74 NovaMan's 1979 Chevy Truck - LS Swap - 5/6 Drop

[cstmwgn]

I like the Scat H-beam rods in my Fords - no clue if there is any issues with them in an LS engine. As to the bore - IF (IIIIIFFFFFFF) the bores are round and straight - then honing them to size probably will be OK. If the skirts are worn, I would suspect that there could be some wear in the cylinders as well. Honing does not always square up everything and remove the taper. What does the machine shop charge to hone ($150 - $200)?

Since we are spending your money, I would put a stroker kit in it while it is apart. As someone once said - there is no replacement for displacement!

[74NovaMan]

Just got word that the crankshaft cleaned up with just a polish. I'll pick that up in a few days. Should be about $150 with bearings.

In other news, I've spent far too much time looking at connecting rod information and looking for piston/rod combos. My machinist has not measured anything yet but did not like the look of the piston skirts and said replacement is probably warranted. I can get .005 over forged pistons for $499.99: https://www.summitracing.com/search/...re-in/3-785-in .030 over versions are the same price but come with the need for $480 in boring the cylinders. Any of these pistons require a 6.125 inch long connecting rod (which may be a worthwhile upgrade anyway). This is a likely candidate: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/s...2521/overview/ If I believe the internet, these are a deal over new bolts and resizing the rod ends (to the extent that is even possible on the LS cracked cap rods).

There are too many variables and none of the cheap stuff makes much sense to me given the assumption of piston replacement.

[74NovaMan]

http://blog.wiseco.com/choosing-the-...in?hs_amp=true

[74NovaMan]

Planning on dropping off the block and heads at the machine shop today.

[74NovaMan]

Crank looked very good. I ran out of workbench space though.

[74NovaMan]

Rod bearings looked very good. There was some light scoring on the mains.

[74NovaMan]

Pistons came out easily (no ridge on the cylinder). All looked pretty consistent. Not sure if the scoring on the skirts is anything to be overly concerned about. I'd like to reuse the pistons and rods.

[74NovaMan]

Lifters looked ok. To be honest I did not look at them very closely as I planning on replacing them at this point. I did see more rusty gunk in the lifter valley in one spot.

[74NovaMan]

Cylinder bores are pretty consistent:

[74NovaMan]

One lobe on the camshaft has a funny wear pattern and some of the bearing surfaces look a little like SBG's Bunicorn motor.

[74NovaMan]

No real surprises on the heads:

[74NovaMan]

Timing chain:

[74NovaMan]

After digesting that info for a short while, I decided it was prudent to blow it all apart and make sure everything is right. Knock sensor carnage. This is from water getting into the area under the intake. I will need a new harness and at least 1 new sensor.



What it is supposed to look like:

[74NovaMan]

Project creep enters here. Original plan was a cam swap with oil pump and timing set replacement. This is from the rear of the passenger head:

[74NovaMan]

Bare motor and deconstruct:





Looks ok from here



Kind of scrungy as we get closer. The rusty stuff wipes off so not too concerning.