On the road to recovery
 

Been close to a year since the tragic death of piston #7 in my block. During that time I had to adult a lot and couldn't justify spending the energy, time, and mainly money into getting my 01 coupe back to health.

Didn't want to cheap out this time and roll the dice putting stock rotating assembly back in. Went ahead and rebuilt my ls6 block with lunati forged rods and pistons along with arp main and head studs.

Just got the engine block and heads back from the machine shop. Rotating assembly is in and the rebuild is underway. Goal is to be trying to start the engine by May 1st. Below are a few pics of the engine. Wish me luck.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...d3eb298439.jpg

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...af8fac8476.jpg

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https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...11ada6847c.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...2a68e9e09f.jpg

:lurk:

Man that's sweet!! :thumbs:

The pistons look like they were flycut with a hammer.

Is it cheaper to buy a new LS3 or rebuild the old engine?

He probably wants forged parts for safety since he is boosted and had one failure already.... Just a guess, that's what I did.

But I'm curious about the price also, back when I started mine not many had been done yet (swap to LS3) so it was a bit of an unknown.:lurk:

Good luck on the rebuild.
Keep us posted!

Man, that looks like a piece of art. Looking good and best of luck getting everything back together.

It's situational based on your goals. The ls3 crate engine can be had with for 7k, price just dropped used to be almost 9k. There's something to be said for the fact you can buy a crate engine and drop it in. It's completely ready to go with all accessories, gaskets etc. However if you are running a boosted application like myself you are still constrained by the limits of the stock parts.

The first time i rebuilt my engine to do new rings and bearings along with machine work, gaskets, fluids, misc, stuff cost 2.5k. If I were running a naturally aspirated application it would have been fine.

This time around I went with forged rods and pistons, upgraded bearings, arp main and head studs, oil pan, oil pump, lifters and had to rework my heads. Cost is at 6k for essentially a new built longblock. My current setup should support 900whp. There's my long winded response to a short question. :)

Thanks for the well wishes! Will follow up as this progresses.

That has to be the prettiest engine block I've ever seen!

Good luck meeting your May 1st goal! Hope the install goes smoothly!

:iagree: subscribed :lurk:

Off to a little bit of a bumpy start. I bought my current comp cam from TSP, when it arrived it had a couple of small rough spots that I sanded with some 300grit. I was rushed at the time to get the cam back in and should have sent it back but thought it would be alright after sanding it smooth.

Ordered a new cam because I'm paranoid from vengence, will be here in 5-10 days.

Also noticed while examining my crank position sensor it was cracked presumably from the carnage of when the initial damage to piston 7 occurred given the sensor is near that location against the reluctor wheel. So I had to order a new cps. Hoping these are the last hick ups before getting the short block completely back together.

Finally got the cam in along with some the oil pump and pickup tube. Should have the front and rear engine cover on and oil pan today. Possibly might have the heads on too.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...e441c44983.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...1680abc24a.jpg
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Front and rear covers are on along with the oil pan.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...c0ebe4cf96.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...3cf8a00f7e.jpg

Measured pushrod length and ptv, installed lifters and pressed/pinned balancer. Heads are installed.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...de191c8923.jpg
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Looks great. I'm wrapping up the exact same project. Lost my #7 piston... and because of having to be an adult and doing all the work myself in my garage on jack stands, it's been 1.5 years. I have that same Allstar engine lift plate... and that looks like the HF 2 ton engine hoist too.

I also decided to rebuild with forged internals, went with Eagle rods and JE pistons, ARP rod and head bolts. PRC stage 1 ported 243 heads milled to 60cc (11:1), Cam Motion Titan 4 cam, and the Straub trunion kit. Melling 10295 oil pump, LS2 chain, LS7 lifters. I have an early LS1 block so I used the Trickflow timing chain dampener kit. I also installed the Improved Racing baffles in my oil pan, and the SacCity billet oil galley barbell. Also did the ATI balancer. I converted to the 04+ LS6 valley cover too.

Motor, new clutch, and torque tube are all back in the car. Still a few details to finish up, but I'm inching ever closer to hitting that key! I'm almost scared to crank it. I keep going over and over in my mind every nut and bolt and torque spec making sure I didn't miss something.

As for cost, since I did all the work myself (minus the short block machine work which I got a great deal on), I'm still cheaper than a crate LS3 and I have a lot of upgraded parts too. However, dropping in a crate motor would have been sooooo much faster.

Just looked you up on the forum and saw you are scrufs garage! That is awesome, I'm a subscriber and watched many of your videos for refreshers and new lessons. When I tighten my lifters will be making sure each cam lobe is at base circle because of you.
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​​​​​​Thanks for your videos! That's awesome you are on the cusp of getting it back on the road. Think we have experienced a similar path. I do have the hf hoist and all star plate. Did the same melling pump and a cam motion cam with the hardest material they make in. I got my fingers crossed for you hope you get it started before me. I've been going to bed this week counting the bolts I have left till I get motor back in the car. Scared to turn the key and see what happens.

First thing is first, got to get the motor back in.