budhayes3

iTrader: (19)

Looks good man, your cylinders look better than the ones in my LQ9, which also have stains from sitting. They looked brand new when I got it though, but it's been sitting for over 5 years. I'll be doing the same rebuild, with new rings, bearings, and a mild hone. My front two cam bearings look the same also, with a little bit of copper showing. From what I've seen that's very common with the LS blocks. The first cam bearing looks banged up in the pic...I've heard good things about the DuraBond cam bearings, not sure on the others, but you can't go wrong with GM.

As far as the the gaskets go, check out SDPC and Texas Speed for "Head Swap" and "Head and Cam Swap" gasket kits. They sell kits that combine all of the gaskets that you'll need, aside from the rear cover, rear main, oil pan, and valley cover I assume. The cam swap gasket set comes with a new factory crank bolt also. It's cheaper to buy the kit than to piece it together, and they're factory gaskets. I used the cam swap kit from SDPC and it had everything that I needed.

Good luck with the build and keep us posted

blsnelling

iTrader: (4)

Thanks Bud.

Anyone have PNs for GM cam, rod, and main bearings? How about piston rings?

blsnelling

iTrader: (4)

Would Clevite rod and main bearings be every bit as good, or even better, than OEM? My number one concern is service life. If so, would I want the P series?

What about rings? Are there better options than OEM? Again, my number one concerns are service life. I also want to eliminate any chance of this being an oil burner.

budhayes3

iTrader: (19)

I've used Clevite through the years with great results, not sure how they compare to what the current OEM offerings are though...

1Bear

iTrader: (1)

The factory cam bearings are Federal Mogul GM bearings and are quite a bit wider than the typical replacement sets. They also have a much larger oil hole .320" vs. the replacements .145" diameter hole. The replacement bearings from DuraBond (CHP-23 Hi-Perf) and the 1898M (std. replacement) Sealed Power bearings are both about a 1/8" narrower in overall width than the OE also. GM went with the larger holes in the cam bearings when they went with VVT and the need to feed oil to the cam phaser through the #2 cam journal, but is unnecessary for an engine with a normal valve-train, so don’t worry about the smaller oil feed hole.

Which ever set of bearings you decided on, you need to measure the camshaft and the bearing bore after they are installed to make sure you adequate clearance. Your going to be looking for around about .001" per inch of diameter, so if your cam measures out to around a 2.1658" shaft diameter, you would be looking for somewhere around .002" - .0025" for oil clearance on the cam bearings.

For the rods and mains, you can choose between Federal Mogul, Clevite, ect. I like the Federal Moguls for the mains better anyway because they have a 3/4 groove in the bearing for more oiling to the mains. There are plenty of good choices, just measure, measure and measure again and you will end up with a quality installation that lasts. Also, don't be afraid to mix STD and non-standard sized bearings if need be. Yes it will cost a little more to get things right, but sometimes close is just not close enough.

budhayes3

iTrader: (19)

Jarrod, what years/blocks have the different sized cam bearings? I thought that it was pre-03 or 04...

1Bear

iTrader: (1)

Taken from one of my old posts: The ’99 thru early ’03 used a set that included smaller bearings (1st Design; Positions 1 and 5 Housing Bore 2.3260"/2.3280"), while later model ’03 thru current use (2nd Design; Positions 1 And 5 Housing Bore 2.3460"/2.3480").

For example in the Durabond line, the ’99 thru early ’03 models use CH-10 part number, while later model ’03 thru current models use CH-23 part number.

blsnelling

iTrader: (4)

What's this 3/4 groove in the main about? Does that mean it wraps 3/4 of the way around the journal? What do the other brands do?

1Bear

iTrader: (1)

That's exactly what it means, the groove wraps 3/4 the way around the journal. Here is a comparison shot between the Federal Mogul and a set of Clevite's taken from another gentleman's build. You can see how the groove extends into the mating bearing shell.

The Federal Mogul's are on top, while the Clevite's are on the bottom.

blsnelling

iTrader: (4)

I like those Federal Moguls. Thanks for the tip.