Our coilpacks (to be used either with an EFI or distributorless carburetor setups) are MSD No. 8245 coils. Eight coils are used, with one coil dedicated to each spark plug. The MSD coils deliver up to three times the spark energy of the stock coils, as well as delivering multiple sparks. Maximum voltage is 44,000 [...]
CARB WITH DISTRIBUTOR, NO COILPACKS The next carb-type setup involves the same intake manifold and carburetor, but with a twist-get rid of the eight individual coilpacks and mount a distributor at the front of the engine. GM Performance offers a distributor adapter kit (P/N 88958679) that includes a cast aluminum LS front distributor drive cover [...]
PROJECT LS2, PART 5 INDUCTION AND IGNITION by Mike Mavrigian all photos by author Our LS2, ready for induction. You face a few choices with regard to fuel, air and ignition when building an LS-you can stick with the OE fuel injection (how boring is that?), you can install an aftermarket performance fuel injection system [...]
The Victor water pump mounting gaskets are alloy bases with elastomeric seals. These appear to be very re-useable. Our Edelbrock water pump mounted to the block. Fit and hole alignment were superb. Here’s the upper left timing cover bolt that we mentioned. It’s close, but it does clear the pump body. The Edelbrock water pump [...]
The camshaft was checked with a degree wheel. Crane did one heck of a nice job grinding this bumpstick. Lift and timing moments were dead-on to the cam card. With our crank snout pinned for the damper, the timing cover was installed using ARP’s front cover kit (12-point stainless). The front coolant balance tube assembly [...]
ROCKER COVERS AND COIL BRACKETS Instead of using a pair of boring OE rocker covers, we opted for a pair of Moroso welded aluminum cuties. These beautifully tig-welded covers accept the OE type formed gasket seal (each cover features a CNCed groove on the mating surface). Each cover is secured to the head using OE-type [...]
PROJECT LS2, PART 4 This has proven to be a fairly easy build. The LS series-both Gen III and IV-shows definite promise. by Mike Mavrigian all photos by author Our LS is now ready for induction and ignition.At this point, our LS2 is a complete longblock. Here, we’ll cover a number of subjects leading up [...]
All head studs were installed finger-tight. Our taller-than-OE Crane roller lifters required the use of spacer washers between the block and lifter buckets. The oiled roller lifters are inserted into the OE plastic lifter buckets. These register flat-to-flat, orienting the lifters properly for roller bearing operation at the lobes. With all four lifters snapped into [...]
Our JE forged pistons included wire locks for floating pin securing. The wire locks are installed by working your way around the lock with a small screwdriver. A nice option for wire lock installation is Lockintool’s W-927 installation tool. It takes some getting used to but, once you develop the knack, it’s a real time [...]
I opted to install the crank gear at the zero timing mark, but this gear allows adjustment +/- 4 degrees. Our timing chain setup installed. With No. 1 rod pin at TDC, the timing dot on the cam gear is at 6 o’clock, and the ) mark on the crank gear is at 12 o’clock. [...]
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