Posts by iNewton

  • Oh boy

    Oh man, some people should be more silent...


    Remember that morons like that have the same right to vote that you do lol

  • TURBOS ONLY

    Quote from Tango

    I don't think I'm doing it right...



    Stop complaining, we all know you put the 25psi spring in there on purpose to validate you swapping the V8... ;-)


    Joking aside, the work I am doing on my LE9 has me asking lots of questions ans contact pro engine builders, and has been a great learning process. What I have been told is that on boosted application, stock ring gap is too tight. The added heat from the boost in the cylinder affects ring expansion, and the Le9 has very very tight rings, which is good for NA but not so much for turbo, because the heat can cause the rings to expand too much that it actually touches. Once your ring ends touch, it causes extreme pressure on the cylinder walls and can cause the piston and rings to seize in the cylinder, which might look like a rod has broken but its not the case.


    The damage on your sleeve seems to support this theory and might explain a couple of blown engines with cracked sleeves.


    I was told by my builder that pistons are a weak point more than rods. He told me he has had chipped pistons at 220hp often (which if I remember happened to 1poser), rods go at about 250-260.


    The LE9 is just not made to produce 250+ hp cheaply. It needs upgraded internals, and the more I learn about this engine and the details that make a solid boosted engine, the more I feel bad for people (of which I was part of) believing they can get away with a 5k turbo kit making lots of power all day with no issues.


    Everyone with a turbo over 3-4 psi is living on the edge of a blown engine.

  • FORGED HEAD STUDS

    Quote from BlackDeath

    You should be able to replace the bolts one at a time so you do not have to remove the head or play with replacing the gasket. I spoke to DDM and they said that would be the easiest way.


    http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html…s+pn%23+231-4701&_sacat=0


    I have a set I just need to put them on.

    DDM knows better than me, I am no mechanic. If they say it's doable, them do it :)


    Just be careful it doesn't lure you to a false sense of security about the engine's strength. Pistons and rods will go before the bolts let the head lift I imho.

  • TURBOS ONLY

    Quote from rabtech

    My issue is having enough fuel pressure to have the delivery consistent. I have the software to watch the fuel pressure and all the other parameters in real time. I just haven't had the time to get out and do some real world testing at higher boost levels.


    I agree. I think passed 14 psi fuel pump is going to become the issue. Would be curious to know who Alpha fixes that issue on their V8 swap...

  • TURBOS ONLY

    Quote from Cameron Roberts

    Realistically replacing the Pistons and rods how much boost do you think it would handle? It might be worth it just to beef up this joker and not worry about blowing it.

    I think the next thing to start to be an issue over 14 psi is going to be fuel delivery. Forged rods, Pistons and SS valves on stock sleaves should handle 14 psi all day. As long as bobs 2 bar tune is solid enough it should be good.


    I think most guys who blew their engines blew it because they have been made to believe that a stock Le9 can handle 267 hp no problem, but I have guys local to me who told me that is far from realistic. I have been told rods at 250 hp start to break, and pistons passed 210 are an issue under boosted application. Ring gap is not set for boost and it's too tight. The more I learn about the details, the more I am happy to be tearing my engine appart and building it properly.

  • GM performance information and manual

    Word of warning about this guide:


    1) it makes replacing the rods look like a piece of cake. It's not. You will need special tools to do this properly, you will curse a lot, very probably cut yourself a couple of times (Warning, head sides are razor sharp), make a mess in the process of bleeding the coolant from the engine... You will spend a lot of time cleaning. And cursing. And cleaning more.


    2) they don't mention the cleaning part for the block's deck and the head's deck, but it needs to be done. If you think of using anything abrasive to clean gasket material off of there, well, don't. really, just don't. carb cleaner, eye and lungs protection (big vented area unless you like Cancer) a cloth and patience. Lots of Patience... (You see the patern lol)


    3) the bolt torque for the Cam gears are wrong for the LE9. on the LE9 it's a torque to yield so you need a angle dial.


    4) Bore size for our 2.4 is 88mm not 86mm...


    5) Eagle rods strongly recommend not just torqueing the bolts for the rods, but calculating bolt stretch. This requires an expensive bolt stretch dial (ARP has one, around 200$).


    6) The chain tensioner is different on our Le9. to unload it for reinstallation, it requires taking out a C Clip, removing the tensioner from the casing, using a vice to hold the base in place, push down on it and turn it clockwise (very difficult, its very stiff). at some point it will "clic" in place. reinstall compressed tensioner in housing, re-install C Clip.


    7) When I suggested to Wiseco using the same OEM rings I had on my 3000 miles engine on their newly made forged piston like the guide tells you to, the guy on the line almost choked to death and told me NO. You don't. No. Rings are different, OEM rings are shit and they are not gapped correctly for boost.
    This means: you need to gap the new rings to the bore of each cylinder, which means you need a ring grinder (cheap = 100$, good - 350$) and good feeler gauge (14$). Oh, and yeah, TIME. lots of it.
    I have been assured that if the engine has low mileage, its not the end of the world to not hone the sleeve for the new rings. He told me it would probably burn a bit more oil in the 1st 1K miles, and would settle afterwards. I have 4K miles on mine, and I can still see the cross pattern on the cylinder walls, so it makes sense that there is still some bite in the sleeve to grind the rings into position and perfect seal.


    Special tools needed for this job they don't talk about:
    - Precise torque wrench (go with a AC DELCO digital dial) 1/2 inch = 100$
    *this is a must if you dont have a digital dial, you are just guessing and this will not work with this job.
    - ARP bolt stretch dial = 200$
    - ARP Tapered piston guide 88mm (this is the best way to drop the pistons back in the block with no damage to the rings) = 50$
    - Rod Vice = 200$ OR if you have a decent vice, you can use wood blocks to hold the rods in place.
    *You don't want to damage the finish of the rods and you need a vice because it's impossible to use the bolt stretch tool when the rods are in the engine. You will hold the rods down in a vice, torque them to reach the stretch listed, then using the digital torque dial, you will be able to know exactly what torque each bolt needs to be stretched correctly. Once installed, you will reproduce the torque for each bolt so you know your bolt stretch is in spec. I did mention a lot of patience right ?
    - Proform ring grinder = 100$
    - If you do replace the rods and head studs for ARP, you will need 11mm and 13mm 12 point sockets, because everyone know 12 point bolts look RACE... (11mm - rods, 13mm - head studs). = 20$
    - Feeler gauge that goes to 0.002 inch = 15$
    - Angle indicator = 20$
    - Shitload of towels. I am serious. Draining the coolant from the engine on our SS make a ridiculous MESS because the drain plug is UNDER the water pump, which sits right OVER a cross member, so there is no clean way to catch the flood, it will hit the frame and splash everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE. More cursing here. Unless you decide to pull the engine out, then you are ok. but technically you can do this job with the block in the SS.


    In addition, you will need some stuff from your GM dealer:
    - OEM head gasket
    - OEM Rod Bearings
    - New head bolts or ARP head studs (recommended)
    - Technically you should replace the valve cover seal but maybe not on low milage engine
    - Sealant
    - Camshaft bolts. These are torque to yield, they cannot be reused.

  • FORGED HEAD STUDS

    I don't know if you can just replace the studs like that without removing the head to replace the gasket, considering you don't want to warp your head by having some bolts torqued and others not, anyways I wouldn't do it. While you are there, replace your rods and pistons....


    But yeah this is the ARP kit if you go that way:


  • TURBOS ONLY

    Quote from rabtech

    That is sexy. I am doing something similar. I'll be watching your pics.

    Thanks, nice words coming from you :)
    I'll list all the work and parts needed once I get it working again. The complicated part is the custom pistons because we are using the 2.2 rods. Le9 rods are uberexpensive so overall its less money to do it that way, but Wiseco wants to get lots of mesurements that need special tools to do (bore size to 0.001 inch, deck height to 0.001 inch and so on) so There has been some downtime waiting for those tools to ship. Lots of learning in this project.



    Quote from MACAWS

    Very nice work sir - I have a build on my wish list, but I think it best for now to live my dreams thru you!

    once I get all the measurements done, the expense to actually do this is mostly time.


    Porting the head has taken me over 30 hours to do, using a 100$ dremel and 100$ of sanding barels. I purchased a burr for my drill to take off the flash from the head, that cost 40$. The actual cost is not high if you do it yourself. Overall the head work will have cost me maybe 350$ max calculating the milllion towels, carb cleaner, valve removal tool, new valve seals etc. Not so bad.


    If you only want to replace the pistons and rods, you don't need to do all this disasembly: once you have unbolted the head from the engine and taken off the head bolts and camshaft sprokets, reinstall the valve cover right away so nothing gets in the valve train, and keep the head facing down to remove gasket material from the metal. Once you are done, wrap the head in saran wrap so nothing get inside the oil and water passages. Then do the work for the rods and pistons, and reinstall the head back in its place.

  • TURBOS ONLY

    Well, too sad hes gone now, still think this is one of the best turbo setup for a built engine to deal with the boost creep, but yeah, Vmount JonV kit ftw :)




    Right now, engine is torn down to beef it up to hold 14psi of boost. Using 2.2L Eagle forged rods, Wiseco custom made pistons, SS Valves, stiffer valve springs, and held by ARP head studs.


    Port and polish head passages:


    Before:


    After:


    Semi polished the combustion chambers (removed high spots of casting and sanded off any rough edges):


    Looks nice and shny