Furious_E
Furious_E Dork
12/4/16 12:35 p.m.

As of yesterday, my LS1/T56 has officially been liberated from the donor chassis, which has me thinking about what I want to get done with it before it goes into its still undetermined new home. My focus is more on preventative maintenance and improving reliability, rather than adding a ton of power, though I might toss some kind of fairly mild cam in before it's all said and done.

The engine has just over 109k on it now and is out of a 98 Camaro I've had since 73k miles. This will be going into a car intended to see street, auto x, and HPDE duty. I'll be sending an oil sample to Blackstone to hopefully get a read on the state of the internals, but a complete teardown is not currently in the plans.

Things on my mind include:

-Timing set - Any recommendations?

-Water pump

-Valve train - How crazy do I need to go here to be reliable to ~6500rpm on a mild cam? Beehive or double valve springs? Upgrade the rockers?

-Oiling - I understand this can be a weakness of the LS on track and is a primary concern of mine. Thinking about a baffled pan of some sort, is that sufficient to prevent oil starvation? How about the oil pump? I hear the high volume pumps can potentially empty the sump more quickly than it can refill unless you're running a high volume pan.

-Clutch - Stock clutch was fine before the car was wrecked, but was probably original. Might as well get it done now. Want something friendly enough that it won't suck to drive to work, so thinking OE clutch off of one of the higher spec LS motors, like an LS7 or something.

Not looking to dump thousands of dollars into this thing, as it worked just fine as-is, just looking to do what I can within reason to keep my peace of mind down the road.

Knurled
Knurled MegaDork
12/4/16 1:39 p.m.

Everything you want to do is fine as-stock. Timing chain failures seem to mostly be related to using the rev limiter as cruise control, and there really isn't any chain in the world that likes that, so just don't do it.

If you must do something, pin the harmonic damper to the crank. We use a kit we got from Magnusson that is just a little drill guide, then you drive a pair of hardened pins into the holes you made.

patgizz
patgizz UltimaDork
12/4/16 2:17 p.m.

the only thing i'd do while it was out is drop the oil pan and put a new o-ring on the pump pickup tube.

Knurled
Knurled MegaDork
12/4/16 2:24 p.m.

Good call, I forgot about that little bugger. With the pan out you can see the lengths GM went to with respect to oiling control.

MattW
MattW New Reader
12/4/16 2:48 p.m.

Canton oil pan and accusump for the budget minded.

Dry sump if you have money to burn.

dean1484
dean1484 MegaDork
12/4/16 2:52 p.m.

Rear main seal? It may not need it but it is a engine or trans out down the road and if you are doing a clutch and have the pan off anyway.

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner MegaDork
12/4/16 3:00 p.m.

IIRC, it's the Ls3/7 that have oiling problems. On an LS1, a good baffled pan should do the trick.

Those particular T56s have trouble with bent forks on reverse sometimes. Like mine Might be worth looking into that before install.

I'd use a stock Ls7 clutch. Good piece.

MattW
MattW New Reader
12/4/16 3:27 p.m.
Keith Tanner wrote: IIRC, it's the Ls3/7 that have oiling problems. On an LS1, a good baffled pan should do the trick.

Did not know that, kinda bass ackwards if you ask me.

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner MegaDork
12/4/16 3:29 p.m.

There are more changes from Gen III to Gen IV than you might think.

MattW
MattW New Reader
12/4/16 3:34 p.m.
Keith Tanner wrote: There are more changes from Gen III to Gen IV than you might think.

Yeah, not doubting you just surprised.

Gearheadotaku
Gearheadotaku PowerDork
12/4/16 3:42 p.m.

Maybe add an oil cooler and temp gauge?

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