OK guys here it goes.. let me just start by saying these motors are rediculously easy to work on... took me about 30 min to tear down and get one piston out for now (waiting for the new ones to come in) but I gotta say working with the motor on a stand is great.
well here's some pics for ya.
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j206/black06g85/Dec01_0013.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j206/black06g85/Dec01_0012.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j206/black06g85/Dec01_0011.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j206/black06g85/Dec01_0010.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j206/black06g85/Dec01_0009.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j206/black06g85/Dec01_0008.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j206/black06g85/Dec01_0007.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j206/black06g85/Dec01_0006.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j206/black06g85/Dec01_0005.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j206/black06g85/Dec01_0004.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j206/black06g85/Dec01_0003.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j206/black06g85/Dec01_0002.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j206/black06g85/Dec01_0001.jpg

cool, i'd love to learn how to take and safely put back together an engine.

All the red x's suck for me. I hate being deployed because I can't see all the cool pics and vids you guys have been putting up.

Glad to hear you're enjoying the tear down though. It's easy, but not as easy when the engine is still in the car! ;) Accessing a few things becomes more difficult. Keep us psoted though! :twothumbs

I hear ya on that one... i'll try to upload the pics into my gallery later for ya....
and this is why I bought a spare motor... once its done, swap the sensors, and pop the new motor in.... Kenny from C/A picked me up the Ecotec 2.0 power book from SEMA so I have something to reference to.

crazy pics man.

oh yeah by the way the stock pistons look like doo doo.... wow they really do suck...
oh well leave it to gm to build a motor capable of 600 hp and put in pistons that won't really live past 300..

good luck with that

and what you dont like dasani????:lol:

Good luck with this swap :) You have all the time in the world to get ready.

oh yeah by the way the stock pistons look like doo doo.... wow they really do suck...
oh well leave it to gm to build a motor capable of 600 hp and put in pistons that won't really live past 300..
Cool pics, have fun with the build and get on the driveshafts (please;) ).
As for the stock pistons I believe GM's logic is simple. If you build an engine (or transmission) with a weak link, it becomes easy to figure out who modded their cars beyond the weak links limits, thus preventing fraudulant warranty claims.

You're an animal Paul. Good luck with everything. :twothumbs

victory, that is a really good point that I never thought of. I guess they assume people won't tear down their motor to change the pistons, thus if the piston fails, they assume abuse/modding.

victory, that is a really good point that I never thought of. I guess they assume people won't tear down their motor to change the pistons, thus if the piston fails, they assume abuse/modding.
It makes sense to put the weakest link at the hardest to get spot. Just like our transmissions, JBP says they are beautiful (w\lsd) except for the input\output shaft.

Of course.....
victory man I'm sorry for taking so long... just time is one thing I don't have at the moment...
re-building a wrecked mustang for a friend (gotta make money somehow) working 50+ hours a week at one job, building and fixing my car to keep it running everyday... and the list goes on... but hopefully I"ll get over there in the next week or 2, I'll def let you know

I'm getting :redx: 's too because I'm at work. There's also a PDF out there on how to pull the engine too. Because I can't see the the pics, are you going to pull the engine from underneath the car like the PDF explains how to do?

Should be easy, you've been through a lot with these engines. GL bro.

serious pics.
dont forget the oil squirters;P

I"m not messing with those on this motor

I"m gonna drop the whole assembly out the bottom..
kenny from c/a picked me up a LSJ book from sema from the gm booth has detailed instruction on everything, from motor trans removal, gm stg kit install- and build book..
great book IMO.

ok for you guys with red x syndrome I uploaded the pics into my gallery if you want to check em out

ok so what do you pro's at this think about the tranny in these builds. any worries?

yup worried cause they suck

These engines are rediculously easy to work on. I have taken apart 3 L61's so far and you're right. Once they are on the stand, they just fall apart.

I see you still have some hardware there. I throw that stuff out the instant it comes off the engine. Head and girdle bolts, rods and pistons, bearings, gaskets, straight to the garbage.

Now I'm all itchy to get home to bring that L61 I've got in my basement over to the machine shop for a hot tank, bead blast, and hone so I can start putting it back together again.

oh def... ordered new fasteners... mostly arp stuff... those were mostly from the oil pan and the timing chain cover... head bolts went in the garbage soon after that.

oh def... ordered new fasteners... mostly arp stuff... those were mostly from the oil pan and the timing chain cover... head bolts went in the garbage soon after that.


hehe what did you think about those massive pistons LOL. when we pulled mine out i thought that all they needed to be complete was to be stamped with "HYUNDAI" on the top :lol:

haha... I know... they kinda look like garbage... oh well .. the diamond ones are nice...
prolly hit off with 10.1 comp in this motor... S/C with 2.7 pulley.. ported head.. stock cams.. ferrea valve train.. should put down some decent numbers...

haha... I know... they kinda look like garbage... oh well .. the diamond ones are nice...
prolly hit off with 10.1 comp in this motor... S/C with 2.7 pulley.. ported head.. stock cams.. ferrea valve train.. should put down some decent numbers...


I'm jealous....i need a second job so I can do this kind of thing.

Nice garage/setup. How many miles were on the motor before tear down?

I'm gonna custom order a set of 9.5:1 pistons from diamond. 10:1 is too high for running that much boost.

that shop is actually cobalt-addiction... again big ups to Kenny for letting me work there.,..
that motor has approx 5k on it... so everything is good.
and for this motor.,.. I"m only goin to run a 2.85 pulley 60lbers and nitrous... (75 shot) should be fun

Nice pics! Good luck on the rest of your build. Can you elaborate on the pistons? How many miles are on them? What did they look like? Thanks

everything internally looked like new... stock pistons just look like cast p.o.s.'s domed no valve relief... the usual gm economy piston...
motor has 5k or so on it so internally its good... there is a pic of the piston on one of the workbench shots... but only a side view..more pics to come

everything internally looked like new... stock pistons just look like cast p.o.s.'s domed no valve relief... the usual gm economy piston...
motor has 5k or so on it so internally its good... there is a pic of the piston on one of the workbench shots... but only a side view..more pics to come

Cool. Thanks. Who ported your head? What valvetrain did you choose?

head isn't done yet... I"m waiting to hear back from RIPP since they are local.. but I was gonna go with all ferrea valve train components...
I found another guy from the RL forums that gave me a great price... so its a toss up right now

looks good man, good luck with the motor! so you say its pretty easy to work on, hmmm....good to know incase i ever rebuild the motor. the only motor i ever rebuilt was a 350, and though it was pretty easy....keep us posted and get some more pics when you get a change......
good luck!!!

Lookin good Paul. GL with it. I can't wait to see that thing tear down DPA.

Well as an update... my ARP head studs and Cometic gasket arrived this week... but its gonna be awhile before I get my head back, and the pistons arrive... but keep an eye out for this post cause I will post some step by step pics and instructions on how to do this build...

Is that a black R32 I spy on the lift?

Step by Step!? Damn dude, you are awsome!!!!

Back2Gm, actually, R33 :)...but shhhh, i didn't tell you

Step by Step!? Damn dude, you are awsome!!!!

Back2Gm, actually, R33 :)...but shhhh, i didn't tell you

Damn I was close...side marker light and quarter glass owned me. Now that's a sweet project car.Who's R33 ?

thats kenny's from c/a it actually had the drivetrain out of a r32 at the moment (car came from cali like that)... but he is doing a gtr front clip swap and putting in an rb26,,, but shh I didn't say anything....

And with the write up someones gotta do it.... I do have the book, but reallife is better IMO... but each step will get its own litte write up...

Have fun with it man . This still just the prequil to the bigger build up when the engine in your car come out ? Your making me kinda jeolous here , Im a$$hole deep building my Z28 ....I reeeeeeeeeally wanna devirginize the SS too . Im jus gonna have to get my eco fix watchin your updates .

Its cool to hear the ecotec shortblocks are that easy to work on . The only engines Ive ever had tore down is LT1's and LS1's .

yeah I"m a chevy small block guy myself... but I usually work on 60s and 70s muscle cars.. this is my first foray into a 4 banger

i rlly wanna buy a 2nd motor, build it up and drop it in but these are my worries.... how easy would it then be to sell my old motor if nothing was wrong with it? and ive broken down and rebuilt a bunch of motors and im only 18(almost 19) but none were actully but back in a car and ran, i did it all for educational purpose... so im kinda worried about building a whole new motor and screwing it up when i turn it over

i rlly wanna buy a 2nd motor, build it up and drop it in but these are my worries.... how easy would it then be to sell my old motor if nothing was wrong with it? and ive broken down and rebuilt a bunch of motors and im only 18(almost 19) but none were actully but back in a car and ran, i did it all for educational purpose... so im kinda worried about building a whole new motor and screwing it up when i turn it over

Well you can get teh build book and follow it and you should be fine. Seeling the old motor, I seriously doubt that you'll have any issues doing that. Anyone that wants to build the motor up will be looking for one.

^^^yeah i am sure you could sell the motor just fine. those build books seem very useful too. i have the 300hp lsj and the ecotec build book, lots of pictures too.....

If you've ripped apart a motor and built one before, use the build book and you should be straight. I've never ripped apart an engine, and all I had to do was pull the oil pan to pop out the pistons to do the swap like the build book states. Unfortunately lack of funds only permitted a head resurface, golden eagle studs, and cometic headgasket. The build book was an awesome step by step I followed. That is something I will say GM did right for a change!

yeah I have a copy of the build book...shit is like a bible... but I have the benefit of havin an extra motor to work on, so its easier to do out of the car

where does one buy a build book and for what cost?

Kenny grabbed it for me at Sema from the GM booth...
good man ,, good man...

Is it the same build book that I've seen posted before in pdf form? I've seen two different ones. If it is just search for it.

Good luck with everything.

its a bit different... has engine removal procdure.. gm stage kit install instructions. performance clucth install and the 300 hp build book

Is it the same build book that I've seen posted before in pdf form? I've seen two different ones. If it is just search for it.

I saw one pposted online earlier tonight. It only had a few chapters though. Not the actualy BUILD part.

sweet jesus the bottom end on these cars look freakin bulletproof!!!

4 bolt mains and all that webbing/girdle material in the middle!

Actually there are 6 bolts per main... well 4 on the main caps themselves and 2 more on the perimeter

paul ur a beast. hows the project coming...i gotta stop down there one day while ur there workin on that monster. this car is gonna rape alot of cars when it is done. oh cobalts.

its on hold til I figure out which pistons I"ll be using and I gotta get some cash together to get the head done.... but mid spring it should be up and beasting