• Got the Contributing Memberships stuff finally worked out and made up a thread as a sort of "How-To" to help people figure out how to participate. So if you need help figuring it out, here's the thread you need to take a look at -> http://www.corvetteflorida.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3581 Thank you, everyone! Rich Z.

safe overbore for an LS1

There really is no safe overbore for the LS1/LS6. You may get by w/.010 over, but then it is a custom piston size. The liners are far to thin.

Now a 6.0 can be bored....
 
Thanks for the info. I knew with the liners about .005 was about the max. I need to do some serious thinking on this. May end up getting rid of my C5.
 
Good point Bob, if it is just a hone to cut the glaze & put a cross-hatch in you are fine with that. Don't sell the vette for something so minor, a good used block is like $250-$350 that does NOT need to be bored. And good used motors can be had for the $1500 range.

Give us more details on this...
 
OK so this may sound like a stupid question since I am new to the LS engines and all of my mods/hot rodding is old school chevy small block 350's but isn't a 350 with a stroker crank only bored out 0.030 over. So that a boring would be in the tenths range with a honing being less than 0.001? Are the tolerances in the LS series engine that tight that you can't hone a cylinder much less bore one out to a measely little thousandsth?? Am I missing something especially since I do not see how 0.001 makes any difference in the cylinder volume unless combined with a stroked crank anyway?????:shrug01:

I guess I am interested in the answer to this question as well because it seems that I am either misunderstanding the question, don't have all the facts such as crank, cam, and valve train geometry, or my math is WAY off.
 
okay to clear up some of the questions. I had the motor built to a 383 with a 4inch stroker crank. There was a problem with the balance that caused a vibration in the rotating assembly. Found out the crank weights were way off so had it redone. The finish of the build was never done by the shop I had it in.Had to put it on a trailer and take it to a shop in Panama city to get finished. Anyway to make a long story short I was told that the bores weren't straight and needed to be honed out larger. The machine shop wants to go 10 thousands over on the pistons. Trouble is we can't find a piston that size.I have too much money in the engine to go with a different block such as an LS2.My car has been down since Mar and I just want to get it back together.Rich Z knows all about the problems I had with the first shop.Will try and get more info tomorrow and pass it on to the experts here.
 
Mike, that sux! I'm starting to get the impression that modding these cars is
not much fun. I hope that you are able to resolve your issues without spending
a bunch more money.
Andy :wavey:
 
mickeystoysz16 said:
OK so this may sound like a stupid question since I am new to the LS engines and all of my mods/hot rodding is old school chevy small block 350's but isn't a 350 with a stroker crank only bored out 0.030 over. So that a boring would be in the tenths range with a honing being less than 0.001? Are the tolerances in the LS series engine that tight that you can't hone a cylinder much less bore one out to a measely little thousandsth?? Am I missing something especially since I do not see how 0.001 makes any difference in the cylinder volume unless combined with a stroked crank anyway?????:shrug01:

I guess I am interested in the answer to this question as well because it seems that I am either misunderstanding the question, don't have all the facts such as crank, cam, and valve train geometry, or my math is WAY off.
Click to expand...

It is common to bore a old school 350 .030 and even more for comon sized pistons. The stroke of the crank in addition gets you the 383, etc. These blocks had plent of room to bore as such.

The LS1 & LS6 have to thin of liners to go the standard .030 over. Now a .0001 hone is sandard and you can go several hones of that much w/no issue using the stock bore size pistons. The liners in the LS blocks rarely show much of any wear at 100, 150, 200k plus miles when syn oil is used so rarely would we ever need to bore them. Only a hone to remove the hard glos and lay down a cross hatch so the new rings will seat properly. In fact, in almost every LS motor I tear down the original cross hatch is still visable and no wear ridge such as the old school motors had showing just how tuff these motors are.



vetteguy61 said:
okay to clear up some of the questions. I had the motor built to a 383 with a 4inch stroker crank. There was a problem with the balance that caused a vibration in the rotating assembly. Found out the crank weights were way off so had it redone. The finish of the build was never done by the shop I had it in.Had to put it on a trailer and take it to a shop in Panama city to get finished. Anyway to make a long story short I was told that the bores weren't straight and needed to be honed out larger. The machine shop wants to go 10 thousands over on the pistons. Trouble is we can't find a piston that size.I have too much money in the engine to go with a different block such as an LS2.My car has been down since Mar and I just want to get it back together.Rich Z knows all about the problems I had with the first shop.Will try and get more info tomorrow and pass it on to the experts here.
Click to expand...

After all you have been through I can see your frustration, but another $250 for a straight block should not kill your build. The entire rotating assy you already have prepped and ready will drop right in and not require ANY more labor....in fact it will be way less as a bore and pistons will be $500-$700 I imagine, so you would be saving $ over trying to use that block.

Another option is to just have him clean up the cylinders as best he can so you can still use your same pistons. A small amount out of round is not unusual and you would probably be fine (not perfect, but fine).

Ls1/LS6 blocks in good shape are all over the place for cheap.:thumbsup:
 
I'm really getting tired of this whole deal. I may just put a 4sale sign on my car and let it go for the best price I can get.Doesn't look like it will be ready anytime soon. The new Camero is looking awfully good to me at this point.
 
Why not just get another block like Tracy suggested? I bet the guy working on your stuff can have it in a few hours. I really feel bad for you Mike but I hope you don't give up on what you wanted. Plus, you'll kick azz on any Camaro you run across. :D
 
vetteguy61 said:
I'm really getting tired of this whole deal. I may just put a 4sale sign on my car and let it go for the best price I can get.Doesn't look like it will be ready anytime soon. The new Camero is looking awfully good to me at this point.
Click to expand...

Mike, I know where there is an LS6 block you can have for free.

But yeah, I DO know what you mean about feeling like just throwing in the towel and stop throwing good money after bad.
 
Bob K said:
Why not just get another block like Tracy suggested? I bet the guy working on your stuff can have it in a few hours. I really feel bad for you Mike but I hope you don't give up on what you wanted. Plus, you'll kick azz on any Camaro you run across. :D
Click to expand...

Yeah, one of the guys in the local Tallahassee club got a Camaro but didn't keep it very long. He said that it was WAY too slow compared to the Corvettes he had also owned. But I guess the deciding factor would likely be whether you felt you needed more room for passengers or not.
 
Rich Z said:
Mike, I know where there is an LS6 block you can have for free.

But yeah, I DO know what you mean about feeling like just throwing in the towel and stop throwing good money after bad.
Click to expand...

Now there's a deal. If this is your old block Rich you know all of the history that goes with it. I sure hope Mike considers this option.
 
Bob K said:
Now there's a deal. If this is your old block Rich you know all of the history that goes with it. I sure hope Mike considers this option.
Click to expand...

Yes, it's my old block. Harwood asked if he could sell it to drum up some money, and I told him he could ONLY if the money would come directly to me. Since I haven't heard anything from John Arnold about it, I assume the block and heads are still at the shop in Blountstown. If that is not the case, then in my opinion we have another incident of theft to deal with.
 
Thanks for the offer Rich. That's very nice of you to offer your LS6 motor. I am planning on going to talk to the guys at the machine shop tomorrow to get the straight scoop. Getting 2nd hand information is not what I want.You all know how that goes.I'll talk to the guys at the machine shop directly to make sure what I've been told is the truth.
To be continued:
 
Good luck with either route you decide


RevXtreme 1 said:
It is common to bore a old school 350 .030 and even more for comon sized pistons. The stroke of the crank in addition gets you the 383, etc. These blocks had plent of room to bore as such.

The LS1 & LS6 have to thin of liners to go the standard .030 over. Now a .0001 hone is sandard and you can go several hones of that much w/no issue using the stock bore size pistons. The liners in the LS blocks rarely show much of any wear at 100, 150, 200k plus miles when syn oil is used so rarely would we ever need to bore them. Only a hone to remove the hard glos and lay down a cross hatch so the new rings will seat properly. In fact, in almost every LS motor I tear down the original cross hatch is still visable and no wear ridge such as the old school motors had showing just how tuff these motors are.
Click to expand...

Ok that is what I thought. You confused me there for a while when you mentioned that you could not safely bore an LS and when the original question was to a thousandth I put both together.
 
I always thought that aluminum blocks used a cast iron sleeve in each cylinder (or some other, more durable material other than aluminum). If that's the case, can the LS1/LS6 blocks be re-sleeved like other, admittedly older technology, blocks?

Rich
 
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