WE BUILD AN LS ENGINE ON A BUDGET AND TRANSFORM THE MODERN ENGINE INTO A RETRO MOTOR THAT HARKS BACK TO THE GOOD OLD DAYS IN THE PROCESS. BASICALLY, WE’RE BUILDING A CARBURETED 327 CID LS ENGINE, WITH CUSTOM TOUCHES THAT REMIND US OF AN EARLY 1960′S SMALLBLOCK CHEVY We started with an [...]
I’ve decided to have the water pumps and pulleys polished and chrome plated. This will provide additional visual appeal. Engine build, text and photos by Mike Mavrigian In this series installment, I’ll discuss final installation of the rods and pistons, the oil pump and pan, timing cover, water pumps and cylinder heads.
She’s done. In this article, we’ll cover crankshaft balancing, valvetrain and crankshaft assembly. How do you like the plug wire routing? I’ll cover this in a later article installment. I’m considering having the water pump pulleys polished and chrome plated. By the way, the water pump/alternator belt pulley alignment is perfect. If the belt looks [...]
by Mike Mavrigian Build/assembly and all photos by author Our Lunati roller cam features 0.544″ valve lift at intake and 0.560″ at exhaust, with duration of 232 intake and 242 exhaust. Centerline is 108 intake and 116 exhaust. CAMSHAFT AND TIMING Dart thoughtfully provided anti-friction-coated cam bearings with their block. Each bearing is [...]
by Mike Mavrigian FILE FITTING THE RINGS Because of our over-honed cylinder diameters (4.263″), standard size rings wouldn’t work, so I started with a set of Total Seal rings P/N CR7190 35, supplied with our Diamond pistons. These are intended for a bore diameter of 4.268″ (1/16″ top, 1/16″ 2nd, 3/16″ oil), requiring a custom [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
PROJECT LS2, PART 3 Assembly of the short block and cylinder head installation by Mike Mavrigian All photos by author INSTALLING THE RELUCTOR WHEEL The reluctor wheel features a series of teeth that provide crankshaft position signals via a sensor to the ECM. The wheel press fits to the rear of the crank, immediately forward [...]
The side relief design provides additional clearance for the crank’s reluctor wheel. Without this added clearance, No. 8 piston would hit the reluctor wheel. Here’s an underside view that clearly illustrates the side relief/short pin design. Naturally, this also reduces reciprocating weight as a bonus. As you can see, the compression height resulted in the [...]
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