rob2299usa

I removed my oil pan not too long ago and it wasn't that bad. I have a cherry picker so I just used that to lift the front of the engine and loosened the trans mount and lifted the back with a jack. Then I took out the motor mount through bolts, and lifted the engine/trans as high as I could. Afterwards I just unbolted the pan and pulled it out. I did have to turn the crank until the counter weights were in a suitable position to get the oil pan out. It wasn't that bad. As for replacing all the lower end bearings... you're on your own there Hope this helps.

Javier97Z28

A 50k mile stockish/bolt on car isn't going to spin bearings out of nowhere. Cars that are spun to 6200+ on stock lower ends are really the problem.

If it's a stock car what reason would the previous owner have had to spin the motor past the stock rev limiter (ie, movign the rev limiter for no reason).?

What are YOUR plans for the car.

SweetZRag

I pulled the oil pan last night It took me about 2 hours going very slowly and carefully. Here is what I did:

1) Disconnect the driver side O2 sensor.
2) Drop Y pipe (15mm deep socket)
3) Remove Torque converter cover (10 mm socket)
4) Remove oil filter.
5) Remove oil level sensor (it can get hung up on the baffle inside the oil pan and break).
6) Remove engine mount nut and bolt on both sides (18mm on bolt head, 15mm on nut) I used a punch to lightly tap the bolts through.
7) I removed starter bolts and moved starter to the side but this probably wasn't necessary.
8) Remove dipstick (10mm bolt). It comes out easier after you raise the engine. It hits the passenger side wheel well if you try before raising.
9) I raised the motor using a floor jack and a 2 X 4 on the bottom of the timing cover (my balancer bub was off). Be very careful as this could slip. I did one side at a time and slid small 2 X 4 blocks in between the 2 halves of each mount as I raised. BE CAREFUL!!!!!
10) Remove 2 corner bolts or nuts using 13mm socket (I found 1/4 drive sockets work best in the tight space).
11) Remove all pan bolts using 10mm socket except stud holding A4 cooling lines. For this one, use an 11 mm deep socket to take off nut, remove line bracket and then 10mm deep socket to remove stud.
12) Remove pan. It was a little difficult because it hit the crank weights but I managed to get it out.

I wouldn't do bearings this way but this is how to drop the pan.

Good Luck,

Jeff

SSCamaro

Mmmm, not sure, but, in all honesty, what makes a serial killer a serial killer? A little extreme example, but, there are just strange people that do strange things for strange reasons, I am just trying to protect my self and my investment.

Seeing as the guy I am getting it from is a 240lb fat dude, he probably would need that extra rpm's, lol.


My plans are to make the engine live at 6500rpm for extended periods of time, not that it WILL see 6500 for extended periods, but, I want an engine I can spin up and not screw up if I hit 6500 on occasion. I want to set the auto's auto shift points at 4500? rpm, well below screaming rpms for if i want higher shifts, i can do that manually when I am really attempting to race. I mean hell, the engines already have a hard time when they hit the stock rev limit now with bent pushrods and what not.



SweetZRag, thanks for the input, that should really be a sticky!!

Javier97Z28

You're planning on sticking a cam in it to make worth of those RPM's right? Not just on stock valvetrain?

right?

526 SS 96

Not so much...
A hot cam makes peak power at 6200, I used to shift at 6400 with my rev limmiter at 6500. My engine had 90K on it when I pulled it to do my AI 190 head cam combo. The stock lower end hit my 6500 rpm limiter on a few occasions. Also, I put a 200 shot to that thing and nothing happened. I took the engine appart after all this abbuse and there was NO internal damage. The berrings where not scratched and the crank journals where smooth as glass. If my friends didn't see me do what I did, they wouldn't belive me.

SScamaro seems to think that he can just change berrings and rod bolts with out measuring and machine work. This is a recipe for disaster. The step he thinks he is making toward increasing reliability is exactly what will ruin the whole project.

SScamaro, you (of cource) can do anything you want to your car, but you will find out that at the end of this that it is not worth it. I hope that you are aware that a reman LT-1 short block can be had for about $1,000. Just start saving your pennies... if you have an issue just replace it. If your berrings are gouged then what does the crank journal look like? Does your plan include sand paper? I don't want to be harsh, but some of the things you are saying are just tooo far out there. I hope that your project works out.
Just a final note, I used to be overly stubborn when it came to building my first engine/car. Destroying a few thousand dollars worth of otherwise good parts helped me over come that problem. I hope you don't have so costly a lesson.

Javier97Z28

Don't get me wrong.. I'm just saying the people that DO spin them are usually those that are spinning above 6200 and change. Not that ALL or MOST do.. just the ones that happen to.

You hardly ever hear of a spun bearing bolt-on car.... that's my point. Which is why I asked him about it to begin with.

My stock bottom end was fine in my 90k mile LT1 too, running a cc503 to 6300 RPM HARD wherever it went, with countless track passes and about 15k street miles. A valve slapping a piston is what did that motor in, not a spun bearing.

Just clarifying my point. I would spin a stock LT1 high up there too, I don't care!

JohnD

I guess the first question I would ask is what is the oil pressure. You don't have worn bearings if you have good oil pressure. That being said, I've known lots of people that have gone in and replaced an oil pump and standard bearings with the engine in the car, it's good insurance. It used to be more normal than it is now. A simple check with plastigage would tell you what the clearances are after you get the pan off (does anybody know about that stuff anymore? they still make it). It isn't complicated machine work nor does it require special tools at this point.

SSCamaro

526 SS 96, I understand what your saying about specing out the journals, but, if the crank has 50k on it and was not abused by the owner, I would think that the journals are in great shape. If so, whats wrong with a new set of bearings being put in there? How are clearances going to deviate that far? If clearances with old bearings are .015 and should be .010 (for example purposes only), and the crank IS worn down .002 and the bearings say .003, then a new set of bearings will take it back to .012 which is a LOT better than .015 . Now, the crank has grooves? well, I guess the bearings will wear into the crank like brake pads into a rotor over time. they ride on oil anyways, so, cant be too bad just sitting there on a ridge when not runing!?

Hey, I know, sounds archaic and neadrathal-ish, but unfortionatly "I" do not get to live in a perfect world. You forget that I can not pull the motor, therefore, 1000 for engine + 800 minumum for shop, I dont have $1800 for an engine living by myself. Yea, boo hoo for me, but, in a perfect world i would have a garage and pull it. Hell, if I can do it at your house, I would pull the engine in a split second, you can bet yer butt on that.

All I am trying to do is just freshen up the bottom end for insurance against what some donkey might have done to it. I still have to relearn all this LT1 stuff again and check out stock rev limits, what parts make a dependable engine, where the stock cam gives out, etc....etc.

JohnD

Not only that but chances are you won't find any wear in the crank, just in the bearings. That's the way it is supposed to work and it usually does. Bearing material is really soft compared to a crank journal.

Severous01

dude...i've been reading your threads today and you really have an attitude problem when it comes to someone giving you a response. if it's not exactly as you want it then it's crap. if you want an exact response then talk to god...most of these people here have experience in what your doing or have done it themselves. also, if you had GREAT mechanical skills you would know you dont have to remove the engine to clear the oil pan. even if you dont have great skills it's been on this thread before...that's how i found out how to do it.

the stock pump is more than enough for any motor up to about a 396 making over 650 hp. guys on horsepower tv on spike actually suggest using the stock unit when you have to replace the unit. they were against using an aftermarket or high flow unit because your paying for something you dont need. the only thing they used was a longer DS because they went with a deep sump pan.

but to answer your question if it's an auto you dont need to remove the engine. I HAVE PERSONALLY taken the oil pan and Main bearings off with the engine and k-member still in the car. all you gotta do is take out the motor mounts and lift the engine as high as you can and loosen the bolts with a u-joint and a u-joint-socket. i removed the main bolts with an extension and a 1/2" driver with regular sockets. if you have trouble reaching bolts spin the motor over until you have access.


sorry for the bash guys it just gets on my nerves when someone asks questions and burns everyone's answers and then ridicules them for it.

SSCamaro

Now how would I know if I never did it before??????????????? Tell me it can and has been done and yes, i can do it, I have done it many many a times, just not in a LT1. Also, lets get one thing stright. If someone straight up tells me I am a ding dong, then I WILL lay into you, simple as that. If you give me an answer I am not expecting, or is still questionable, I WILL rebutle with my own theories and re-qustion theirs if I am not convinced. Am I not allowed to do this? Am I not allowed to have a mind of my own and question my surroundings? I may not agree to what you tell me, but, I still disagree with respect to an answer that was given to me. If you dont at least give me the benifit of the doubt as to me being respectful, then YOU are the one the attitude. Just because I disagree does not mean I disagree with attitude. I am a very open minded person but I do have my own thoughts as well. I have NEVER bashed anyone at any time that has not bashed me first, well, except for the guy asking about the best header when there are so many posts. How do I know? Yes, I do seach useing the search engine, now, can we continue like decent folk?


I agree that the high volume pump is not needed and the stock pump is fine. Look at all the chevy's that run them with no problems! Thing is also that a high volume pump actually ROBS you of horses, this is why I want a high volume with a close to stock spring. Will give plenty of oil with any high clearances in the far off 150k mile future but still have fairly low preasure to keep from robbing me of horses. It is really just cheap piect of insurance and peice of mind. Once I go into the bottom end, if I do, I am only going in once.

526 SS 96

I have a lift .

Tell ya what, go buy a hot cam kit, long tubes, a set of those sweet earls header gaskets, a set of cut to fit MSD wires, 5 quarts of your favorite 10-30 & filter, 2 gal coolant and a pcm4less pre tuned pcm. For $600 I will install all that stuff for you and measure your bearing clearance . I have done this quite a few times, I can have the car done in 2 days.

You don't have to "build" the engine you described, because it came in your car stock. Make life easy .

A stock LT-1 peaks HP at 5200 rpm with a red line of 57-5800 (can't remember) A hot cam adds 1,000 RPM to the power band. I also picked up 70 rwhp over stock.

I hate to say this, but if you don't have the money to play with the car don't start. It is a loosing battle of time, money, and parts. If you are comfortable with that you will be ok.

Javier97Z28

You have an odd view of doing things. Enjoy the extra work for nothing!

SSCamaro

well, I just thought it would be a nice cheap insurance plan.