Rods? Crank? Pistons?? Bearings?

It seems to be that 600-700 hp is the breaking point for the stock bottom end where the #7 cyl goes... What is that? That's also the first cyl to recieve oil in the valve train department..

How much can the crank take? Just curious what would need upgrading first.

 

isn't #7 the last one to get fuel?

 

Cast aluminum pistons and the weak *** rod bolts.

 

^ oh yeah.. Rods bolts too... I remember that now... Lemme ask this, or clarify, what exactly is the first thing to go?? Rod bolts I take it? I've seen some complaints of broken ring lands also..

I mind as well just save for a rotating assembly.. Was gonna just upgrade a couple small parts.. New mortgage payment is keeping me from tinkering with anything expensive on the car.. Gotta tinker with the house now.. But I can start ripping certain things apart and take my time fixing them... FINALLY have a damn GARAGE!!!!

I dunno.. Was looking at a pic and it seems that the pass (bank 2?) either cyl 2 or 8 would be one of the last ones..

 

In a perfect world, with no detonation, etc. on a big HP, stock bottom end motor with no other issues, my vote would be: Rod Bolts. Other issues can contribute to ringland issues, and that should still be a concern as well.

Stock crank seems to be good-to-go for significant amounts of HP, considering many engine builders often keep stock crank (granted some slight changes) when building forged motors with better rods, ring, pistons, etc.

If you wanted a bang for your buck motor build, I'd go .40 over with some diamond pistons, mahle rings. Get some ARP bolts for your rods, and you'd have a pretty well refreshed and stout short block, factoring all the balancing and blueprinting as well.

 

^ Can't bore a stock LS1 Block..

Sounds like a plan tho...

 

^can it be sleeved?

 

You can get pistons in 3.905 which is just a hone away from the 3.898 factory bore. Stock cranks have gone 8's, so unless you are building a race car, I would stick with it. Get some Scat or Eagle rods and some good slugs (I prefer Diamond) and that motor will last forever.

LS1's pick up horesepower as the clearances open up, so unless you have an issue (or want to spray it), I would run it until it dies of natural causes.

-Geoff

 

whats wrong with resleeving

And I meant .010

.... i need to stop posting at work

 

Nothing wrong with resleeving, it is just that you can usually get a new block cheaper.

-Geoff

 

1) 97-98 LS1's seemed to have less than ideal oil pressure so some die when you do heads and cam or power adders without upgrading the oil pump.

2) Rod bolts stretch above 600-700hp so it's just a matter of time.

3) Stock pistons can take 700-800hp but a bad tune can kill them fast. But stock rod bolts and head bolts don't last at this power level too long.

 

Definitely rod bolts. Ugh.... it's past-due time for me to get that taken care of on my car

 

It's like they've said in a perfect world you wouldn't have issues until the 600-700 hp range with the rod bolts. This ain't a perfect world though so my vote would be detonation taking it's toll on the pistons, which is basically true for evey car on the road.

Actually isn't it fairly common for #7 to go well before those power levels?

 

yes you can...just not much

 

Piston ring-lands are the weakest link IMO. A little detonation (especially with boost or squeeze) can crack them. However, the LS1 is a pretty tough hombre. My old H/C/N set-up made 576rwhp/590rwtq on a completely stock bottom-end. It eventually pushed a head-gasket, but looked beautiful when it was torn down...