Camaro SS, track trips, build pics etc.

[PG01]

Well this is a depressing update with a happy ending. Go back to the oil pressure issues. I figured out the black junk was from the rocker arms, it was flaking off, so that was accounted for being in the filter. The car was running good and AFR wasnt bad so we went on a drive, after a couple of quick reflashes she went into boost for the first time. Holy ****** of God. The pull at 7 psi on the wastegate spring is retarded. I am officially in love with boost. After experiencing this glory one friggen time, the oil pressure tanked again. Luckily we were close to home and I limped it there, and swapped filters again. All back to normal. So I go on about tuning some more and even gave a couple test rides to friends (no traction from a roll), and on my final drive of yesterday it happened.......we buzzed the neighbors standing outside with the turbo whirl and the BOV pop, made a pull and it was there.......a rod knock. After examining all top end components i crawled under and pulled the filter and it was clogged with metal debris. I believe the previous two had been also I just saw it to be dark and assumed it was sludge. So we are gonna make the best of it, and go back with an aluminum block this go round to shave some weight. I know this motor didnt run long but damn was it glorious when it did.

To note, the brakes are growing on me some, the converter from circle D feels perfect, I can build boost quickly, I was even able to footbrake to 3k on a dusty blacktop road so that has a lot of potential and my trans cooling is not adequate. Ive got a sister cooler and fan on the way and will be doubling cooling capacity while maintaining the rearmount cooler setup. Also, the BOV with the lightweight spring was staying open at idle, and with the heavy spring would not open at all. This is what i did to the heavy spring to make it work correctly.



Side info, I was pretty disgusted with the situation so I made the best of it and put some new cabinets and microwave in the Camaro's corner of the garage. I may run a dedicated outlet for the microwave but for now just ran a cord to it. This is a hangout spot for us LS guys to hatch our devious racecar plans where the womenfolk cant find about it! Pretty nice cabinets for being store bought home depot thingys.



New motor to come grrrrrrr.

Sorry man, but sounds like itll be badass tho...

 

[iamdub]

SUCKS. I'm anxious to see what you find as the culprit in the bottom end.

But, yeah, boost and turbo whine is intoxicating.

 

[01ssreda4]

Gotta be a rod bearing. With the metal in the filter and then the rpm based clunking it seems like a no brainer. Luckily I was around the corner from the house and didnt drive it long so hopefully my other good parts are not damaged.

 

[01ssreda4]

Motor pullin party. Got damn it.



TDC for #3. For those who may not know, the piston is supposed to come above the deck. This is the highest I could get this one, followed by a clunk.



Just like I thought.....



And this is why you dont pull in engines in flip flops!! Not that this will stop me from doing it again.



Lots of new parts showing up daily, engine should be here tomorrow. Broken motor is completely torn down/stripped. All the other new parts in this engine looked great, nothing else seems damaged other then that bearing. So, on to reassembly and upgrades.

 

[PG01]

That Blows.... about your foot....and motor...hurry up tho dammit





This done yet?

 

[01ssreda4]

I wish!!! Im considering putting the power brakes back in, and redoing the lines so just more stuff to slow the process.

 

[01ssreda4]

Went and picked the motor up from UPS freight and got right onto tearing it down. Overall its much cleaner inside then the previous engine.



A welder, a washer, and a nut come in handy for getting those broken exhaust bolts out.......and the vice grips for when you round the nut off! These are completely disassembled and going to the machine shop to be cleaned up.



Lube your stick before you put it in ok gentlemen.



Pretty clean specimen we got here.



But a little paint never hurt. Is it bad karma to paint it the same as the failed engine?



Short block is done, cleaned all the metal debris out of the oil pan and shot a fresh coat of black on the motor mounts.



I spent hours cleaning the pistons on the last engine. These got a quick rub down and Im calling it good.



And through the magic of the internet, the heads have arrived back home in about 30 seconds!!! They were cleaned and milled but no other work was performed.



Here's an intake valve. Notice the silver streak around the lower edge. That's where it seals to the valve seat in the head. We are gonna freshen that surface and hopefully widen it some for a better seal.



Take your compound, and spread it like so. Doesn't have to be perfect.

 

[01ssreda4]

Stick it into its hole and clamp your drill onto the stem so you can use the drill to spin the valve in the head.



Use the slow speed setting on your drill, and move it in and out (on and off the seat). Wow what a difference 20 seconds makes.



Comparison.



The sealing surface in the head.



Exhaust valve comparison. A little pitting on them is normal and nothing to worry about. Once i mate a valve to a hole, it stays there. I dont move it around once its been ground in. Also make sure you wipe as much of the compound off the head and valve as you can when youre done and hit the valve stem with some wd40 to help it slide in the valve guide easier.



During the car disassembly I found some melted plastic looming on the block's main ground wire so I got some heat shield for that and the starter wire that run down the passenger side of the engine. Don't want or need any sparks unless they are in the combustion chamber. I also have a brass T for the brake booster that's returning to service, and the brake line adapters since I sold my stock lines and will be remaking new ones from scratch.......again.



-8 line for the new cooler setup, beautiful TCI SFI flexplate and a starter heat shield.....for the battery. Yep, its the perfect size to insulate the battery and keep some heat off of it.



Since Im doubling the fans Im going to run a new power feed to the back. New fan and cooler, and you can see the Y block and elbow feeds. The idea is.....well shit you'll see when i get to that point.



Im stuck on the engine due to no valve seals (slow shipping). Figured since I was bored I would paint something. Meh, it turned out ok.



Well that turned out a little brighter then expected.



Much better. Ive always thought that corner under the hood was dark and needed something to spruce it up, maybe this will help....or just look silly. Either way it should be fun.



Things are clicking right along.....motor should be complete and back together soon.

 

[01ssreda4]

So we left off with an assembled short block, I stole the dual springs off the old 862 heads and installed them along with new valve seals on the new to me 799 castings. Cleaned all the block holes with an ARP thread tap, and copper coated the new LS9 head gaskets. I used ARP moly lube on the china studs and torqued in three passes, 25, 50, 75. No drama.



Got the engine mounted to the K member and rolled the trans over to it. Notice my super sophisticated "converter keeper" bolted to the front of the trans. Keeps that beauty from falling out and hitting the ground while it rolls around in the garage. Patented pending. Also, got the TCI flexplate mounted, fit fantastic, very nice piece. I removed the intake temporarily so that my chain didnt scuff it or the fuel rails.



Mounted the hotside and accs up and that was about the end of the playtime for me. I pushed it over closer to the car just to remind myself that this is close to being over with.



The loudest and fastest beer coaster I know of. You'll also notice i used some of that heat shield wrap on the PS lines. Dont wanna blow those on a hot turbo going down the road. And if you have a sharp eye, you can see i removed the heat shields on the manifolds, wrapped them, and reinstalled the shields. Since they kick off a ton of heat I figured why not. Catching a few of these little details this go round.

 

[01ssreda4]

Well I cant catch a damn break to save my life. Lets start at the beginning, motor was ready to be rolled under. I draped the harness over it, then moved on to the car. I cut more clearance in the tunnel for the rear trans cooler line (which ended up not helping a ton), and trimmed the passenger side lower radiator bracket (the cold side pipe was resting against it), reinstalled the stock booster (looked for half an hour for the little retaining clip that holds the rod on the pedal) and made up the rear brake line AWAY from the manifolds. Rolled her under and it went real smooth.....I lifted the car by the ceiling joists. Red booster blends right in back there, not an eyesore at all.



I got under and shortened the turbo drain line (it was about 10 inches too long and had to be looped around), hooked everything up and went to fire. Just a click. After scratching my head for a bit I decided to clean the block ground on the starter side. Well that worked and i got it to turn over but no fire. After some more scratching and a cold beer i determined in my infinite wisdom i did not plug the crank sensor in. Doh. Crappy pic but look at that oil pressure!



Still need to make the new front brake line, bleed the brakes, and add the 2nd trans cooler/fan. For the bad, lost all forward gears in my yukon today, Im sure I broke the pump in the transmission. So unfortunately the camaro has to go on the backburner for a few until i get that sorted out. Fall weather is quickly going away and was wanting to make a track pass this year.......I am happy this motor sounds healthy with no apparent issues. I ran it about a half hour last night.