My 6L Manual WH2 Statesman

[VendeTTR]

Ohh yes, i already have an LS1 table post up that when your done too

[blackvussii]

Hey mate, great build and well done doing it all yourself. Any damage to the rotating assembly? With the new bearings will you have to resize anything? I'm slowly getting parts together for a budget build using second hand internals... Would be keen to know what sort of tolerances and ring gaps you are aiming for when you put the short block together...

[SirNemesis]

Hey mate, great build and well done doing it all yourself. Any damage to the rotating assembly? With the new bearings will you have to resize anything? I'm slowly getting parts together for a budget build using second hand internals... Would be keen to know what sort of tolerances and ring gaps you are aiming for when you put the short block together...

Thanks

I don't think I'll need to use different size bearings, but I won't know until I get the crank and block back. I'm thinking I wont as the crank is only getting a polish. I'll post up the tolerances and gaps up as I do it.

All going well I should finally get the block back from the machine shop tomorrow. They are just waiting on cam bearings at the moment.

I picked up some seals from Spencer Race Engines today and glued them into the rear block cover and the cam retaining plate. The LSX block is a little different than typical LS engines with these seals. The LSX has o-ring grooves, where the other blocks use bonded seal plates. This makes the LSX a bit dicky, but I got them glued in nicely.



My new rings also arrived from Total Seal.

[vxssblown]

Looking good cant wait to see this back together, it will be a beast.

Just curious how much lag is there with these single turbo kits ? when does boost come on?

Cheers

[SirNemesis]

Looking good cant wait to see this back together, it will be a beast.

Just curious how much lag is there with these single turbo kits ? when does boost come on?

Cheers

Thanks. Very little lag with this kit, full boost by 3000rpm. I've sold the kit to another forum member now though and will be doing something a little different this time around.

[SirNemesis]

Ok, now I have some progress to talk about

Got the block back from the machine shop, was a bit disappointed they hadn't touched the mains as I specified I wanted them line honed. The guy at the machine shop was confident that I wouldn't need to as they measured up good and suggested I do a pre-assembly and bring the block back if it isn't right. I'd need to bring the block back to do the deck as it also hasn't been cut yet. This is because I need to measure piston height before I know how much of the deck to cut back.

So, first things first I need to get the heavy bastard out of the crate and onto the engine stand. This little gizmo made the job easy.





Done! Ready to put the crank in. Flipped the block and removed the factory main bolts and caps.



Mmmm dowels...

3 of 5 the caps had burs on them which would stop them seating correctly, all in the same position. A little work with the diamond file cleaned these up.





Then I went over the surface area with some emery paper to remove any little specs of rust which had formed.



Mmmm billet...

Put the bearings in. Cleaned and rested the crank in dry and added some Plastiguage. Measured the clearances and found about 0.0008" for all. This is wayyy too tight, so will need to be machined out to achieve the desired 0.0025-0.0030" clearance I'd like.

Removed the Plastiguage, cleaned the bearings and added some assembly lube. Put the crank back and torqued down the caps to spec. When torqued, the clearance is too tight to allow the crank to turn by hand, which won't help me with the next stage. Loosened off all of the mains to just over finger tight, which allowed me to turn the crank.

Cleaned up a couple of pistons and installed. Measured the deck to piston clearance which appears to be about 0.0021-0.0022".



Also went through and gapped all of the rings to suit. 0.0022" for the top ring, 0.0014" for the bottom ring, as per Total Seal recommendations.

Tomorrow I'm going to try getting the block back to the machine shop to do the rest of the job. Hopefully it wont take too long!

[SirNemesis]

Progress!

0.0025" clearance on the mains and rods. Block zero-decked, all looking sweet

[Evman]

Loving the progress mate

[hotbox]

looking good mate

[kosta2577]

like it mate asewome car

[SirNemesis]

Not much progress tonight. I installed the cam and the windage tray...



But then I noticed a few holes in this block. I've never worked with a brand new block before, so no doubt this is normal and I just need to get the bits.

Q&A time...



#1 What goes in here? Is this where the barbell restrictor goes? Does it just sit in there or do I need a cap to keep it in place? Can I reuse the one from my LS2 block? Are they the same? Should I buy a new one?



#2 Does something go in this hole? This is on the rear of the block (upside down in the photo) and is threaded.



#3 What about this hole? This is at the rear of the block (upside down again). I assume something goes in here? What is it? Is it just a plug? Does anyone know the part number(s) for these bits?



#4 What about this one? This is at the front of the block near the oil pump outlet (upside down block).



#5 And these? These are on the rear on the block outside the rear plate. This are in the coolant galleries and there's 1 on each side of the rear of the block. The front appears to have them as well, but the front ones are already plugged?



#6 What about the one on the right here? The left is the outlet of the oil pump, but I'm not sure what goes in the right hole (if anything). It kinda lines up with a flat part of the front cover, but I imagine something needs to be pressed in here first?



#7 This hole in the cam retainer plate (upside down photo) isn't round like the others. I've done some googling and it appears to be normal, but it means the tapered bolt doesn't sit flush with the plate like the others do. Should I cut the taper deeper and make it round? Doesn't seem to cause any problems, but I don't really understand why its odd.





The block didn't come with bolts for this plate so I'm using the one from my LS2/L76. The problem is the LS2/L76 only has 4 where the LSX has 6. I assume they are the right thing? If so, I'll buy some more tomorrow.

That's all I've got to show for now. Hopefully someone who's played with these blocks before can help with the questions

[duke5700]

I have a barbell if you need it, 2, Its M16 x 1.5 and goes into the rear oil gallery, I plumbed my accusump in there.... and I'm done.

[SirNemesis]

I have a barbell if you need it, 2, Its M16 x 1.5 and goes into the rear oil gallery, I plumbed my accusump in there.... and I'm done.

Thanks boss. Still stuck on the one at the back of the block. My LS2 block doesn't have a hole there and GM can't help me...

[SirNemesis]

Ok, progress for today...

I've ordered a barbell oil restrictor for the rear of the block and got some plugs coming which should suit the big holes on the rear of the block. I also managed to get 2 of 3 plugs from my old LS2 block, stripped the 3rd one attempting to remove it, so I'll order another one of those.

Picked up 6 new cam retaining bolts today from the bolt shop. GM wanted $9each for them which I couldn't justify. The off-market ones are allen head instead of torx, and about 2mm longer, but they don't bottom out in the block and torque up fine.

Got the timing chain on, the oil pump, pickup and sump.



Also put the lifters in, the head studs and put the head gaskets on. I still need to do some cleaning to the heads before I put them on so I'll do that tomorrow.





Still stuck on the plug that goes on the rear of the block, behind the rear plate next to the cam. Its the same thread as the other ones on the block, but the head of the plug doesn't fit in the hole on the block, which stops the rear plate seating properly. Not sure what to do about that yet...

[blackvussii]

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=...=0CDUQ6AEwATgK

hopefully this link works, mentions maching the plug down because its common for them to sit proud