Well after a long string of problems in life and with parts I am finally moving in a forward direction again.
I ordered my LSA block in december new from Jegs and got it towards the end of the month, inspected the block and found the cylinder liner bores were way off, .060 thick on the front side of the liner and .125 on the rear. I went back and forth with Jegs and there gm supplier and finally gm directly after three blocks, all of which progressively got worse. According to gm this is acceptable. Here is a direct copy and past of the email from GM - I am not Greg BTW - that is the GM of the dealership in which we were dealing with -
Subject: LSA block case 158213
Greg , here is the information received on the LSA block 12623968
The following information applies to all LS3 LSA LS9 production and performance engine blocks and addresses the liner being off center.
0.048” is the minimum liner thickness when measured at the flange, (i.e. Deck surface) this is a production tolerance spec.
0.043” is the is the minimum liner thickness when measured at the liner body, (i.e. anywhere 1 inch lower than the deck surface) this is also a production tolerance spec.
Dealers should be urged to get actual sonic test data before warranting these blocks for this. Brand Quality will be starting auto return projects on these blocks so if warranted they will be called back for inspection, If at inspection they find the wall thickness to be with specs the dealer will be debited for the claim and have the opportunity to have the block shipped back to them at their cost.
These production specs are good for the production HP levels of the our engines, 420 - 640 hp.
If a builder is purchasing these blocks for an engine with an anticipated HP level above 640 hp or they are boosting the engine or are intending on opening the bore up over 4.065; PCC should strongly push the builder to consider an LSx block which can easily handle well over 640 hp, boosting or an over bore.
Thank You
Keith Macomber
GM PCC Consultant
An Associate of Morley Company
Email keith_macomber@gmexpert.com
PH # 866-453-4123
Fax866-842-9480
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So after all this JEGS refunded me my money - BTW Jegs customer service is terrific and I still highly recommend them, they do the best they can to help you - I went back and forth for quite a while as to what to do and decided in the end to go with the LSX block, which thankfully just arrived tuesday and is at the machine shop beginning to take shape. I know its heavier than the LSA and will require me to make adjustments on the car but in the end should prove to be a more reliable piece and be far more rebuildable if they need arrises.
So hopefully I will be assembling it in about a week.
On a couple other high points I scored a 2012 ZL1 TR6060 transmission from a friend that got a take out for his hotrod. I used a core 5.3 I have at the shop and installed it in the car, modified my trans mount and transmission crossmember, modified MGW shifter assembly which turned out awesome after shortening the linkage otherwise the shifter handle would have ended up in the switch area of the console. I also measured for my driveshaft and ordered it from the driveshaft shop. I will post some pics later of the modifacations needed to make this trans and shifter work in the FC if you guys want to see them.
I also redid my gauges in carbon fiber and sent my wiper switch with logicon off to Digitalsolo for a rebuild and will hopefully have that back soon as well.
So new engine is - fast 92 throttle body, LS3 intake manifold, LSX block, 4.070 wiseco pistons, 6.125 k1 rods, 4.0 k1 crank, 1/2 head studs, ls9 heads, brian tooley titanium spring kit, stock rockers, rest of valve train is comp. I also changed cams and had Steve Morris spec me one. This is still a 417ci - 6.8L
I plan on changing to a set of six bolt heads later but I already have to much invested in these heads to take a big hit and not even use them
