403 LS2 FD - LS7 Build for 2020!

[MPbdy]

Didn't I say something about NOT wanting $900 surprises?



This is one of the worst cases of blow-by and oil consumption we've ever seen.  All this at only 40k miles....what the fuck Charles.

You can see all the places in the cylinder wall where the combustion gasses was going past not just the top ring, but all the rings.  At this point the rings were doing basically nothing...in this cylinder at least.

I'm looking at a new set of rings and pistons now.  All the carbon could be cleaned up, but I don't trust them.  The ring lands could be screwed and you can never see it.  It would also be excruciatingly time consuming to get all the carbon out, and you run the risk of scratching and ruining the sealing surface in the ring land.

The bearings look perfect though!

It is what it is.

[MPbdy]

Here is a spreadsheet of the flowbench result of the LSA heads.  They're probably going to get touched in a few placed, but no major porting.

[BAD-LSX-7]

what kinda pistons you looking to get?

[MPbdy]

Ones that come with a crank and rods

[BAD-LSX-7]

Ones that come with a crank and rods

details please... i promise you thats way more than a 900 dollar suprise 

[MPbdy]

I'm terrible at keeping secrets   I guess I made you post about your short block so its only fair lol.

I'm looking heavily into the Livernois 404 cu in stroker.  4 inch arm Livernois/Callies crank, Callies H beam rods, and Diamond pistons.  These are absolutely by far the best parts for the lowest price.  Everything else in this price range was an eagle crank, unbalanced, or wasn't a bolt in kit.  They claim its a 1000hp shortblock, and it just needs main bearings to bolt in.

I'm finding out right now if the pistons work with the square port heads.  The intake valve is bigger and I think the center-line is different compared to the LS2 heads.  If for some reason down the road I feel the need to have a 280/300 .750/.750 cam in this thing I want to make sure the valve reliefs are in the right spot lol.



http://www.livernoismotorsports.com/product.phtml?p=1773


Honestly the pistons are fine to reuse.  It would be a huge bitch to clean them...and there is still some chance that something would be bad down the road.  A mechanic would slide them out, ring them, and push them back in lol.  This engine is NEVER coming out of this car unless I want it to.  After all this it better run forever. 

I couldn't put a 40k mile engine in that looked like it had run for 300k miles.  You can find carbon literally everywhere in this engine...it really did need to come this far apart.  That is the main reason why I wanted pistons...and then stock pistons and rings were going to be at least $600+ machine work.  I always wanted to sleeve and stroke this engine down the road anyways...this is good enough for now 

[BAD-LSX-7]

thats a bad ass setup! i do like. what are the stock rods and crank good for? i was gonna go that route as well but i read into it and my rods are good to 700 plus rwhp so im not gonna change them out. i just want a killer na car so i didnt need to change them out.
 
whats the orice on that setup? would be sick if u go that route. what do they make on a setup like that?

[MPbdy]

Not too sure on the limit of the stock rods.  People will tell you some insanely high number because whats his name went 6's with a stock ls1 or some bs third hand story lol.  The stock rods are 6.098 inch, and these are 6.125.  The ls7 short would do more than enough for me also...I'd definitely leave it alone.

The price is $2200.  They rate their short blocks with this setup to 1000 horse.  The crank is supposed to be similar in strength to a callies magnum.  They say the crank is good for 1200 lol.  To say the least, it'll do more than I ever need it to.

The plan for the engine is still the same...its going to be really mild, just a lot bigger.  It'll still have the baby cam with cats and exhaust manifolds.  It definitely won't be the strongest 404 ever built, but probably one of the few that are cali smog legal.  A gm high tech story says the kit picks up 40 horsepower usually, but the 50 ft lb of torque is the important part   Its gonna thump.

[BAD-LSX-7]

well good to hear! i love this build keep up the work! cant wait to start doing the fun parts of my build!

[RX7what]

And that kit is a bolt in for a LS2 block? You dont have to bore or sleave? If so I am now interested. I was planning on buying or building a 416/418 LS3 but I already have a LS2 lying around so.... 

[MPbdy]

The only thing I've heard about a 4 inch stroke in an LS2 is that you need to grind the bottom of the cylinder to have the rods clear.  Other than that it doesn't require anything out of the ordinary as far as engine work goes.  The only way to take the bore out on the aluminum blocks is to sleeve them.  Some people have taken an LS2 to 4.030...but I don't think everyone thinks its such a great idea.  This you will need to hone the cylinders to make the 4.005 piston fit, but that is the case for any replacement piston.

[93silverbullet]

Great build!

[mattster03]

update or ban!

[MPbdy]

Uhhhh....errrr

3.73 gears or ban!!!!

I haven't gotten a whole lot done since the last update.  I was racing this last weekend.

My stroker kit is supposed to be on the way...but I haven't gotten any word that it shipped yet.  He said he hoped it would ship on Friday, and now its Wednesday lol.  It may be on its way and I just didn't get an email..who knows.  I need to measure all the new parts before I send the block out for machine work and order main bearings.

I did get a gas tank.  Its a night and day difference from the old one.  The guy bought a brand new tank from Ray like 3 years ago, and then unfortunately got in a wreck and had to part the car out.  Still can't find a fuel pump tree though.

I didn't get any pictures, but we got the front steering assembled and did an eyeball alignment on it so it will be steerable to move it around.  The rubber napa steering rack boots fit over the hinson inner correction that I'm using.  Its quite the stretch.  I'm hoping the boots don't pull off or rip when things start to move around.

Priorities have shifted around a little.  The new plan is to get the fuel lines done in the back with the corvette fpr.  Then the rear end can go in the car and it can roll around.  The gas tank can go in after the rear suspension, but the fuel lines are mostly inaccessible.  I bought all new EFI hose from napa just to be safe.  When all the engine parts get here I can go back to working on that.

I really want to get it off jackstands and clean the garage out.  It's also going to be nice to see the car on the ground again...I might even test fit one of my enkeis

[mdpalmer]

You and your pops make a good team. Wish my dad was that cool!!!!  Can't believe you have a flowbench in your garage, so cool!