Uh-oh, I may need to have the LT1 in my C4 rebuilt. The good news is that there seems to be tons of options and parts availability is strong. The bad news is that there seems to be tons of options :). I think that I spun a bearing, but I'm awaiting confirmation.
What questions should I be asking the "re-builder"? What recommendations do you have? I would like to keep the costs low -- the stock power level suits me for what I do with the car. If I want more oomph, I'll upgrade to a C5 or C6 at a later date.
Re-building it myself isn't an option right now, since I do not have an appropriate workshop.
IIRC, LT1 internals are mostly the same as 1st gen SBC, just pick the correct crank.
Consider just swapping in another motor and keeping the original somewhere so you can eventually have "matching numbers." A junkyard LT1 would probably be cheaper than rebuilding, but I'm not a Cheby guy.
Otherwise, if you want to rebuild it, find a machine shop locally and go talk to them. They probably have parts sources way cheaper than you and could do one of those in their sleep. Tell them to just rebuild it, not hot rod it.
Oh, and I rebuilt a Lotus motor in my kitchen, so you saying you don't have a kitchen? You still sub out all the machine shop work, then do the assembly yourself.
^ And dishwashers make handy work of dirty engine components.
I wasn't married yet....
njansenv wrote: And dishwashers make handy work of dirty engine components.
I have been known to do the same thing... luckily now I have a garage to wrench in, but I rebuilt a miata 1.6L on my buddies back porch of his apartment... 
Pick up the new issue of Car Craft, they rebuild an LT1 in it. Just read it last night. There's an extremely high chance your crank is toast.
Enginekits.com is your friend.
I'm doing a clutch job on the Sportster right now. After polishing the primary cover, I cleaned it in the dishwasher. Came out nice and clean. Dr.Linda didn't even mind. It was her bike's primary cover, though.
Dr. Hess wrote:
Consider just swapping in another motor and keeping the original somewhere so you can eventually have "matching numbers." A junkyard LT1 would probably be cheaper than rebuilding, but I'm not a Cheby guy.
Oh, and I rebuilt a Lotus motor in my kitchen, so you saying you don't have a kitchen? You still sub out all the machine shop work, then do the assembly yourself.
It's already on a second (crate) motor -- so I'm not too concerned about numbers matching. I do have a kitchen, but with the house going on the market soon an engine rebuild in the kitchen won't appeal to the demographic lI'm hoping to sell to :)
Doesn't GMPP have a smoking deal on a cop spec crate long block? Same engine with different covers. IIRC they were cheap at the dealer for cop car refreshes.
AutoXR
Reader
7/14/09 3:18 p.m.
I still think it's the Opti Spark.
Cop Motor is not the same, Iron head LT1's are 2 bolt mains, a weak cam and a few other differences. Not to mention the heads. Iron heads flow more, but weigh more.
a Rotating assembly can be had cheap enough if the crank is gone. 383 Kits are under $1000 for crank , rods and pistons.
Take it to Shaun at Bayview regardless of what direction you decide to take in rebuilding it.
If you do get parts from GMPP we can use my employee Discount. :)
ncjay
Reader
7/14/09 3:24 p.m.
If all that's wrong is a spun bearing, you may be able to just repair the crank (if it needs it) and replace the bearings. Might as well go ahead and do them all while you're in there. If the engine isn't worn out and everything else seems fine, no sense in wasting time and money replacing good parts. Of course if the parts were all good, the bearing wouldn't have spun, but that's another story.
The verdict is in -- spun bearings on two cylinders. I'll start talking to the machne shop about options.
Engine Builder magazine had a couple articles on rebuilding the LT1 (a stock rebuild, not a performance rebuild). You can find the latest one here:
http://www.enginebuildermag.com/Article/2429/rebuilding_the_chevrolet_lt1_enige.aspx
It doesn't give much info as far as things to watch out for, but gives a nice overview of the engine and parts.
There are a couple of articles that touch on the LT1 from a performance standpoint, but they're all more than 10 years old, so there is probably more recent info out there.
Bob
