Budget rebuild items?

[strutaeng]

Would you knock the old cam bearings out before sending it to the shop for cleaning?

No.

Because you need that special tool to remove them. Or how else would you remove them? Maybe the outer ones you can tap them out with a screwdriver (?) but not the inner ones...just let them handle them altogether.

 

[Charlie207]

No.

Because you need that special tool to remove them. Or how else would you remove them? Maybe the outer ones you can tap them out with a screwdriver (?) but not the inner ones...just let them handle them altogether.

I'd borrow or buy the tool if it would make sense.

 

[donjetman]

Would you knock the old cam bearings out before sending it to the shop for cleaning?

yes jf you have the proper tools of course.

 

[Charlie207]

Had a little free time today, so I cleaned up the part of the basement I made a mess in, and organized some stuff.

Pulled the #1 rod cap and piston to glimpse at the bearings and crank surface. Rod bearings look to have some wear, but I'm not sure how bad. Crank doesn't look terrible, but again, I'm no LS expert. The surfaces felt smooth, with no gouges.

Cap #1

Rod #1 bearing n
Crank

 

[petethepug]

Hmmm, waiting for Dr. LS to chime in on this.

 

[strutaeng]

The bearings don't look too bad to me, I'd slap it back together.

The crank, however, seems a little more scoring than what I would like to see. I think if you can't catch your fingernail across it, you can still run it...

I'm doing a DIY rebuild on my LQ4 right now. It had 262k. My bearings looked a bit worse, but the crank journals looked pretty good. I just put the bottom end together with new bearings. I wish I would have taken a picture of the crank journals.

You can check clearances with plastiguage. My local AutoZone carries it, but I have to give them the part number. The parts counter guys always tell me they didn't know they carried it the times I ask for it. Go figure.

 

[j91z28d1]

definitely had some trash pumped thru it. by the looks of it, this poor thing didn't get a lot of oil changes and cheap filters.


my 2 cents is are you in a hurry? while I would have no worry about those going another few 100k also what's the point. if you're all ready having to deal with a machine shop to have the block cleaned and new cam bearings, not much extra to have the crank polished and toss some new bearings in it.

 

[Charlie207]

definitely had some trash pumped thru it. by the looks of it, this poor thing didn't get a lot of oil changes and cheap filters.


my 2 cents is are you in a hurry? while I would have no worry about those going another few 100k also what's the point. if you're all ready having to deal with a machine shop to have the block cleaned and new cam bearings, not much extra to have the crank polished and toss some new bearings in it.

I'm not in a hurry, no. This engine is going to eventually replace the 5.3 LMG in my Yukon that is currently running well, with no issues.

I was planning to have the heads refreshed (skimmed, hot wash, and if they need it - a valve job) once I figure out what cam I want.

After seeing the condition of the cam bearings, they will need to be replaced as well, which would make sense to have the shop do it (still haven't found a shop yet) since the block is filthy, and would need to also be hot washed at the least. And, I assume they'd need to mic the crank journals to recommend any undersized bearings, if needed. Or, does polishing the crank typically let you run standard sized bearings?

How much (if anyone knows) does it cost to have the crank journals polished?

So, it seems like I need to have my cam chosen before moving forward. That should give some time for the discretionary fund to build back up.

 

[donjetman]

beariing looks better than the crank, but it might polish out.

 

[strutaeng]

My local machine shop recommended another local guy that polishes cranks, very small one-man shop. It was $50 to polish my crank, like 2 years ago.

They should be able to tell if a polish should be fine or if you need to turn it down.