My turn for a motor build thread

[duramax hd]

Thats right guys, my time has come....I believe one of the rods wanted out this morning and put a nice window in my block. I assume when you loose all oil pressure, sounds like a bunch of washers in a paint can being shaken up as soon as oil pressure dropped, and about 10 qts of oil on the ground mean. I cant see sh*t though or where the hole is so I guess we will see when the motor comes out. The funny part is, I had just started my truck up, and was basically idling down the road letting it warm up. Not hammering on it prior, not even into the gas when the sh*t hit the fan. I was freakin coasting! I had Ben and Trent laughing when I told them as that was one of the first questions they asked.

So on to the advise part. I am struggling with a solution.

Option 1: Tony (Ridgerunners) was awesome and called me up immediately as one of his customers has a bone stock LB7 with 50K miles on it he's looking to sell. $3500 and I could have it on the road. I know I'd blow it up again, as I have zero plans to sell my truck or get out of this sport as I love it way to much. So thats the cheap route.
Option 2 BUILD IT! Ben spent a pretty good amount of time with me on the phone and laid a lot of options out for me. He is ready to come down here and help me pull this thing and tear it down for a build. I have lots of buddies all eager to pull this thing apart with me, some that have been down this road and the consensus is to get this biatch built! (Thats what is awesome about the duramax community and why I am not leaving it, all these guys are willing to help and put in their time just in the name of getting my truck up and running. I'm very appreciative to have you guys as friends...Ryan, Tony, Nate, Trent, Doug, Ben, Mike and the DD community, thanks for getting me this far! :hug

I am in no position to be building anything crazy. I'll be scapping the bottom of the barrel for a budget build as it is. Rods, cut and coated, studs, updated injectors is all that is in the cards pretty sure. Fuelers, manifolds, chargers are going to have to wait until this bill is paid for. So what does everyone think that's gone down this road? Oh yea, I just made my last payment on my truck this month! I own every bent rod/viewing hole on her! :woott:

 

[adeso]

If you windowed the block you might need a donor engine anyways. I would tear it out and check it before you turn that other engine away. Could always put that other engine in and baby it while you collect parts, would suck to be slow for a while but might make the most sense.

 

[Chevy1925]

sounds like your in the same boat i was kris. you cant go wrong with what ben and trent talked with you about. if you got a good crank, block, and pistons to start with you can build it for pretty cheap if you find the right deals. im proof of that

 

[duramax hd]

sounds like your in the same boat i was kris. you cant go wrong with what ben and trent talked with you about. if you got a good crank, block, and pistons to start with you can build it for pretty cheap if you find the right deals. im proof of that

Yea man I wasn't to far behind you huh? Pretty sure my block is no bueno, but I hope the rest is salvageable. Its just one of those things I guess that Im wondering if its all worth it. I am actually have your build thread bookmarked and need to go re-read it to see what I'm getting into. You can put me in the category of thinking "this will never happen to me" people though. Always thought I could make it another year ya know? Kind of still in shock about it. The sound it made, and watching the oil pouring out is a SH*TTY feeling

 

[Chevy1925]

Yea man I wasn't to far behind you huh? Pretty sure my block is no bueno, but I hope the rest is salvageable. Its just one of those things I guess that Im wondering if its all worth it. I am actually have your build thread bookmarked and need to go re-read it to see what I'm getting into. You can put me in the category of thinking "this will never happen to me" people though. Always thought I could make it another year ya know? Kind of still in shock about it. The sound it made, and watching the oil pouring out is a SH*TTY feeling

Well i really can not say if its all worth it. The way i look at it is i know me. I know i couldnt go back to a single stock turbo motor, and if i kept the twins on a stock motor with small tuning, i know eventually i would start cranking the power again and blow that motor. I try to say this truck is just for hauling the toyhauler now but its so fricken easy to jump hp with the switch of a tune i knew it wouldnt stay that way. Id litterally would have to sell the whole truck and buy a gasser or do what i did.

I love the truck on this 500+ dd tune. Plenty of power, i know the motor can hold it all day, and its super streetable. My 700hp tune could probably be made the same way but its smokey and anymore, i hate smoke.

It will really come down to you and if you really feel this is justifyable. Run all your options that you can think of if you wanted to change and really sit down and think about it. I cant give it up yet so here i am . I didnt think i bent rods either. Steve, brian and i all thought it had to have been a stuck injector. Its make me sick for a day thinking about the money now my baby was down but after i started picking parts i wanted, you get really excited again lol

 

[doug9940]

Sorry to hear about the porthole in your block. If you are going the cut and coated route and can't reuse your old pistons, I have a set of low mileage LLY pistons I can make you a deal on. There are pics in the garage sale section. Good luck with your build.

 

[duramax hd]

Well i really can not say if its all worth it. The way i look at it is i know me. I know i couldnt go back to a single stock turbo motor, and if i kept the twins on a stock motor with small tuning, i know eventually i would start cranking the power again and blow that motor. I try to say this truck is just for hauling the toyhauler now but its so fricken easy to jump hp with the switch of a tune i knew it wouldnt stay that way. Id litterally would have to sell the whole truck and buy a gasser or do what i did.

I love the truck on this 500+ dd tune. Plenty of power, i know the motor can hold it all day, and its super streetable. My 700hp tune could probably be made the same way but its smokey and anymore, i hate smoke.

It will really come down to you and if you really feel this is justifyable. Run all your options that you can think of if you wanted to change and really sit down and think about it. I cant give it up yet so here i am . I didnt think i bent rods either. Steve, brian and i all thought it had to have been a stuck injector. Its make me sick for a day thinking about the money now my baby was down but after i started picking parts i wanted, you get really excited again lol

James, I really appreciate the advise and it is invaluable to me. As you know, I went down this road with selling my truck about a year ago and decided I'm not ready to throw in the towel with diesel just yet. Its to much fun and I love my truck way to much the hang it up. Also, the whole going back to stock thing, and turning up the power a little at a time is exactly what got us here in the first place! This whole afternoon I've been thinking about it, and the thought of turning the power down does not sound good. There is no freakin way I'd be able to do it and resist the temptation. There is no way I am racking up two blown motors under my belt either :spit:

Sorry to hear about the porthole in your block. If you are going the cut and coated route and can't reuse your old pistons, I have a set of low mileage LLY pistons I can make you a deal on. There are pics in the garage sale section. Good luck with your build.

Really appreciate it Doug. I plan on re-using my stock pistons and cutting and coating them. Thats the plan at least until we get it apart. Ill keep it in mind though :hug:

 

[Chevy1925]

Well kris i think you got your answer then and a built motor will be well worth it.

 

[ecc_33]

I bet you all your pistons are junk. You will find they have been hitting the crank and have wiped out material on the bottom of the pison skirts.

 

[BLKLMM]

Build it:thumb:

 

[adeso]

I bet you all your pistons are junk. You will find they have been hitting the crank and have wiped out material on the bottom of the pison skirts.

I bet he is right, I would look at picking up a set out of a good engine. Unless things went bad wrong I bet the heads are ok but I would get the engine out and the heads off before you do anything. Might be worth picking up a short block, they little extra would be worth it (or at least have everything checked out really well) no sense putting all that money into it aftermarket parts and have something drop out.

I really wouldn't buy too many parts till I did that.

 

[Sledhead]

Sorry to hear Kris, way to keep your chin up. I'll be following your build thread.

 

[duramax hd]

Well kris i think you got your answer then and a built motor will be well worth it.

Thanks for your help buddy. Guess I just needed someone to point out the obvious to me. Typing it out made my choice very clear. My wallet does not like you though

I bet you all your pistons are junk. You will find they have been hitting the crank and have wiped out material on the bottom of the pison skirts.

That's what I've been told. Not happy about it either but it's the name of the game. Not sure if I should go cut and coated lb7's out of a known good motor or something stronger.

Build it:thumb:

:thumb:

I bet he is right, I would look at picking up a set out of a good engine. Unless things went bad wrong I bet the heads are ok but I would get the engine out and the heads off before you do anything. Might be worth picking up a short block, they little extra would be worth it (or at least have everything checked out really well) no sense putting all that money into it aftermarket parts and have something drop out.

I really wouldn't buy too many parts till I did that.

This is what I'm afraid of. Knowing something went real wrong in this thing makes me gunshy with reusing parts. Guess I'll have to get it apart and get some opinions on what's good and whats not.

Sorry to hear Kris, way to keep your chin up. I'll be following your build thread.

Thanks man. I played with fire, now I have to pay for it. Still bummed out, but looking at parts is exciting. Adding it all up brings you right back down to earth though. Damn is sport is addicting and expensive!

 

[Chevy1925]

Haha my wallet hates me too. Now i know you dont drive that truck much so it may be well worth it to you to pick up some forged pistons. I would have bought them if i knew rings would last 100k so im on my stock pistons just cut (no coating). If you go forged, you will really have damn near nothing to worry about in that bottom end. Your old girls gunna be gettin ready for hibernation soon any how aint she?

 

[blkdmax04]

Good luck buddy I'm hoping mine last a little longer atleast tell I get moved but I've already started buying parts we'll see... excited for ya:thumb:

 

[adeso]

One thing to think about, if you are going to go cut and coated stock pistons (what I did) and your old engine is trashed, buy that running engine and force yourself to baby it while you save up for the parts for it. That is what I would do if I was going to have to cut corners to make this build and needed the truck back. The question is how long can you go without turning it up. :woott:

 

[Atouchofgrass]

Build that baby, I love pulling motors

 

[duramax hd]

Haha my wallet hates me too. Now i know you dont drive that truck much so it may be well worth it to you to pick up some forged pistons. I would have bought them if i knew rings would last 100k so im on my stock pistons just cut (no coating). If you go forged, you will really have damn near nothing to worry about in that bottom end. Your old girls gunna be gettin ready for hibernation soon any how aint she?

Truck was forced into an early hibernation this year! Your right though, I dont drive it much, but now that im dropping stupid money on it, I just may. Forged pistons are really tempting though. At that point, I should look at Fingers pistons though right? So many options and none are the best of both worlds. Damn you monotherms for being rediculously expensive.

Good luck buddy I'm hoping mine last a little longer atleast tell I get moved but I've already started buying parts we'll see... excited for ya:thumb:

Thanks man. Sounds like you'll be better off then I am when the time comes. Having parts for a build set aside is the way to go for sure.

One thing to think about, if you are going to go cut and coated stock pistons (what I did) and your old engine is trashed, buy that running engine and force yourself to baby it while you save up for the parts for it. That is what I would do if I was going to have to cut corners to make this build and needed the truck back. The question is how long can you go without turning it up. :woott:

I did think about that long and hard, but heres the thing...my truck is put away and stored for the winter so I am already not driving it the next 4-5 months. I dont 'need' it running as its a toy. So dropping 3500 on a running motor that I know for a fact that I will not be able to control myself with and keep the power down doesn't seem logical. But then again, neither does spending 10g's on a built motor.

Build that baby, I love pulling motors

Do you work for beer?

 

[juddski88]

Kris, I honestly think that the cast .020" over pistons are your best bet. Whether you use fingers' or use Davids lml pistons, you wil be happier without forged and increased ring and cyl wall wear. You most likely wont be able to reuse your pistons as has been said. Trent had that lly top end stuff for sale too, I would also seriously consider that route instead of cupless heads or screw in cups. Lml oil pump conversion too. hx series bearings. Proper machining by RAD. then learning fro my mistakes...you'll be all set bud:thumb:

 

[DBUSHLB7]

Sorry to hear about the carnage. It's a wake up call to those like myself who are still in a pipe dream of an 11 sec pass with no consequences. Another one from the borrowed time club bites the dust. I'll see you on the other side brother! Oh and wait. Drive ford ranger during winter. Save for parts so you don't buy on credit. Interest payments suck