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Written by Patrick Rall
If you know what you are doing, building your own engine is both fun and rewarding. If you kind of know what you are doing, but you could use some pointers to help you build an LS engine for your project car, the team from The Hoonigans YouTube channel put together a great video detailing how to put together the bottom end of a high performance engine.The IntroductionThe video begins with Brad and Jon from The Hoonigans team explaining the project at hand. With the help of the team, Jon is beefing up his 1955 Chevy Belair in preparation for a match race with Roadkill"s Mike Finnegan. Finnegan has a 1955 Chevy named Blasphemi, as it is powered by a Chrysler Hemi, but Jon"s Belair will have a proper LS engine.The goal for this car is to run in the 9.90 range with around 700 horsepower while also being a reliable street car, but anything quick enough to beat Blasphemi will likely please fans of The Hoonigans.After the brief introduction, Jon goes on his way and Brad walks us through the fine details of assembling the bottom end of an LS engine.Installing the CrankshaftThe actual build begins with Brad explaining that they purchased this LS engine new from Summit, but when it arrived, the cylinder deck and the cylinder walls were looking a little rough. To fix that, the block was sent with the crank and rods to Custom Performance Racing, where the block was cleaned up and the rotating assembly was completely balanced. He explains what that means and even includes a video showing the crank and rods being balanced.Before installing the crankshaft, Brad labels the underside of the block including numbers and arrows on the main caps along with numbers for each cylinder. We also see later in the video that each rod and piston are labeled with the cylinder number in black marker, preventing any assembly mix-ups.Once everything is labeled, he removes the main caps and installs the crank in the block, laying plastic gauge on the journals in order to measure the clearances. Using the stock main cap bolts, Brad tightens the caps down to the required torque specifications then the removes the main caps, allowing him to check the crush amounts of the plastic gauge on each journal. This procedure allows you to make sure that your bearing clearances are adequate while also checking that the block and crankshaft were machined properly.Once he has verified that all of the clearances are good, Brad removes the stock main cap bolts and replaces them with ARP studs, making the bottom end extra strong. After tightening all of the main cap bolts to the proper torque spec, he marks each stud with a paint pen, allowing him to easily check if there has been any movement in the future.Rods and PistonsWith the crankshaft bolted in place, Brad turns to the rods and pistons. He begins by checking the gaps of the piston rings, making adjustments where needed while also showing off the unique Wiesco pistons that were made specifically for the build. In addition to the Hoonigan logo engraved on the face of each piston, these slugs have extra thick ring lands for improved strength ideal for high performance, forced induction applications like this 1955 Chevy project. #gallery-2 { margin: auto; } #gallery-2 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-2 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-2 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */ <br style="clear: both" />
Date written: July 4, 2018
More of this article on the LS1 Tech website
ID: 12432
If you know what you are doing, building your own engine is both fun and rewarding. If you kind of know what you are doing, but you could use some pointers to help you build an LS engine for your project car, the team from The Hoonigans YouTube channel put together a great video detailing how to put together the bottom end of a high performance engine.The IntroductionThe video begins with Brad and Jon from The Hoonigans team explaining the project at hand. With the help of the team, Jon is beefing up his 1955 Chevy Belair in preparation for a match race with Roadkill"s Mike Finnegan. Finnegan has a 1955 Chevy named Blasphemi, as it is powered by a Chrysler Hemi, but Jon"s Belair will have a proper LS engine.The goal for this car is to run in the 9.90 range with around 700 horsepower while also being a reliable street car, but anything quick enough to beat Blasphemi will likely please fans of The Hoonigans.After the brief introduction, Jon goes on his way and Brad walks us through the fine details of assembling the bottom end of an LS engine.Installing the CrankshaftThe actual build begins with Brad explaining that they purchased this LS engine new from Summit, but when it arrived, the cylinder deck and the cylinder walls were looking a little rough. To fix that, the block was sent with the crank and rods to Custom Performance Racing, where the block was cleaned up and the rotating assembly was completely balanced. He explains what that means and even includes a video showing the crank and rods being balanced.Before installing the crankshaft, Brad labels the underside of the block including numbers and arrows on the main caps along with numbers for each cylinder. We also see later in the video that each rod and piston are labeled with the cylinder number in black marker, preventing any assembly mix-ups.Once everything is labeled, he removes the main caps and installs the crank in the block, laying plastic gauge on the journals in order to measure the clearances. Using the stock main cap bolts, Brad tightens the caps down to the required torque specifications then the removes the main caps, allowing him to check the crush amounts of the plastic gauge on each journal. This procedure allows you to make sure that your bearing clearances are adequate while also checking that the block and crankshaft were machined properly.Once he has verified that all of the clearances are good, Brad removes the stock main cap bolts and replaces them with ARP studs, making the bottom end extra strong. After tightening all of the main cap bolts to the proper torque spec, he marks each stud with a paint pen, allowing him to easily check if there has been any movement in the future.Rods and PistonsWith the crankshaft bolted in place, Brad turns to the rods and pistons. He begins by checking the gaps of the piston rings, making adjustments where needed while also showing off the unique Wiesco pistons that were made specifically for the build. In addition to the Hoonigan logo engraved on the face of each piston, these slugs have extra thick ring lands for improved strength ideal for high performance, forced induction applications like this 1955 Chevy project. #gallery-2 { margin: auto; } #gallery-2 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-2 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-2 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */ <br style="clear: both" />
Date written: July 4, 2018
More of this article on the LS1 Tech website
ID: 12432
