Rocket Man's 02 Denali Build Thread AKA "THE BEAST"

[Rocket Man]

Also ordered the Comp Cams rocker trunion upgrade kit. It looks like it's pretty easy to install according to the YouTube video I watched. Thanks for the heads up @bottomline2000 ! Harmonic balancer bolt ordered also since it's a one use bolt. I sure hope I'm done buying parts for my cam upgrade, that escalated quickly. Almost $1200 for cam, springs, pushrods, seals, timing set, cam retainer, rocker trunion upgrade kit, and necessary hardware. But that will be a huge upgrade for the LQ4. I'd better go back to work so I can pay for all that.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Also ordered the Comp Cams rocker trunion upgrade kit. It looks like it's pretty easy to install according to the YouTube video I watched. Thanks for the heads up @bottomline2000 ! Harmonic balancer bolt ordered also since it's a one use bolt. I sure hope I'm done buying parts for my cam upgrade, that escalated quickly. Almost $1200 for cam, springs, pushrods, seals, timing set, cam retainer, rocker trunion upgrade kit, and necessary hardware. But that will be a huge upgrade for the LQ4. I'd better go back to work so I can pay for all that.

But soooooo worth it!

 

[bottomline2000]

Also ordered the Comp Cams rocker trunion upgrade kit. It looks like it's pretty easy to install according to the YouTube video I watched. Thanks for the heads up @bottomline2000 ! Harmonic balancer bolt ordered also since it's a one use bolt. I sure hope I'm done buying parts for my cam upgrade, that escalated quickly. Almost $1200 for cam, springs, pushrods, seals, timing set, cam retainer, rocker trunion upgrade kit, and necessary hardware. But that will be a huge upgrade for the LQ4. I'd better go back to work so I can pay for all that.

No problem. Just add to the mayhem...Did u get a valvespring install tool? Also crank balancer install tool?

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[Tonyrodz]

.

 

[Tonyrodz]

We're in a heat wave here in nj. Around here it hit 96-98 degrees and of course my condenser won't be in until Monday, when the temps go back down to the low 70's. I hate summer!
On another note.......... View attachment 82026
View attachment 82028

hmmm.........

Sorry Red, posted by mistake.

 

[Rocket Man]

No problem. Just add to the mayhem...Did u get a valvespring install tool? Also crank balancer install tool?

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I haven't decided on which valve spring tool to get, I got burned out last night. The Comp Cams one is like $100 and I see some on EBay that do one at a time for like $25 but IDK. The harmonic balancer I'll get a loan-a-tool from O'Reilley.

 

[Rocket Man]

So today I pulled the Whipple to figure out why it had a small intake leak and reinstall with all new gaskets. The last time, which was the second install thanks to missing instructions regarding the included intake manifold gaskets, was a disaster. I had put the gaska-cinch on a wrong surface of the passenger side gasket and had to remove it with a thinner which I believed probably messed up the gasket. As it turns out, it also messed up 2 of the O-Ring gaskets that are in the lower intake manifold where it meets up to the gasket I messed up on. I'm not sure if it dissolved them or what but they were a mess. The large O-Ring that goes between the blower and the lower intake manifold was also half missing. I believe that when I lowered the blower down, which was the second use of that gasket since it was the second install, it somehow slipped out of the groove and then got pinched and was possibly sucked into the intake. Half of it was missing. It was a miracle it was running at all. And weird thing is, I couldn't tell it had a leak. If Justin hadn't told me after looking at a data log, I might have never known except it did throw a lean code at one point. And I won't know if I fixed it until I send Justin another log and he analyzes it. I did get better at the install- complete R&R took me 8 hours today. It's running great so far. Anyway, enjoy these pics. Here's the large O-Ring that's missing half of itself.

 

[Rocket Man]

And here's the O-Rings that failed at where the lower intake manifold meets the head. They install into the aluminum lower intake manifold and then seal against the regular intake manifold gasket that I didn't install first time around because there weren't instructions for it. 2 of these on the passenger side were wasted. That's the side I messed up on the gasket.

 

[Rocket Man]

And here it is all done. UPS came just after I got done with the reinstall and delivered my new black 250 A alternator.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Ever find that missing piece of gasket? I believe also that the thinner did destroy that rubber o ring gasket.

 

[Rocket Man]

Ever find that missing piece of gasket? I believe also that the thinner did destroy that rubber o ring gasket.

No never found it. It actually looked like it got pushed back when I lowered the blower in place. If it did, it probably flew out the back of the engine during one of my 100 MPH freeway runs lol. If I remember right, I kinda slipped with the blower when I was lowering it into place. It's a real *****; the intercooler hangs down (and it's fragile - don't want to bang it on anything) and the firewall is in the way. And you have to lower the heavy ass blower onto that thin O-Ring which requires the use of a bit of grease at a front corner or it wants to pop out. It's hard. I'm pretty confident all went well this time. I mean, when I tore it out after my first install, all the O-ring gaskets were in place and good shape, good enough that I re-use them. But that might also be part of the problem. They probably should have been replaced. They were this time.

 

[Tonyrodz]

No never found it. It actually looked like it got pushed back when I lowered the blower in place. If it did, it probably flew out the back of the engine during one of my 100 MPH freeway runs lol. If I remember right, I kinda slipped with the blower when I was lowering it into place. It's a real *****; the intercooler hangs down (and it's fragile - don't want to bang it on anything) and the firewall is in the way. And you have to lower the heavy ass blower onto that thin O-Ring which requires the use of a bit of grease at a front corner or it wants to pop out. It's hard. I'm pretty confident all went well this time. I mean, when I tore it out after my first install, all the O-ring gaskets were in place and good shape, good enough that I re-use them. But that might also be part of the problem. They probably should have been replaced. They were this time.

I hope everything goes well with it. Keeping my fingers crossed for ya!

 

[Rocket Man]

Thanks man.

 

[93blkongreenpro]

Thst engine bay looks good with the fresh paint and the color scheme!

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[bottomline2000]

I haven't decided on which valve spring tool to get, I got burned out last night. The Comp Cams one is like $100 and I see some on EBay that do one at a time for like $25 but IDK. The harmonic balancer I'll get a loan-a-tool from O'Reilley.

Check out Tim's tool on ls1tech. It does them one at a time but works great. I had to use a combination of a 3 jaw puller and a bolt small enough to fit inside the balancer and big enough to cover the hole in the crank. My O'Reillys didn't have an actual tool that worked so I had to get creative. They sell a thread stock and crank locking tool on ebay that works well. U dont wanna strip the crank using the harmonic balancer bolt to install the pulley. I used it on my Tahoe and GTO.

Side note, that engine looking real nice! Looks like it's going 100pmph sitting still lol.

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[Rocket Man]

Check out Tim's tool on ls1tech. It does them one at a time but works great. I had to use a combination of a 3 jaw puller and a bolt small enough to fit inside the balancer and big enough to cover the hole in the crank. My O'Reillys didn't have an actual tool that worked so I had to get creative. They sell a thread stock and crank locking tool on ebay that works well. U dont wanna strip the crank using the harmonic balancer bolt to install the pulley. I used it on my Tahoe and GTO.

Side note, that engine looking real nice! Looks like it's going 100pmph sitting still lol.

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Thanks. I just ordered Tim's tool. Any link or better description for the eBay tool? I see lots of different ones from $30-$200.

 

[bottomline2000]

Thanks. I just ordered Tim's tool. Any link or better description for the eBay tool? I see lots of different ones from $30-$200.

This is the tool I used. It has the crank lock the bolts in place of the starter so u can properly torque the crank bolt. Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/231834672301

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[Rocket Man]

Today was one of those days and this post is long. I started out by attempting to drive to the county courthouse to get a photo red light ticket dismissed. Just about a mile from home the 'Coolant Low" message appeared in the DIC. I thought somehow I'd lost some when I R&R'd the blower but then the temp shot up and the "Check Engine Temp" came on and there was steam everywhere. I pulled over and popped the hood and saw one of the heater hoses broke where it goes through the firewall. I let it cool down, then got it home without it getting too hot, at least I thought. Temp gauge never pegged, never went into limp mode, never knocked. I rode my Harley to the courthouse and took care of that business, then stopped and got the "T" connector with the quick connects. But when I started the repair, I saw the problem was a separate quick connect that attaches to the "T". I tried the hose on the new "T" fitting I had which was just like the one on the truck, and it fit tight. WTF? What's the point of the other quick connect when the hose with the existing hose clamp fits and works great? So I eliminated the useless fitting. Problem fixed, right? I filled it with coolant and started it up. Everything seemed fine. If you look at the pic, there's one with the quick connect behind the one I repaired. Anyway, I hadn't done a real drive test yet or a data log so off I went. I was checking the time on the data log and at about 10 minutes into the drive I came to a stop and the engine almost died. It was running like shit, then the "Service Engine Soon" message came up. I was already headed home so I just kept driving and then the SES started flashing just as I got home. That's never good when it flashes. I checked codes and it had P0300, misfires. Plus another that stated it had detected a hot engine earlier. It was still idling like crap. I was checking the plug wires and saw two that might not have pushed all the way onto the coils. So I reseated them and started it up. It was running good so I went for a drive and barely made it a block and it did the same thing with the same code P0300. I started thinking that the overheating had messed up the intake gaskets somehow. I decided to pull the plug wires and measure resistances as well as clean the MAF sensor in case coolant messed it up. The MSD Superconductor wires measured as follows: 5 @33 ohms, 1 @ 200, 1 @ 300, and 1 @ 950. I bought some AC Delco wires and they all measured right at 400 ohms. BTW, the AC Delco wires fit sweet. The MSD were always hard to push on and the OE heat shields were floppy on them. I never could tell for sure if the hard-to-reach ones were all the way on. The AC Delco's snap onto the plugs and coils with a positive click, and the heat shields fit perfect. They're not red like the MSD's but I'm not buying wires based on their color. Unless they're AC Delco's. Anyway, I just got back from a 1/2 hour drive and the truck is running perfect so far. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I really need this to work.

 

[Rocket Man]

On another note, the Cloyes timing set I ordered yesterday from Summit Racing was delivered today. Wow. And the next pile of parts starts. I just hope the Whipple is finally happy so I can move on.

 

[Tonyrodz]

So glad you got it sorted out. I've heard , on this forum, how msd's aren't great wires. Hopefully no permanent damage has been done. Good job.