2015.
The major difference was my was a automatic and I had to deal with the torque tube procedure for the auto. Basically the only thing I did different was I changed the oil after the warm up for the auto torque tube clamping procedure and cut the filter open to look for any metal that may have shown up. The warm up took about 30 minutes, then changed the oil and changing filter. Sounds like you are on top of your job and I wish you many miles of smiles with your new rebuild.
Thanks for taking the time to share your procedure.

romandian

great write up.

"•Pick up a tap and die set, chances are you will have to retap at least a couple of bolt holes while doing this job"

i would try a thread chaser first:

http://www.summitracing.com/int/sear...ad-chaser-sets

johnson-rod

Zip lock lunch bags and Sharpie pens have saved my bacon more than once.
No more 2lb. coffee cans for me.

Vetteman Jack

Great post. Thanks for taking the time to document this.

Just curious what plug this is you are talking about:

Disconnect plug on passenger side near radiator prior to pulling radiator, makes removal so much easier.

tommypenguin

Need to edit that, I meant to disconnect the harness from the plastic clip holding it against the radiator. I didn't get a great picture but you can get some context.

huesmann

LOL I was gonna say the exact same thing, but you beat me to it. Taps and thread chasers aren't the same thing, although for some minor jobs you can use a tap as a chaser.

tommypenguin

I thought they were synonymous. Just went and ordered a metric thread chaser set, like a tap and die set its a guarantee I will use the thread chaser set at some point likely when timing is very inconvenient if I don't have it.

huesmann

A tap works by removing material. A chaser just cleans up/re-aligns threads. In theory, of course.

tommypenguin

Got a little update. I have put 331 miles on the car since getting it started, no CELs, no active handling warnings, nothing of concern in the oil thus far. Also no leaks and the car has been giving me back roughly the same amount of oil I'm putting into it at oil changes. Car drives just like it did prior to the rebuild only quieter valve train and 15psi more oil pressure across the board with the melling pump. I have pulled plugs, they look brand new and have no moisture on them. Also pulled valve covers and checked torque on the rocker arms, all were good. Going to pull the bell housing inspection cover at my next oil change and double check the clutch bolts torque.

I replaced my alternator in preventative maintenance but selected the wrong one. Mine was a version apparently made in france, part number 10246634, I replaced it with a manufactured delco one. I would have 11.5v at startup and a charge code warning. Then after a minute or so voltage would go back up to 14.3. I read that is actually uncommon for the stock alternators to go out and swapped my old one back on to reconcile the issue.

The final tests will be hitting the dyno and hoping everything holds together in addition to there not being anything concerning in the oil after going WOT in 3rd or 4th gear. Probably will happen in a week or two, wish me luck.

tommypenguin

Attached is my Engine Preassembly checklist, also used it for final assembly while omitting the checking for tolerances but adding the need to set thrust. Might do someone some good in the future to be **** about completing every step to the detail.

Got to drive the car down to Colorado Springs over the weekend, car drove great, setup an appointment for the dyno/road tune but may be on hold due to snow.

tommypenguin

Hopefully this the last chapter in my rebuild I just took the car to get retuned yesterday and it held together. Did an oil change and everything looked good.

Dan_the_C5_Man

S.C. vette

Superb thread, somebody pin this thread...

tommypenguin

Update, just turned over 2000 miles since the motor rebuild, still running strong. Going to switch back to synthetic at my next oil change. Should be doing that in the next week or two while I install carbon fiber skirts and a splitter.

derz_vette

Next please post how to rebuild TT / T56 / Diff...

great post

tommypenguin

Man, I don't think I would ever rebuild a transmission, just looking at them scares me, so opportunities to put in bearings or retaining clips backwards.

Knock on wood, hope I don't ever have to tackle rebuilding a TT or Diff, if I did I would be willing to try my hand at those.

hotrod03

I think I might have missed this but did u pull the engine from the top of car? Great write up

SG Lou

Great write up and i loved the Word Doc Check List

BTW: What kind of numbers did it pull ?

tommypenguin

I pulled the motor from the top.

Thanks it put down 730whp/601wtq.