6.2L Winter Refresh

[SpareParts]

Also, i think with shorter push rods there is no way for the piston to hit the valves if something were to go wrong.
Right now with a solid lifter the intake valve will just touch the piston enough to mark the coating but not bend it.

Im wrong it can bend the valves.

 

[SpareParts]

Replacement head gaskets arrived today and they are good to go.
Have the new lifters soaking in some Royal Purple break in oil overnight. Hope to get the heads on tomorrow and get the pushrods measured so i can get them ordered.

 

[West 1]

Lifters are shipped full of Stoddard Solvent. This thin solvent helps the lifter adjust on initial start up. By soaking in oil you are changing what the manufacturer thinks works the very best.
No Production Engine Rebulder soaks the lifters. They all depend on the factory installed Stoddard solvent. It works.
The Production Engine rebuilders ship out engines with warranty. If they could increase satisfaction of customers by soaking lifters they would all do that.

Production rebuilders build thousands of engines every month. They get lots of feedback from customers. I try to follow their lead on engine builds.

Soaked in oil lifters normally work just fine but they take longer on initial adjustment because oil is so much slower moving than the stoddard solvent.

 

[SpareParts]

Lifters are shipped full of Stoddard Solvent. This thin solvent helps the lifter adjust on initial start up. By soaking in oil you are changing what the manufacturer thinks works the very best.
No Production Engine Rebulder soaks the lifters. They all depend on the factory installed Stoddard solvent. It works.
The Production Engine rebuilders ship out engines with warranty. If they could increase satisfaction of customers by soaking lifters they would all do that.

Production rebuilders build thousands of engines every month. They get lots of feedback from customers. I try to follow their lead on engine builds.

Soaked in oil lifters normally work just fine but they take longer on initial adjustment because oil is so much slower moving than the stoddard solvent.

To late. Already done. I have always soaked lifters though, never a problem, yet.
What ever they were packed with was not thin oil. Was at least 20W

 

[SpareParts]

Could not torque the heads as i guess forgot to order ARP head bolts. So had to use stock bolts torqued to 25fp so i could get the pushrod length figured out.
Checked the 4 corner cylinders and all measured so close to the same im calling them the same @ 0 lash.
6.80+.4875=7.2875+ .060 preload= 7.3475
Looks like im going to order 7.350 push rods.

 

[West 1]

When Torquing the factory TTY head bolts I found it worked to torque them all the the recommended 1st step torque first. Then take a sharpie and mark each bolt straight at the top. As you do the recommended final 2 steps you can visually see which bolts are turned and if they are in the correct angle. Sometimes you are in the middle of it and something happens to draw you away. This simple sharpie mark lets you leave and come back and know exactly which bolts are done and which need to be further torqued.
I have a degree wheel but find in several cases there is not room to use it and be accurate when the engine is in the car. On an engine stand you have much more room to work.

Your new engine is very close to done now, when do you plan the new engine install?

 

[SpareParts]

I have ordered ARP head bolts.
I'll be doing it outside so i kinda want the weather to get better first. Ground is to wet right now and will turn to mud. So maybe April or May.

 

[mikez71]

I could see myself forgetting which bolt I'm on in the sequence... Great tip! I always worry I'll bump my degree wheel too..
Bought an electronic torque wrench that has angles, but haven't used that part of it yet..

 

[SpareParts]

I got the plug to block off the oil pan relief valve and noticed the hole that brings oil to the filer from the pump is rather small. Wish i had a way to get in there and open it up a little bit and smooth the corners out.

 

[rdezs]

I think you may have got a flawed casting. Mine didn't look anything like that, just a few edges that I cleaned up with a die grinder. It doesn't take much... A cheap harbor freight electric one would do the trick pretty quick. Just for a piece of mind at least.

 

[rdezs]

Notice the nice round hole in this diagram of an LS oil pan....

 

[SpareParts]

That pan came off a truck with almost 300K so i think it's ok the way it was but i have another pan of a 5.3 that the hole is for sure bigger.
So i enlarged the hole a little bit more. Afraid of going to far though.

 

[SpareParts]

Checked oil pan the pickup clearance without a gasket and all looks good.

 

[SpareParts]

Also got the heads put on this morning. Pretty uneventful but i will say the ARP lube is about as bad as anti seize for getting everyplace.

 

[SpareParts]

Got the rocker arms installed today. 1 turn from 0 lash to click at 22fp.

 

[SpareParts]

Not much left to do now.
Waiting on the rest of the gaskets to get here.
Need to order all new GM sensors.
New spark plugs.
Get a new Torque convertor.
I think that is all i need but probably forgetting something.

I want to get an old used starter so after i pressure prime the engine i can put an oil pressure gauge on it and see what that builds to.
Also want to check the cranking compression and see what it is then after 1k miles check it again and see what the difference is.

 

[j91z28d1]

looks nice

 

[rdezs]

At this stage double-check stuff. Like the dog bone in the rear of the engine? Double check all torque. I like to use a weed sprayer.... Pump to start to see oil come up on the rockers at a few of them... Rotate the engine 180° and pump some more..... And keep repeating until you get oil up through all of them.

Looks really good

 

[SpareParts]

Rear cover and timing cover not on yet. Pan and valley cover are only on it to keep dirt out.
The new dog bone coming with the gaskets.

 

[strutaeng]

What I did on my oil pump installation was: add some generous engine assembly lube that's like honey (rotated the engine upside down on the stand) and rotated the engine several times. I then plugged the hole with the green transmission assembly goo (edit for link: https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/BK_...PDP:SP:Belowproductdescription&ppid=BK7652614 ), to prevent the engine lube from falling back down. Then I installed the pickup tube.

When it was time to prime the engine, i used a $10 garden pump sprayer from walmart and filled it with my break in oil. I cut off the tip and used hose clamps and an adapter for that threaded oil galley plug on the front driver's side near the front cover.

A few minutes of pumping, a few crank rotations and all rockers had a nice oil dripping from them.