Now you can paint the engine bay.

That sux's. I just pulled my engine to put on the harness; now I am going to have to put the engine on my stand and check mine out just to be sure. thanks for making me get all twitchy

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Muffler
 

That is a great looking muffler setup you have there, inspiration for my setup. Might as well check my reluctor wheel while I have motor out. What a PITA for you

I have been watching this project since the start [why ,I even made a suggestion or two a while back!]---My '76 has the 'Leprosy' engine ,[and I suspect,a pulled cyl.stud or two.]
The Chev engine is just far too expensive to consider in this country--BUT
There is an importer bringing used engines from Japan for about the price of a Porsche camchain tensioner Kit!!! well under USD$1000 as shown.
They are Lexus/Toyota 4 litre all alloy,I am still researching dimensions and weight.
I think one might be in my future--we'll see.

'http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1272508270.jpg

Dont you have Holdens there? If not Austrailia is pretty close and they do. Holden and Chevy LS1s are the same thing......

Twin Turbo H4's I tell ya... <$1500 :)

Day#2 of the tear down. Removed the starter, disconnected the clutch and removed the bolts to the CV joints.

Decided to drop the engine this time without the oil pan so I would not have to raise the car higher. Nice thing about the cradle it offers a perfectly flat surface and I was able to place 2 boards accross the left and right side. Worked Awesome..

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Now about the motor: I was able to breakdown the motor this morning an low and behold as suspected it was not rebuilt as the seller stated. It was a cheap attempt by the seller who appears to have replaced the head gaskets and some other easy access engine parts and claim a rebuild :mad::mad:

The Goods:
- Head Gaskets New
- Front and rear main seals New
- Upgraded LS2 Oil pump
- LS2 valve springs
- New CAM (unknown manufacture but no markings, aftermarket regrind??)

The Bad:
- Bent and Chew'd reluctor wheel
- blemish markings on the cylinder walls (#2, #5 and #7) :mad:
- Scared and worn lifters (probably original +100K miles)

I would find the guy who sold you the engine and kick his ass!:mad:

So what are you going to do now?

Rebuild this one or buy a new engine?

Looking for a crate motor or rebuilt short block on LS1 Tech and local shops. Once I get a new bottom end I am going to sell the old short block or keep it for a stroker rebuld to handle boost :D

In China now so not much to update on except for I have decided to go with an LS2 engine :D Yep, 400hp out of the box.. I found a 2007 C6 LS2 engine with less than 50 miles that was pulled out for a LS7 Swap and the owner has decided to depart with it.

There will be a little more work on my behalf to switch from the LS1 as the new motor has a 58 tooth reluctor wheel and different injectors. There is also some small relocating of sensors that will need to be done but nothing to difficult.

I have another 2 weeks in China while the engine gets packaged up and shipped to Tampa but when I return it is time to dress up the engine compartment with some fresh paint and new motor :)

I will also be Craigslisting the old engine, intake, throttle body, ect.. if anyone needs parts or is considering a swap

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Cool motor! Wish I had the coin for the old one-I have a 5.3 in storage that has all the parts I would need to fix it...........

I can't wait until you have everything up and running. I'm especially curious to know how your wing-mounted radiator works out. If it works as planned, that's the route I'm gonna take because I don't really want to go to the trouble of cutting, mounting, and routing a radiator in the front.

heat?
 

I may have missed this but do any of you with v8s have heat? If so how are you doing it? Thanks in advance!

edit: I see that renegade has an aftermarket under dash unit. Anybody have pictures of that? Anybody doing something different? Cheers.

Well along with the new engine I am also going to try out a new air filter setup. My plan is to test both setup's and measure the incoming air. Will be intresting to see the difference between my fender mounted filter and the dual splits

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Just arrived back from China with tons of Jet lag but could not wait to get started on my 2nd engine install. Awaiting at the door was a huge wooden box with my my beautiful LS2 inside along with a bunch of other goodies. Looks like I will be having a fun weekend :)

But with a new motor comes new surprises.

Surprise Number #1
The oil pressure tube on the LS2 intake is raised higher and hits the intake manifold. I knew that the knock sensors were relocated but figured the oil pressure tube would be the same :confused: I will need to call around as many parts are swapable and I am sure there is a fix.

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Talked with Steve at RH and the oil pressure tube can be modified. Just need to cut off and have welded at an angle to clear the intake manifold. I will check with my local welder after the holiday for this small job. Good news is it will not be a show stopper.

Unlike the other motor I decided to crack open the LS2 to see what what was lerking inside and to inspect the reluctor wheel. Good news everything is nice and tight with smooth walls and cross hatching, even the GM assembly markings are still on the rods and rotating parts as it should be for a motor less than 50 miles :)

This new motor is a beauty..

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Update:
Great start for the Memorial day weekend. I was able to get the engine compartment prep'd and painted. The Wurth underbody paint is a great product and formed a factory like finish. Now I just need to remove the masking tape from the connectors, harness, and screw locations.

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This stuff here is the S&*%...

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Glad you're back from the East and making progress again. The engine compartment came out real nice. Mine looked like that too...at first!

Back to oil control issues with these engines, I had earlier suggested an oil accumulator, which is still an option, but there are also some cool oil pans with trap doors (gates) that keep all the oil from "pooling" in an area away from the pump pickup during high g-loads. Kevco is the one all the off-road guys are using. These engines are VERY sensitive to low oil pressure, they can't stand even a little abuse in that area.

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