I am looking for some sound advise to help me through a build on a tight budget and there is plenty of experience with builds in this forum, so here I am asking for your advise! Can you please, please, help me?
HISTORY
My '05 LLY is blown. #5 piston... GONE. 11 of 16 pushrods... BENT. At least 1 valve... BENT. Spun Bearings. Block...Probably TOAST.
I found a guy that has an '06 LBZ long block for sale at a good price. It has 165k miles on it. He bought the truck at 159k miles with a blown head gasket and took it to a shop to have new head gaskets, arp studs, and water pump installed. He drove it stock for 6k miles and it supposedly cracked a piston when he was parking the truck. This is of course based on symptoms. (No noises but started running rough, oil out exhaust, exhaust out the dipstick.) I asked him to pull the head and look at the number #5 cylinder that is the culprit based on the misfire code that was pulled from the computer. He is supposed to pull the head this weekend. If that appears to be the only damage, I told him I am interested in the block.
GOAL
Efficiently rebuild a reliable mostly stock engine using mostly stock parts and keep expenses low. I plan to eventually run small tune for a little more pep and fuel economy(stock trans safe). I have the following brand new parts to go on in the build... Race valve for fuel rail, LLY egr delete, LLY/LBZ 3" magnaflow downpipe, and 5" magnaflow straight exhaust to go on the build.
I know that for no more power than I want out of it that the stock crank, rods, and cam are sufficient. I also know that if I am going to put that block together and make it run good and reliably, that I want to start with some more reliable pistons such as stock lb7/lly pistons and a hone and fresh rings. I haven't decided if I want to delip them or not but it sounds like a wise thing to do if it is not too expensive to have done. (not sure dremel work is precise enough.
although they could be weight balanced that way)
I am trying to decide if I want to leave all the bearings alone and simply replace the rod cap bolts when installing pistons, or replace all the bearings while I am in there and put it all back together. This way I will essentially have a full rebuild for a little extra expense.
Other mods will include grinding a tooth off of the reluctor wheel (to make it run in the LLY) and possibly swap water pump but I may just try to stretch the LLY hose over the outlet on the LBZ pump because a larger water pump couldn't hurt an LLY. (known overheating issues) The owner had the shop just drop in a crate motor to replace this motor and get the truck back on the road in a week but when they did that he swapped the water pumps. He put his 6k mile water pump on the crate motor and the crate pump on the old motor. So the long block should have a new crate water pump with it. Also, I will pick up some larger O-rings to center the REMAN LLY injectors, that I already purchased, in the LBZ heads like Pat did on Casper.
QUESTIONS
When I go look at the block with the head off, is there anything else I should look for that would be an indicator to turn away from the deal? Asside from checking oil/filter for contaminated oil or debris?
Is there more to replacing old bearings than just dropping in new ones and using new rod cap bolts and main bolts? (assuming they mic within spec) Seems like they might not be perfectly matched to the crank doing this but I'm not sure. It has been many years since I helped my father rebuild motors. He was always talking about blueprinting but not sure what all that entails.
Is it even worth messing with the bearings at 165k miles if I am trying to do this cheaply?
Is there much/any weigh difference between the LB7 pistons and LBZ pistons?
Will deliping the LB7 pistons put them closer to/further from the weight of the LBZ stock pistons? (if they weigh differently)
Do I need to have any balancing done switching to LB7 pistons? (probably deliped but not cut or coated) I assume they are heavier than the LBZs and some weight would need to be added to the flywheel/harmonic balancer, or crank.
Should I mess with the valve train like replacing valve guide seals and lapping the valves? I have done this before but not on a duramax and not sure if it is necessary with only 165k miles. I can check them with gasoline or soapy water and air compressor first to see if they are sealing good.
Since the heads were decked 6k miles ago, is it necessary to have them decked again if I can clean them up well or are they PROBABLY OK? I know this may be a hard one to answer because you can't really tell someone to take the cheap route. If you were on a very tight budget and trying to get your daily driver running, would you just clean them up good after 6k miles or go ahead and have them decked/surfaced? (i fear too much metal being taken off then the job gets more expensive to rework the heads for valve clearance.
Other than head gaskets, and exhaust manifold gaskets, are there any others that are absolutely necessary to replace? (will probably do whole gasket kit but if I can save money by just buying the necessities, then I will.
Should I set the valves at 0.011" instead of 0.012"? Any reason NOT to? (I read this helps quiet the valve train down a bit without causing issues)
I am sure I can come up with more questions but these are the ones that are important to me right now.
My only other option is to buy a fully rebuilt long block for like $4500 + a 1-2k core if my core is no good. It would take me a bit to save that much money and would not be bullet proof to 500-600hp. No delipped valves, or head studs (which I feel are important on an LLY). My wife is ready to have her car back as well.
Thanks for any advise you can provide. :thumb:
HISTORY
My '05 LLY is blown. #5 piston... GONE. 11 of 16 pushrods... BENT. At least 1 valve... BENT. Spun Bearings. Block...Probably TOAST.
I found a guy that has an '06 LBZ long block for sale at a good price. It has 165k miles on it. He bought the truck at 159k miles with a blown head gasket and took it to a shop to have new head gaskets, arp studs, and water pump installed. He drove it stock for 6k miles and it supposedly cracked a piston when he was parking the truck. This is of course based on symptoms. (No noises but started running rough, oil out exhaust, exhaust out the dipstick.) I asked him to pull the head and look at the number #5 cylinder that is the culprit based on the misfire code that was pulled from the computer. He is supposed to pull the head this weekend. If that appears to be the only damage, I told him I am interested in the block.
GOAL
Efficiently rebuild a reliable mostly stock engine using mostly stock parts and keep expenses low. I plan to eventually run small tune for a little more pep and fuel economy(stock trans safe). I have the following brand new parts to go on in the build... Race valve for fuel rail, LLY egr delete, LLY/LBZ 3" magnaflow downpipe, and 5" magnaflow straight exhaust to go on the build.
I know that for no more power than I want out of it that the stock crank, rods, and cam are sufficient. I also know that if I am going to put that block together and make it run good and reliably, that I want to start with some more reliable pistons such as stock lb7/lly pistons and a hone and fresh rings. I haven't decided if I want to delip them or not but it sounds like a wise thing to do if it is not too expensive to have done. (not sure dremel work is precise enough.
although they could be weight balanced that way) I am trying to decide if I want to leave all the bearings alone and simply replace the rod cap bolts when installing pistons, or replace all the bearings while I am in there and put it all back together. This way I will essentially have a full rebuild for a little extra expense.
Other mods will include grinding a tooth off of the reluctor wheel (to make it run in the LLY) and possibly swap water pump but I may just try to stretch the LLY hose over the outlet on the LBZ pump because a larger water pump couldn't hurt an LLY. (known overheating issues) The owner had the shop just drop in a crate motor to replace this motor and get the truck back on the road in a week but when they did that he swapped the water pumps. He put his 6k mile water pump on the crate motor and the crate pump on the old motor. So the long block should have a new crate water pump with it. Also, I will pick up some larger O-rings to center the REMAN LLY injectors, that I already purchased, in the LBZ heads like Pat did on Casper.
QUESTIONS
When I go look at the block with the head off, is there anything else I should look for that would be an indicator to turn away from the deal? Asside from checking oil/filter for contaminated oil or debris?
Is there more to replacing old bearings than just dropping in new ones and using new rod cap bolts and main bolts? (assuming they mic within spec) Seems like they might not be perfectly matched to the crank doing this but I'm not sure. It has been many years since I helped my father rebuild motors. He was always talking about blueprinting but not sure what all that entails.
Is it even worth messing with the bearings at 165k miles if I am trying to do this cheaply?
Is there much/any weigh difference between the LB7 pistons and LBZ pistons?
Will deliping the LB7 pistons put them closer to/further from the weight of the LBZ stock pistons? (if they weigh differently)
Do I need to have any balancing done switching to LB7 pistons? (probably deliped but not cut or coated) I assume they are heavier than the LBZs and some weight would need to be added to the flywheel/harmonic balancer, or crank.
Should I mess with the valve train like replacing valve guide seals and lapping the valves? I have done this before but not on a duramax and not sure if it is necessary with only 165k miles. I can check them with gasoline or soapy water and air compressor first to see if they are sealing good.
Since the heads were decked 6k miles ago, is it necessary to have them decked again if I can clean them up well or are they PROBABLY OK? I know this may be a hard one to answer because you can't really tell someone to take the cheap route. If you were on a very tight budget and trying to get your daily driver running, would you just clean them up good after 6k miles or go ahead and have them decked/surfaced? (i fear too much metal being taken off then the job gets more expensive to rework the heads for valve clearance.
Other than head gaskets, and exhaust manifold gaskets, are there any others that are absolutely necessary to replace? (will probably do whole gasket kit but if I can save money by just buying the necessities, then I will.
Should I set the valves at 0.011" instead of 0.012"? Any reason NOT to? (I read this helps quiet the valve train down a bit without causing issues)
I am sure I can come up with more questions but these are the ones that are important to me right now.
My only other option is to buy a fully rebuilt long block for like $4500 + a 1-2k core if my core is no good. It would take me a bit to save that much money and would not be bullet proof to 500-600hp. No delipped valves, or head studs (which I feel are important on an LLY). My wife is ready to have her car back as well.
Thanks for any advise you can provide. :thumb: