The first big decision of the week I'm blaming on Tim.
During our recent conversation, he explained to me that it is possible to convert the LS7 to be a wet-sump oiling system instead of a dry-sump system. While certainly I would prefer the dry-sump for any sustained track action, that would be a big chance to TOW at the moment that I'm not sure if the path I want to take. I've been planning to add an Accusump to help protect the engine, so I think I'm going to stick with that direction for now.
That said, once I started thinking about the possibility of the extra cubes from the LS7 block, I've been searching for one. I mentioned earlier that I just missed one locally, but I've managed to find one on the east coast with some searching. This one was a dealer replaced unit that seems to have had some main bearing issues. I will have the block completely machined, including being line-honed, so I don't have any big concerns about that. And with less than 5k miles on it (he says 3k), it should be a great option!
I'm definitely taking a chance on this purchase, as I found this guy on a Facebook group of all places. But I'm using Paypal for the purchase for some level of protection. So here's what it started as:
After he stripped it down:
(interesting engine 'stand')
And all boxed up for me:
It turns out that FedEx and UPS allow up to 150 pounds for ground shipments these days. So that's how it's coming. It's scheduled to arrive on Wednesday. Hopefully this all goes smoothly: I haven't always had the best luck with internet transactions. But so far, so good!