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rebuilding the lsj

70K views 527 replies 30 participants last post by  philzoot007 
#1 · (Edited)
well cylinder #1 is fried, so I'm going to use this thread to keep track of parts I need, get some help on upgrades I want to do for the time being and so on.

Basic Rebuild
GM PartsDirect Prices
Part # Unit Price Price
12601810 Head Gasket Kit LSJ 2004 12601810 $106.90 $106.90
24435052 Ecotec Front Cover Gasket 24435052 $21.25 $21.25
24446365 Ecotec Water Pump Seal 24446365 $4.18 $4.18
90537293 Ecotec Connecting Rod Bolt 90537293 $3.07 8 @ $24.56
12591093 Ecotec Rod Bearing Kit 12591093 $21.51 $21.51
11588733 Ecotec Main Girdle Bolt 11588733 $4.67 10 @ $46.70
11571239 Ecotec Main Girdle Bolt 11571239 $2.47 20 @ $49.40
12591866 Ecotec Rear Main Seal 12591866 $17.51 $17.51
90537451 Ecotec Cam Gear Bolt Kit $6.42
12591092 Crankshaft Bearing Kit $21.00
11589123 Ecotec Balancer Bolt $4.00
SubTotal ----------------------- like $400 w/ shipping



Miscellaneous & Upgrades:
New Pistons & Rings--------------------- $250
ZZP Stage 2 Billet Cams ---------------- $650
ZZP 78lb. Valve Springs/Ti. Retainers---- $250
Siemens 60 lb/hr Fuel Injectors/Harness-- $Free trade
SFPHQ 2.9” Pulley Ring------------------ $Have
LevelZero Balance Shaft Delete Kit -------$60
LevelZero electric Oil Pressure Gauge -----$40
Ported Head DIY ------------------------ $16 (Standard Abrasive #260001, ebay :)
Cylinder Flex Hone 3.5” or 89mm ---------- $40
Torco Assembly Lube--------------------- $5
Loc-Tite 510, 567 sealer------------------ $15
Threebond 1280B-GM liquid gasket sealer -- $15


Need Still
**Ecotec Timing Chain Tensioner 12608580 -- $30.33
home made dual pass endplate $5
"option c" surge tank $free
fuel pump rewire $free


stock balance shaft delete $Free ( Z22SE.co.uk • View topic - Removing Balance Shafts, Balance Shaft Block-Offs )
Opinions on this?? Good for 5-10hp...

That's it for now, more to add later
 
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#3 ·
yea? I was trying to avoid having to do sleeves, but it all depends on whether or not my stock sleeves are scored/cracked. raising the compression would jeopardize the oem ones from what I've read, but I'm sure there is a little wiggle room in the compression. stock 9.5:1, what about upping it to 10:1do you think this would be ground for sleeve problems?
 
#4 ·
How did your motor give? During a pull or just cruising around? And is it a ringland that gave? If I were you I would stick with stock compression diamond pistons and total seal piston rings. Also are you planning on staying stock blower and premium fuel? If so I would just get 60's. Or consider 80's and E85 :)
 
#5 ·
thanks for the input. I'm really not sure how it blew, started to burn oil on deceleration which I though may be PCV since I just did a bunch of work on that but the car ran fine. then just the other day merging onto the highway (moderately) the motor started misfiring so I pulled over and turned around. It has to be either a cracked piston (somehow) or bad rings. I guess I could have floated a valve because rev limiter is my friend but at the moment it happened I wasn't past 4k rpm and not WOT. this I'll find out today.

I've been doing research on which pistons, diamond seems to have the majority and I haven't found any other rings except for the ones you mentioned and OEM ones. again here, would I benefit with total seals vs. the OEM ones? in the build book they use OEM ones....

stock blower is the plan, I always run 93. had my eyes out for E85 but it's scarce around these woods.
 
#6 ·
Let's put it this way you can bore those sleeves out but there is a really thin line of being safe. The sleeves are paper thin anyways so once you bore the changes of splitting a sleeve is going to increase. If you choose diamond pistons you have to make sure your cylinders are prepped correctly and straight cause those rings don't like anything being off. Weisco and je would be my first choice for pistons but diamond was only thing around when we order ours. When you get the crank balanced make sure they do the clutch and flywheel also or it will be a waste of money and time to balance. If your sleeves are bad just order some stock ones and replace the bad ones. Sometimes you can get all the lines honde out of them. Also gm sales a pretty much rebuild kit bottom to top.
 
#7 ·
with seeing what happened, id say you're ring land let loose, my girls redline had a bit of oil consumption and would blow the dipstick under wot, we out over 3k mils not knowing/lack of time to find out. honed walls, new rings and stock pistons and she's good as new. As laser said, I wouldn't bother an over-bore on stock sleeves. you can get it running again faily easy, buy some used stock pistons, new gm rings, and bearing, and of course hg and your choice of head studs/bolts.
Also, if you got after market pistons, you can't use stock rings, that's misimformation from the build book.

It's a perfect time for a ported head :) which I happen to have
 
#11 ·
As laser said, I wouldn't bother an over-bore on stock sleeves. you can get it running again faily easy, buy some used stock pistons, new gm rings, and bearing, and of course hg and your choice of head studs/bolts.
Very good advise guys.

If you replace your stock pistons with forged ones, your sleeves now become the weak point in your engine. If you blow a stock piston, its cheap to fix. If you blow a sleeve, its not cheap.
 
#8 ·
You prolly cracked a ring land, seems to be a common weak spot. If you are sticking with the stock sleeves do not bore it over there is not enough material in the stock sleeves for that. I would go with 80# injectors so you have some growing room later. And as far as fuel gos the ZZP BRFS is the least expensive way to go but the O T T P return system is better IMO. If you are sticking with the stock blower you can go 10:1 on the compression but I would recommend meth injection.... Im working on a total rebuild of my engine right now so If you have any questions feel free to ask. Oh and I have an extra set of OEM head bolts I need to get rid of....
 
#9 ·
Hawlyns, if you decide to go with stock pistons I have some brand new ones with rings for you. I just gotta pull them out of the block, which I could do monday or tuesday since I have to pull the crank out of it anyways. Not sure if you have your heart set on aftermarket ones or not, but just throwing it out there. Id give them to ya for a good price too.
 
#10 ·
well im running 10 to 1 diamonds and i was runnign a 2.8 pully the torque increase was awsome but total seal rings you want the bore prepped as they say and use the propper grit ball hone the say to if you want call kevin at total seal he can get you in the right direction for getting the bores prepped properly
 
#12 ·
hey bro im sorry to hear about what happend i have no advice to give you besides if your gonna build your engine just do it right. forged pistons , all the bolts, gaskets, sleeve the block , arp head studs and stock head gasket if you plan on modding again if not rebuild stock and sell it to me for 2k.
 
#13 ·
well cylinder #1 is fried, so I'm going to use this thread to keep track of parts I need, get some help on upgrades I want to do for the time being and so on.
What are you HP goals btw?
 
#16 ·
zoot thanks for that offer too, I'll consider it depending on how my block looks when I take it apart. that would save me a hella lot of labor.



hoping to be around 300 for a daily driver, if I can get that with stock (?) pistons and a nicely built head then I would be happy
 
#14 ·
or u can buy my stock bottom end and swap it right in there no problems. just take ur head off and sensors and start the swap.....
 
#15 ·
thanks for all the responses guys, glad to see the help.
infraredline thanks for the offer on the stock pistons, I'll for sure let you know because that's an awesome coincidence.
I don't really have the money to get sleeves done, that's like $1300 alone. I forgot our motor was open deck :\ so there will be no boring over.

If I were to upgrade to forged pistons I understand the sleeves would be the next part to go but if I'm looking for mild power levels then I shouldn't have anything to worry about, except for what X said if you're gonna do it, do it right. I agree.

If I just stick with the stock pistons from infra, then I could pick up that p&p head from ecomod or billabong seeing as how I'll save a buck or two on forged pistons. So then it would be

p&p head (billabong or ecomod)
oem pistons & rings (infraredline)
oem head bolts (pistonhead)
60's likely
gasket set
rod cap bolts/bearings
block machine work
 
#17 ·
If I just stick with the stock pistons from infra, then I could pick up that p&p head from ecomod or billabong seeing as how I'll save a buck or two on forged pistons. So then it would be
That is a good idea. You are not going to gain hp by running forged piston unless you change the compression ratio. But the gains from a ported head will be much better.
 
#18 ·
thanks eric I'm gonna sit on that thought for a while
 
#19 ·
I bored mine .010" over with Diamonds and total seal rings. Haven't had any issues yet. Also, don't forget cam bolts, crank bolt, timing chain cover gasket kit, girdle bolts (I think there are 20-30 all together). You going to do the work yourself or have someone else do it?
 
#20 ·
Yep can't forget all those things either, thanks Joe haha kinda what I was looking for when I started this thread. I'll be doing it myself minus any necessary machining
 
#22 ·
I just finished the ported head, has your name on it man, being that your head is in good condition, I'll save you alot of money on a ported head
 
#23 ·
well if you want i have a set of diamonds with total seal rings i can let go cheap. shoot me a pm.
 
#27 ·
Well technically yes since they were installed but have zero run time they were dropped in and sat in the block waiting to get finished but I abandoned the project and sold you the block hah. So basically they are still new to me with total seal rings but I am letting these go dirt cheap to forum members since I love you guys. :bananahum
 
#25 ·
well cylinder #1 is fried, so I'm going to use this thread to keep track of parts I need, get some help on upgrades I want to do for the time being and so on.

Need:
pistons
-compression change? considering stock 9.5:1
-JE, Wiseco, Diamond?
rings
-upgraded or OEM?
bigger injectors...(my GM 42# for sale :)
-60#? 80#?
block machine work
-considering .010" & .020" over if sleeves are scored
-crank rebalanced
-deck surfaced
-head flow tested
GM gasket kit # 12601810 $157
-CYLINDER HEAD GASKET
-INTAKE & EXHAUST MANIFOLD GASKETS
-VALVE STEM SEALS
-CYLINDER HEAD BOLTS
ecotec rod bearing kit #12591093 $28
8x connecting rod bolts #90537293 $32
home made dual pass endplate $5
"option c" surge tank $free
ZZP adjustable master cylinder $150
fuel pump rewire $free

That's it for now, more to add later
If you upgrade Pistons, Id sleeve the block...I need to post the pictures of how thin the stock sleeves are. You CANT bore the stock sleeves!!!

Bates did mine and i have no issues.

Rings: stock with stock pistons or diamond comes with total seal. Nice set of rings btw.

Injectors: thats a personal preferance

Block: trust me you cant bore the stock sleeves, if it is scored you will have to get a stock sleeve and get it replaced....not hard to do...stick block in an oven heat to 350 and the stock sleve will slide out!

Def rebalance rot assy, esp if you get diamond....my diamonds were 12 grams lighter than stock. I went 10:1...No issues yet.

Get the block surfaced and the head surfaced



Go look at my build thread I just did for some ideas....
 
#516 ·
Block: trust me you cant bore the stock sleeves, if it is scored you will have to get a stock sleeve and get it replaced....not hard to do...stick block in an oven heat to 350 and the stock sleve will slide out!

what about installing the new stock sleeves? heat block again and press it in? sounds easy and too good to be true. besides getting my hands on a sleeve puller/installer tool. Did more reading and found someone say stock LSJ is a wet/open sleeve... is this true?
 
#26 ·
op ur in new hampsire/ im in n.y. like i said i have a complete stock bottom end with al new tty bolts and brand new crank in it. have a total rebuild kit for it also. all bolts like i said. stock head gasket and everything. basically a gm engine rebuild kit.... we can talk if ur intrested.....
 
#29 ·
Thanks for the info I pm'ed you just trying to decide between oem and forged pistons
 
#30 · (Edited)
#32 ·
No I don't want to add anything else in there, delete them haha. I've seen the neutral balance shafts but those are also spinning weight, I'm looking at getting rid of them all together. I've read the vibrations aren't so bad...
 
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