Rebuild 6.0L help
 

Long time poster on Tech and corvetteforum. I know a fair amount about FI and related mods, but not much about internal engine mods. I will be using this experience to learn.

2001 1500HD with the 6.0L and 200k miles. Getting a lot of piston slap all the time now. Not down on power too much, but I'm sure bad things are coming. I was going to toss in a used or rebuilt motor, but thought I might have fun rebuilding this one. I have a buddy that is a great mechanic and has spent most of his life on racing teams doing this stuff.

Anyway, what would you do with this motor? Labor (minus machine work) will be almost free and my budget is around $3k or less if possible. No desire to go FI with this truck as my vette satisfies that need! A little more power would be nice, but mainly looking to get another 75-100k miles out of this truck. Body and interior are great and new 4l80e about 30k ago.

I thought about putting the LS6 from the vette in the truck and getting a new block for the vette, but I get a kick out of running low 10s with a stock longblock.:D

If I were you, I would go to a yard and pick up a low mileage 6.0. You can get complete motor for $1400. If you want more power, throw in a small cam and some bolt-ons.

^^^ That doesn't satisfy the learning to build portion of this though ^^^

If machine work is more or less costing you a case of beer, a $3k dollar budget can go a long way. Replace things that wear out, stretch or leak: ie, bearings, bolts, gaskets, seals. Cam bearings will hopefully be installed by the machine shop, rod bearings and main bearings you can pick up at Napa and install during the rebuild. Taking off the heads means new head bolts and new head gaskets, look around on Texas Speed's website as they have a "cam and head swap" kit with all your head gaskets, head bolts (2001 should have long and short head bolts), valve cover gaskets, oil pump gaskets, new balancer bolt and whatever else for cheaper than the dealership. Clean the block in a hot bath while you're at the machine shop. Since the total bill thus far should be less than $300 + case of beer, have the machine shop bore the block over to 4.030" to clean everything up and spend a few hundred on new pistons. Stock replacement pistons should do just fine...they did for 200k miles already didn't they? Lastly have the rotating assembly balanced as close as possible with the new pistons. Rod bolts should be fine, but spend the $75 if you'd like.

It's a heavy truck, so build for low and mid range power. Small-ish cam somewhere in the 206-214 range on the intake side, mild lift so you can use cheap $53 dollar LS6 springs (Lingenfelter's website). If memory serves, stock compression is 9.4:1, so when looking for new pistons keep that in mind if you want to increase the compression a little. Anywhere from 9.8-10.4:1 would be my choice and run low grade gas on a good tune. Wrap it all up with new motor mounts and a clean air filter and you should be good to go for another 200k miles after a tune. Total bill I estimate around $1600-1800.

I know it's not a 1/4 mile engine, but what 5000-6000lb pig is? You've got your Vette for that.

Thanks for the help.:cheers:

Yea, I looked around for a used longblock. Ones under 75k around here are going for $1900 after core exch. If I'm going to spend that much, might as well rebuild what I have and make it stronger.

When you bore it out, you need larger pistons, right? Do you buy the pistons and have the shop bore to that size, or do you have them bore what they think is good then buy pistons to match? Where is a good source for the rotating assembly? All I have found is forged assemblies ($2500+).

I have to pay for the machine work, but have someone to help me reassemble it for a couple cases.

Would it be possible to take this block to a 383 or 402? I assume that would mean replacing the crank, right? Would that blow my budget?

It is a daily driver, but I do pull my boat and occasionally pull the vette in a trailer (9k lbs).

You would be close to blowing your budget by going 383/408. new crank and rods will be 1500 bucks easy, plus another 5-600 for cheap pistons. I'd stay away from a 4" stroke for a high mileage engine....

ok, cool. Here is a kit I just found. They are not a sponsor, so I'll just list the parts.

Eagle
Chevy Street and Strip
5140 steel SIR lightweight connecting rods, std/std cast steel crank, Keith Black hypereutectic pistons, Clevite rod and main bearings, and plasma moly cast iron ring sets are included.
383ci Rotating Assembly
2-piece rear main seal
4.030'' bore x 3.750'' stroke
5.700'' rod length
-18cc inverted dome pistons
Comp Ratios
10.0:1 with 58cc
9.7:1 with 64cc
8.7:1 with 76cc

$909

You're right though, I'm sure it would all start to add up too quickly.

EDIT: FYI, this is the wrong kit.

Why is there a need for new rods, a new crank and all that jazz? New pistons will suffice in a simple rebuild.

that kit doesn't seem bad, but you will not want that much of a dome on the pistons unless you go FI. the heads on it(as long as they are 317s) flow great, and a cam around the same size of a z06 would be great with it.

I would do that kit with your budget, and get it balanced. get the heads checked, new gaskets seals ect and you will have a ton of tq and great street manners. look into swapping the ls6 manifold, alot of people will tell you its not worth it, but you asked what I would do. if you dont go with that kit you could just get .030 pistons and you would have a 370.


to answer your question on the machine work its better to get your pistons and have the bore matched to it. not all .030 pistons are the same. close, but if you have the choice get the pistons first.

if you have the money why not? also if it has a piston slap and 200k on it I would spend the extra for the rods. if you could build a budget 383 wouldn't you?

I'm just looking at all the alternatives and trying to learn in the process. Mainly so when it comes time to have a motor built for the vette, I will know what I am talking about. Thanks for the lessons!

I've seen some LS6 heads pretty cheap on the vette forum. Maybe keep stock stroke, 030 pistons, new rods and LS6 heads? I would assume the stock crank is more than sufficient even with 200k.