So you back in the land of the free and the home of the brave? It is in fact running. 175 miles on it to be exact. It is running good. After some research and a very helpful conversation with Mike Norris it was determined that it was plug and play! I have to give props to Mike, I was willing to have him do a reflash, but he said unless I wanted every last drop out of it I didn't need to do that. He said there would be no problem as far as hurting it. It did take a while, as you said the head problem had to be corrected. That turned out to be challenging. It seems a lot of the parts that are part of the stock LS6 cylinder heads are being discontinued by GM. I was able to get a new casting from GM. But, the number one intake valve was bent. I am assuming this happened in the accident that took the Vette's life. This is where the problem was. GM has discontinued that valve. It is hollow and very light. So, unless I could source a new one, I was going to have to disassemble the other head as well and replace all the intake valves. I had been working with PACE performance on all these parts. I can't say enough good about them. Chuck Fitch the manager is a great guy. I recommend anyone dealing with them. He went to GM powertrain direct and struck out. Just when I was going to pull the trigger on taking the other head off, he called and said he found me one. Katech had it. So after a couple weeks of looking I had the valve and got it back together. Then as you may or may not know, to change the engine in a 4th gen it has to come out the bottom. Yea, what a pain without a hoist. So since our shop has an exploded truck all over it, I made arrangements to have it switched at a local shop that does this stuff. That took 2 weeks as racing season is getting into full swing here and he was backed up. In the end, I got it back this past weekend and have been going back and forth to work this week. So far so good. It definitely runs better, but I think there might be a tune in the future as I think I am leaving ALOT on the table with the stock ecm. That will be way way down the road. I have to recover from this. This is just a daily work driver and was an unexpected expense. Thanks for offering the engine up buddy, my search around here was yielding nothing. Very please, plus I learned alot about the LS stuff along the way. Ill be in touch, I was waiting till your whirl wind tour of Italy was over. Hope you had a great time.!
THANKS TO: A&M Machine and Fabrication, CCTek (http://www.candctek.com), Hermance Design(www.hermancedesign.com), Paradise Road Rod & Custom, Harry Opfer Welding, Wegner Automotive Research, Clayton Machine Works
What ??? NO pictures of the pull out carnage ?? None ??? Really !!!!!
OK, you asked for it ....
With pleasure, Jim
Jim -- The LS6 motor was a motor I bought several years ago that I had rolling around the "shed" and never used. It was a 2002 Corvette ZO6 wreck pullout. So there's no pullout carnage for that motor.
What ??? NO pictures of the pull out carnage ?? None ??? Really !!!!!
OK, you asked for it ....
With pleasure, Jim
Thanks, appreciate your patience!
Don't worry, I'll get some. I only had time to drop the dead horse off the truck in the garage when I picked the car up last weekend. It's been a busy week. I was out of town 3 days this paste week for work. Then this weekend was my daughter's dance recital. I ain't getting nothing done! Stay tuned!
THANKS TO: A&M Machine and Fabrication, CCTek (http://www.candctek.com), Hermance Design(www.hermancedesign.com), Paradise Road Rod & Custom, Harry Opfer Welding, Wegner Automotive Research, Clayton Machine Works
Well, because some people can't live without pictures (Jim!) Here are some of the LS6 I got from Greg. It's a very low mileage piece. The only thing he and I were concerned about was sitting in his shed for years. The concern was maybe it being slightly rusty or something in the cylinders or the other carbon steel parts. As you can see that was not the case. Looks brand new!
The only thing I knew for sure I would have to do is change the corvette pan out for an F-Body pan. After searching many sources for used, I got a great deal on a new kit from Pace Performance. Everything needed for the switch:
So I had that all buttoned up and was feeling good about getting the engine swapped. Then, as I was cleaning old duct tape residue off the cylinder heads that was used to protect the exhaust ports I found a problem. I'm not exactly sure how this happened, but I'm thinking the yard that pulled the engine used the exhaust manifold bolt holes to mount the lifting device. They must not have been flat to the head when they torqued the bolt. The drivers side head had one hole that was stripped and actually bulged and cracked the head. Check it out:
Greg never would have seen this under the tape that was used to cover the exhaust ports. So it was time to replace the head. I mentioned earlier the issues with discontinued parts. Here are some pics of the bent number 1 intake valve and some further damage to the same head. I think this damage and the bent valve was done in the wreck of the donor corvette. Upon further investigation it looked like the yard replaced the drivers valve cover and coil bracket. The valve cover had noticeably less dirt and corrosion on it that the passenger side. Again, this is something Greg wouldn't have known until he either rebuilt the engine or tried to start it.
So I got the new head casting and Intake valve which I mentioned in my earlier post as well. Here's a pic of the reassembled head.
I got it all back together and and built a pre-luber to get it all lubed up before firing it after sitting so long. Worked great! 60 psi of pressure while we rotated it by hand. Fired up with minimal noise and quieted right up in seconds.
It has been very good so far for the 175+ miles I have on it. Greg is great to deal with and very helpful. It worked out well, my car is back on the road and he has an extra 4 square feet of floor space in the shed! I'll post pics of the broken LS1 this week!
THANKS TO: A&M Machine and Fabrication, CCTek (http://www.candctek.com), Hermance Design(www.hermancedesign.com), Paradise Road Rod & Custom, Harry Opfer Welding, Wegner Automotive Research, Clayton Machine Works
I'm so glad to hear this all worked out okay - even if it entailed a bit of extra work for you...
Funny -- I bought the motor from a friend of Charley's YEARS ago... and I never once inspected it or anything other than just pushed it around on that dang dolly. Just never got around to using it (I have a few "parts" and pieces more than a guy needs! )
Very cool. Those LS6's are a great motor and are very desirable I've come to read about on the Vette forum as far as track motors. Can't say the same about those LS3's!
__________________
2004 NASA AIX Mustang LS2 #14
1964 Lincoln Continental
2014 4 tap Keezer
I'm so glad to hear this all worked out okay - even if it entailed a bit of extra work for you...
Funny -- I bought the motor from a friend of Charley's YEARS ago... and I never once inspected it or anything other than just pushed it around on that dang dolly. Just never got around to using it (I have a few "parts" and pieces more than a guy needs! )
Hope it lasts you a zillion years Chad!
Thanks again Greg. I hope it lasts too! LOL I have a truck to finish, my Dad said I don't need any more distractions!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Garage Dog 65
Now THAT'S more better !!!
Did I miss the dyno charts or did ya just forget to post those ...
AND, the big smokey burn out video too !!!!
Great work Chad !!!
No Dyno charts or burnouts! This is transportation to and from work! I can't break it! The last one blew just trying to start it, I don't dare chance a burnout! Oh, glad you"re happy!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flash68
Very cool. Those LS6's are a great motor and are very desirable I've come to read about on the Vette forum as far as track motors. Can't say the same about those LS3's!
I almost feel bad using this engine for just transportation, but I literally couldn't find anything that didn't need a complete rebuild.
THANKS TO: A&M Machine and Fabrication, CCTek (http://www.candctek.com), Hermance Design(www.hermancedesign.com), Paradise Road Rod & Custom, Harry Opfer Welding, Wegner Automotive Research, Clayton Machine Works
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
It did take a while, as you said the head problem had to be corrected. That turned out to be challenging. It seems a lot of the parts that are part of the stock LS6 cylinder heads are being discontinued by GM. I was able to get a new casting from GM. But, the number one intake valve was bent. I am assuming this happened in the accident that took the Vette's life. This is where the problem was. GM has discontinued that valve. It is hollow and very light. So, unless I could source a new one, I was going to have to disassemble the other head as well and replace all the intake valves. I had been working with PACE performance on all these parts. I can't say enough good about them. Chuck Fitch the manager is a great guy. I recommend anyone dealing with them. He went to GM powertrain direct and struck out. Just when I was going to pull the trigger on taking the other head off, he called and said he found me one. Katech had it. So after a couple weeks of looking I had the valve and got it back together. Then as you may or may not know, to change the engine in a 4th gen it has to come out the bottom. Yea, what a pain without a hoist. So since our shop has an exploded truck all over it, I made arrangements to have it switched at a local shop that does this stuff. That took 2 weeks as racing season is getting into full swing here and he was backed up. In the end, I got it back this past weekend and have been going back and forth to work this week. So far so good. It definitely runs better, but I think there might be a tune in the future as I think I am leaving ALOT on the table with the stock ecm. That will be way way down the road. I have to recover from this. This is just a daily work driver and was an unexpected expense. Thanks for offering the engine up buddy, my search around here was yielding nothing. Very please, plus I learned alot about the LS stuff along the way. Ill be in touch, I was waiting till your whirl wind tour of Italy was over. Hope you had a great time.! 
Stay tuned!
)
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