found a ls1 engine it runs has top end knocking 116,000 miles
was diagnoised as Collapsed lifter / valvespring
engine has good compression

was going to upgrade cam/springs/lifters

should i deglaze and re-ring pistons ? which i can take to machine shop or do myself

was also thinking and considering of replacing wear items like crank/camshaft bearings and take block to machine shop ..etc

but that will run up price pretty quick about 3000 to rebuild long block at a shop

about 500 to do machine work and i rebuild myself

im on a budget

not doing anything crazy and not trying to put out 500 plus rwhp

Thank You Zach

any consederations or opinions and personal experance welcome

 

All cylinders have good compression?

If that's the case, then it may be a bent pushrod or damaged rocker. I discovered my "running" LS1 had valves kiss 3 pistons. On one cylinder the pushrod was bent, the lifter was knocked loose from the plastic retainer (which was broken), and even the clip had popped out of the lifter so the plunger came out. The lifter went sideways and scored the cam.

You are talking about replacing cam & lifters, so that should resolve any of those issues if any of that happened to you. Like a dummy, I didn't check out the engine thoroughly enough before buying it, so I was stuck. I didn't have to touch the bottom end to get it running, just fix the cam, lifter, lifter retainer, and pushrod. I was replacing the heads, anyway, so never looked into whether any of the valves were bent.

These engines seem to be pretty stout from a wear standpoint, unless they are abused or neglected. Most likely you could do the cam/lifters and possibly pushrods/lifter retainers if necessary and run the engine just fine. If, when you get the heads off, you can still see crosshatch in the cylinder walls (I could on 3 of my LS type engines), then you don't have to worry about rings.

As for bearings, the cam bearings seem to be a little vulnerable. Crank bearings - I would have been comfortable running the 147k mile neglected 6.0 liter with the bearings that I pulled out of it (I'm doing a stroker kit, so whether to reuse or replace was moot).

 

yes im looking into buying this engine

all have good compression one was alittle lower than the others i dont have the numbers in front of me.. but i assume its more of a head gasket issue

another question do i have to re clerance and check endplay etc on crank and check re clerance with rod bearings if i reuse them assuming there still healthy and pop them back in and torque down everything


would re ring and doing quick deglaze hurt anything?

or im just being to cautious

 

i plan on upgrading cam to a bigger one with one of those cam + spring kits also replace lifters and pushrods from texas speed or hawks and replace any other bad items on the heads if needed

 

Everyone (friends) told me to just run my LS when I got it (136k on it). It ran and did not make noise but I sent it off and had it built anyway, just did not want to take any chances. Yep $3200.00 but that also got me forged pistons and rods. I knew I was gonna beat on mine pretty hard!

 

there charging me that just to do regular rebuild of the long block lol

i just cant put out 3200 right now on just the engine i wish tho

i can do most of the leg work

im not trying to make 500+ hp lol im easy to please

i can have alots of fun in a hyundai or prius even tho it didnt feel that safe to push a prius but it was fun

 

I would lean toward a valve or valvetrain issue, since you already said it has an upper end noise.

Not reclearance, but certainly would be a good idea to check them. Have seen reports of thrust bearing issues, but not sure as to the cause of that.


Since you're talking about a TSP cam & springs, you're probably going to up the power over stock a bit. So, I wouldn't say you're being too cautious, but perhaps not enough. You are probably more likely to cause harm during the deglazing than prevent issues by doing the rings. If there is wear, then it would be better to go .005" over with new pistons and rings.

On the other hand...

Plenty of these engines have been built with heads/cam putting out a lot more than stock without touching the bottom end. The most common upgrade is probably ARP rod bolts.

 

I agree with you on that


I have see a lot off issues with thrust bearing too I think it's due to low oil pressure from what I've seen and been reading

Yea I talk to a machine shop and they said they can do it where I can run the same pistons and new rings there pretty well know shop in the area but me being cautious makes me unsure of that

One reason why I don't want to bore out to .005" is due to the fact max bore is around .010" and that after that I'm looking to spend a pretty penny to re sleeve or buy another block .. So I would like to save the boring for when I plan to upgrade to better internals as there's not much room to work with so idk

But I have seen 130k plus ls1's upgrade cam/spring and do fine

I have been looking at these kits for rebuild
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/more...398&cc=1361450

SEALED POWER Part # BK6082

Block Kit w/Premium Rings; Head bolts not incl.; Incl. A-Series aluminum bearings
$958.79

And

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/more...188&cc=1361450


DNJ ENGINE COMPONENTS Part # EK3145AM

Master w/ Oil Pump & Timing Belt Or Timing Kit; w/ 3 Bolt 1 Sensor Hub Cam Gear; Master Kit

Unsure about DNJ ENGINE COMPONENTS quality