Ok so about 9 weeks ago I was doing a little mexico roll racing with a fellow co-workers vette one sunny afternoon, and shortly after putting a 2 car hurting on him I got a phone call. So I rolled up the windows and turned on the ac so I could hear and be comfortable, some what cause Texas summers are no joke down here in the south!

So anyways, during the call I notice a little slight ticking noise coming from under the hood that wasn't there before. So me being my ****/ex-mechanic self it bothered me so much I asked my co-worker if he heard it before and maybe I'm just now noticing it. He tells me it's so loud there's no way either of us could have missed it to begin with due to me recently purchasing the car a couple months before now.

So with it being the weekend I go into my tool box the next morning and get to removing the valve covers since the noise is too light to be in the block.

The car had some mods when I bought it but nothing told to me was very specific so I was excited to see what I had actually bought.

Thinking at this point I maybe had a broken spring or a slightly bent push rod I take both valve covers off. None of the rollers are loose. No springs broke no bent pushrods.

So I think to myself, this is wierd ... So I reinstall everything thinking that if I put it back diligently it may go away if something perhaps was installed wrong.

Start it back up. Noise is stil there. No CEL lights. No missing or any signs of running wrong. So now I start talking it out with my room mate. And we decided that the lifters had to be making the noise. Which at this point after many start ups is getting worse, louder and more frequent.

Sure enough, pull the pass side head cause it was easiest to get to and one lifter is gauded. Scaring the cam lobe as well. Looking through the block I can see at least 2 others in the other bank with the same scaring condition. Thanks to the previous owner changing everything BUT the lifters. Yes the lifters I pulled were original to the car.

Then the parts pricing began. Starting with cam selection. Not knowing the exact specs of the cam that was previously installed, the decision was made to go big or go home. Full top end rebuild. Complete with other maintenance items along the way that had to be removed anyways.

After a few weeks, the parts list was as follows:

England Green Whiplash II cam
Patriot gold extreme dual spring kit .660 lift
Comp cam lifters good to 7500 rpms
7.55 comp cam chrommolly pushrods
New timing chain
High volume oil pump
New crank bolt
New headbolt set
FAST 36lb injectors
160 degree thermostat

Everything except the lifters was bought from the guys at EG. whose customer service is unmatched and second to none. If anyone is having trouble making a choice. Stop debating and get Jason or Stephen on the phone. They will make the decision easy for you for sure.

Now the car came with a few mods already. Bbk intake, to be replaced with a Vararam this week, 90/92mm FAST, TFS 215cnc heads with over sized valves, LT headers, x-pipe, catback, upgraded clutch and flywheel, along with a set of 4.10s, short shifter and upgraded front breaks.

Before my rebuild I was told the car made 426/411 rwhp with a small .575/.575 lift TFS cam.

As of yesterday after noon the car idles fine but rich obviously, and has 69lbs of oil pressure, no leaks or evident problems at this point. This was all done in the drive way of my house with ALL HAND TOOLS and a floor jack. And let's not forget the extra set of hands from my room mate/co-worker. Which at times were much needed.

I have many pics of the tear down that I will post as soon as I figure out how, and once I get it to EG next week and they work their magic, I'll post the number up and possibly the Dyno sheet. PICS ARE NOW UP!!

And now that the few of you that have read this obnoxiously long 1st post, thanks for reading and I'll keep you posted as things progress!!!

Any questions or comments would be appreciated as I can NEVER talk about my car enough. Feel free to guess and my end rwhp/tq numbers. I have my own guess but I may just keep it to myself fearing I will be expecting too much and look foolish.

But it's all in good fun. As long as it stays together I'll be happy, whatever the car puts down.

 

Hey I would say a car and half, two is alittle stretching it lol. Preciate the shoutout. Now let's get to tuning!

 

 

Good luck, should be a hoot to drive when dialed in

 

i sure hope it will be!! looking forward to getting it back later this week

 

Get rid of those rockers and get some yella terras

 

any reason why? i havent heard anything negative about them. and from what i hear the YT are on back order...?

 

just talked with EG today. got a base tune on the car and will be working on getting it right and ready tommorrow. hopefully, it all depends on how well the tuning goes. i have all the faith in the world with Stephen and the EG crew. they put out mean monsters on a daily basis over there in Houston so im not really worried to much.

theres been more beastly ls cars come out of their bay doors than mine thats for sure. now i just have to wait a little bit longer....

 

Sounds like a great build.

Good luck with it and report back with track times and dyno numbers.

 

will do. idk when ill be making it to the track. depending on how the tuning goes i have a few more boxes that just got to my house that may make it on before i go try my hand and a 1/4 mile and 4:10s with street tires lol

 

Very cool build.

People who do cams without swapping out the ls1 lifters are running on borrowed time IMO. I had lifter failure on my old GTO as well.

 

then you know the feeling lol

i will be getting my car back for sure on tues or wed of next week depending on when i can make it up there and i really cant wait.

i have a few other goodies to install once i get it back at the house, but ill start another thread for that set of mods

can anyone say hello 600rwhp???

 

care to run em again and see what happens with the new tune and my little present i have instore for our supervisors? lol

 

man was it a hard holiday weekend with no ride. but i have something to look forward to this week. finally driving my car for the first time in 2.5 months!!!!

come on Stephen, im dying over hereeeeee lol

 

 

Just let me mod mine alittle first lol

 

^^^^^^^^ nnooooooo Craig, lol I'm not waiting around for you

 

Car made 464/408 corrected at the wheels. Just waiting for the street tune to be done. Seems to be taking a little longer than anticipated. But I guess if I want it right I'll just have to keep waiting.

 

if they are hartland sharps, i bought a set for my new build and my engine builder did not want them on the motor, he then showed me a bunch of broaken hartland sharps, so i did not put them on

 

Yes. But was it from defective HS rockers or did they fail from another problem with the motor? Maybe loss of oil pressure or something else?