Painful bill......
 

....just ordered the last of the parts for the engine assembly, damn gaskets cost $200 alone! If this weather holds it may actually see the road one or two more times this year. Hoping to have it together the weekend of the 9th.

nice! its always those little pieces that end up making the total bill so damn high

yeah throw in an alternator, water pump, coils, plugs, wires, locking header bolts, thermostat, fan belt, new hoses, new PCV system, rocker arms, motor mounts, MAF, Battery and AIR block offs and I cringe to see what my final tally for this engine will be.

Edit: Forgot headers, Y-pipe, cats, O2 sensors, fuel injectors, fuel rails, fuel rail fittings, braided fuel lines.....the list seems endless.....

ah that reminds me i forgot to get a new PCV system as well. are you doing an electric water pump?

Nah, just a mechanical. IMO electric cost more then they are worth HP wise, if ti was $200 for one I would consider it, but for $400-$600 I'll stick with a stocker. I drop them in the same category as underdrive pullies. Thunder Racing has the LS6 PCV system at a decent price, that's what I went with. I'll let you know how it fits.

damn ,i was gonna say you should've gone with Pratt & Whitney's F119-PW-100 but i guess if the Bat mobile is on a budget that would be kinda hard :lol:


good luck with ur build!

ok why dont you reuse some of the old stuff? sorry for the 20 questions :lol:

'cause then it just isnt "new" and doesn't look as pretty, lol.
In my own build, basically anything that was questionable, got replaced.
I wanted to start with a clean slate. all the parts alone arent a big deal or expense, but add up like 10 $200 parts and it goes fast.
Selling off the stock parts helps more than you'd expect.

i was just curious if he was doing it for upgrade or just to get new stuff. like example: im replacing my starter and alternator this winter. the starter just to get a new one, and the alternator is for teh upgrade. now im questioning whether i should replace water pump and pcv while i'm in there. i like to learn from other people's experiences so i dont have to :)

my motor came with a brand new waterpump and ls6 pvc system so those didnt matter to me. However, i learned in the past, if you put the time and money into a motor and all, anythign that can wear out, should be replaced new. Water pumps can and will eventually go, if you use a used one, itll go that much sooner. PCV systems have been always debated, some claim improvements, some dont. In you case, with an '02 and not having to cut out the boss in the valley, it wouldn't hurt doing the changeover, if it was a 98-00 i'd say dont bother.

personally, I changed my coils and all because of when my motor blew, i had misfire issues, yes those were attributed to the flooding and the stuck injectors, but i wanted to rule out any other possibility, more for a piece of mind. Im re-using my alt and starter just because I dotn have a reason to change them, my starter was replaced about 30k miels ago, and my alt worked perfect with my full stereo and never gave any signs of being weak. I even changed my heater hoses now while the motor is out since i thought i saw a leak last year, i wouldnt want to get a leak now and have to struggle to change it. Motor mounts i did for the hell of it, but when i opened the old ones, i saw the were shot and im glad i replaced them. my rockers i had rebuilt due to the known failure issues, oil pump was replaced with a ported one, and ARP rod bolts installed, all to just make me worry less abotu the little things.

hmmmm... im still confused about what you said on the PCV valve. why would i change it on the newer cars rather then the 98-00s?

In 97-00 LS1 engine blocks, there is a "mounting boss" inside the valley. The LS1 PCV systems draws air from the valve covers so that doesnt matter, however the LS6 PCV system draws the air from the valley instead and the ls6 valley cover has an integrated baffle type thing that fill up quite a bit of the valley. To make the ls6 valley cover fit a 97-00 block, you need to use a dremel or similar and actually cut a small piece off the block itself, risking getting debris into the engine, something i dont think is worth it. On the 01+ "168" blocks, there is no little peice that needs trimming and the ls6 valley cover is a direct bolt on swap.

**** i gotta check the casting number on my block. my car was a late 2002 so im sure i have a "168" block, but i'd rather check and make sure. i'll just shutup and get a new LS6 valve. ;)

To answer the above question I am buying new stuff for 2 reasons

#1- For $150.00 I don't want to get the whole engine together and installed and have the water pump/alternator quit on me. Don't think they will but it is such a negligible cost at this point I might as well do it. New battery is because my old one is shot.

#2 - I have a very small window in swapping the engine and the more assembled the new engine is the more likely we can knock it out in 1 day for the swap.

Also with the LS6 PCV on an LS1 I would recommed grinding the cover and not your engine block.

As for the rest of the stuff it is going to be a pretty high RPM (might see 7500-7700 if I am that brave) and also probably going to have a nitrous system in the near future so I wanted the most powerful spark I can get and injectors that can handle the extra load in the future. I probably could have gotten away with stock coils but I am interested in MSD's programmable controller that is coming out this year and the Nology wires should be pretty self explanatory. I've installed them on about a dozen cars and they are just an awesome piece of equipment, only downside is the grounds on all the wires which will be easier to install now with the engine out then in the future.

damn nick, that sounds like a crazy motor your building :omg:

edit: let me know if you need a hand over the weekends. i'll be around until finals time

I'll post up for the swap day when it comes around, a bunch of my PA buddies or going to lend a hand and anyone else is welcome to come watch or participate. Right now it all hinges on Mikey getting the longblock done and porting the Intake manifold, and me picking it up, of course.

ah you seem to have good help... i might stop by for the learning experience anyhow.

Some of the best, they are great