My From Start to Finish 6.0L Build

Sorry for the lack of pictures, but it was a bit of a crazy afternoon. Hot and humid and my garage A/C stopped working. Need to get that fixed ASAP. Was able to get off work a bit early this afternoon so I started the process of confirming my pushrod lengths. First I ensured that the rockers were centered on my valve stems. The attached picture shows that I'm centered on the valves. This is the exhaust. The intake was centered perfectly too but the picture was not as clear.


I did not have prussian blue so I painted then valve stem with a black marker. Torqued the rockers down with standard 7.4 inch pushrod installed, rotated the driveshaft several turns and then removed the rockers, Perfect geometry.

After verifying multiple times and multiple ways, it looks like my pushrods need to be the exact length that Roger from Vinci Performance calculated - 7.425. Actually, my calculation was just a bit shy of that, but you round up from that calculation. Will get those ordered tonight.

Ordered my 7.425 pushrods. Getting Closer. Going to install some of my hardware tomorrow.

Its been pretty hot and humid out the past several days here in Southern Maryland. Went out to the garage to fire up my A/C early this morning so I could work comfortably in the garage later in the morning. However, the system would not start up. Pretty cool that these new systems will spit out an error code. Apparently, my code (FL) stated that water has accumulated in the base of my system - except it was completely dry. So instead of working on my engine I dismantled my A/C unit to troubleshoot my issue. What a pain in the ass. After hours of troubleshooting, I found a failed float switch. However, I could not find a replacement part. So after further troubleshooting I found that if I spliced the feed wires together it bypassed the float switch. Since I always leave that drain open - not a big deal. Working great and my garage is a comfortable 74 degrees and 50% humidity.

So my pushrods will be delivered tomorrow. Got me thinking I was getting close to completing this build and I needed to find a way to "prime" my oil system prior to dropping the engine into my Tahoe. After researching for a period of time, I decided to build my own system with components (with the exception of a few fittings) I already had in my garage. Spent less than $25 (minus the cost of the sprayer which I bought years ago). Say hello to my weed sprayer converted to an oil priming system.

Pretty easy to prime in the truck too. Just have it all together and plugged in and pull the fuel pump relay and attach a battery charger and crank engine. Make sure you filled the oil filter. You should be able to see your oil pressure come up on your gauge.

OR VietVet said:

Pretty easy to prime in the truck too. Just have it all together and plugged in and pull the fuel pump relay and attach a battery charger and crank engine. Make sure you filled the oil filter. You should be able to see your oil pressure come up on your gauge.

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@OR VietVet Thank you for your comment. Always appreciated. I'm aware of this procedure you described and I plan on doing that too. However, I've read several articles on the importance of ensuring a newly built engine is sufficiently primed before even turning it over without starting it. Although, I was liberal with the assembly lube, it has in fact sat for several months. This device will allow me to fill all oil channels/passages and pressurize the system. As it is doing it's job, I will also be rotating the engine manually. Then I will execute the process you described.

So, received text message that my pushrods will be delayed by one day, so I should receive them tomorrow. Not a big deal, I most likely would not have installed the rockers and pushrods tonight anyway. I did however install my front steam vent crossover to evaluate fit and expected routing once the engine is installed. I like the look and I will be able to route line around the water pump line.

The pushrods were on the front porch when I got home from work.

As required, soaking my rockers in oil prior to installation. Maybe tomorrow - definitely this weekend.