I got lucky last year to aquire a few lq4s and 9s semi cheaply and kep them in sorage for now.Sold a few and kept 1 of each for myself knowing for sure i would build 1 for this yr to replace my current lq4 thats slightly down compression on a hole or 2 when i made a pull and ran out of meth during the full pull. The current motor runs very well but has more than normal blowby and fills the catchcans every 2 weeks
In efforts to make some upgrades later for a T6 turbo for slight increase in power on the topend using pump 94 and meth i think I can hit 900whp or a little more. Heres the list of what the new setup will be:
Summit pro ls -12cc forged pistons/rods
Wiseco hd wrist pins
Total seal gas ported ring set
317 heads ported/polished
Texas speed stage 3 turbo cam 228/234 .620/.600 115+3 LSA with dual spring .660 kit
Stock rockers with trunion bushings
Johnson 2110R lifters
Melling high pressure oil pump
BTR equalizer intake
NW 102 dbc throttle body
FIC 1200cc injectors
King coated main bearings and cam bearings
arp head studs
ls9 head gaskets

My local machine shop is booked untill the end of march or early april before I can have the block etc cleaned and machined and assembled. For now Im going to break it in with my current t4 turbo and the ls6 intake. Then mid summer or so if the funds allow I will be switching to the btr intake and go to a t6 turbo to really turn it up. At the same time the old motor would be torn down to see what exactly is hurt and can be fixed for either another project or up for sale after i fix it. I ordered most of the parts from summit who have been great to deal with. Was skeptical about the quality of the pistons and rods at 1st. The dssracing pistons in the current motor were extremely nice and came thermal coated which I might have done to the summit pistons also.The summit stuff look exactly like wiseco stuff without the branding. I choose the tsp cam because i like how they worked for me in the past and the upgraded cam core is something also wanted. Im going to show as much of the build as I can along with the tear down of the current motor to see whats starting to let go.When this new motor is fully down with the t6 setup should be alot of fun in the higher rpm range over 20psi.

 

Welp. here comes the bad news. Tore the block down over the weekend and found some pretty heavy rust built up on #3,6 and 8. Left the motor in the shed too long without spinning it over and fogging it. I knocked out the pistons and gave all the cylinders a light hone to see how much the clean up. There are some dark spots but don't really feel any scoring or pitting. Spoke with my builder at the machine shop and he was going to recommend I go oversize pistons after seeing I just got the stock bore replacements. So now I need to exchange the pistons and the rings and go with 30 over pistons and ring kit.

I didn't get to take pics before doing a clean up pass to show how bad they were but here's what they look like currently.



And summit has been really helpful with answering questions and their return/exchange process is very easy. Cause I need these pistons and rings in a hurry lol.