PHPD7102

Sooooooo.....

LPE has my car and put it on the dyno for a baseline pull. It came in at 497 rwhp.

They preformed a leak down test and found #7 to be at 33%.

LPE being the great place it is though is having my car taken over to a local Chevy dealership they deal with to fix the problem whatever it might be. The car other than an axle back exhaust is completely stock.

So a slight delay, but hey, not like I'm going to be driving it anytime soon any how.

C5kid

Rings or piston let go? Keep us updated on this one.

K B Vettin

I'm interested to know the outcome too. Good thing it was at LPE, I'm sure they have a good relationship with the local dealership and will get you squared away soon. But please do keep us informed.

PHPD7102

LPE thinks the rings are bad and might have possibly scored the cylinder wall. My car is low miles and they said they have seen it a few times already on ZR1's. If so the usual fix by GM is a new short block.

PHPD7102

Okay so final base line pull now before tear down was 562 rwhp on the car, yeah it seems a little high and LPE thought so as well.

LPE has the motor out of the car and is tearing it down now. I went ahead and asked for headers which was not in my original plans, American racing headers are now part of the build.

Spring cant get here soon enough!!

K B Vettin

Awesome, headers completely change the idle with the gt9 cam, I had it in my first zr1. So did GM give you a new short block or were the cylinder walls fine?

PHPD7102

Well Chevy sent it back and said they could find nothing wrong. LPE put it on their other dyno and it pulled 562 rwhp.

The plan on a Thursday was LPE's Chief engineer was going to perform his own tests and argue with GM about it next week.

The problem is signals got crossed at LPE and on Monday morning when their engineer entered the shop the mechs had the engine 1/2 out of the car. This of course voids my factory warranty.

LPE being the reputable and stand up shop they are stated they were going to tear the engine down and if their was an issue they would replace the motor themselves and argue with GM later. If GM wouldn't pay LPE said they would eat the cost.

Now they could have fed me a line and or just added what I requested then sent me back a time bomb waiting to go off, instead they live up to the rep I have always heard about them.

Sooooooo come on Spring!!!

3LZZ06

I would be a little concerned about what has taken place thus far...

It makes no sense whatsoever, and the explanation is pretty non-existent as well.

There's got to be a reason the 1st pull was at 497hp with a follow up leak down test of 33% on #7 cylinder. GM found nothing wrong and now due to immaculate conception it's now one of the most stout stock dyno pulls I've seen...???

Hmmm.......

Good luck on the build and try to keep us up to date on any more news.

PHPD7102

I agree, which why the plan was to have the Chief Engineer look the motor over. It was pulled before he could look at it though. They were pretty confused as well, 497 to 562 is a pretty big difference.

Their re builder is going through the motor top to bottom now to see if he can find anything like ring scoring or a cylinder out of true to explain the bad leak down test.

If he does find an issue they will put a new short block in and try and get GM to reimburse them. If GM refuses they say they will eat the cost.

PHPD7102

Okay so the motor is apart and as suspected bad rings were the culprit, something they say they have seen on several LS9's.

So my motor is getting new main bearings, wrist pin bearings, rings, and these pistons.

http://www.lingenfelter.com/mm5/merc...gory_Code=C573

They will hone the cylinders to clean them up before re assembly of course.

BearZ06

Sounds like it will be better than new! Good thing it was at LPE!

narush

Going thru the same process as well with my old LS9 motor

bdevault01

That thing is going to be quite a beast when they are done with it - sounds like Lingenfelter again is proving the value of sending your car to a reputable shop.

PHPD7102

I agree there is huge value in using a thoroughly reputable shop.

It is taking longer than I expected but the car would only be sitting in my garage anyway waiting for Spring so no biggie. Take your time and get her right!

K B Vettin

any updates on this build?

PHPD7102

Between LPE ordering the pistons, waiting on the wrist pins to come, and me adding a few minor things there is some progress.....

No heart in the machine!!!!





There's the heart, freshly reassembled and going back in over the next couple of days!!



I'm hoping she hits around 660 rwhp when done, signed up for the 1/2 mile races in June.

http://wannagofast.com/chicago.php

Oh and the Morr wheels I went with as well.

K B Vettin

what size wheel?

PHPD7102

19x10 - MORR VS51 Concave Monoblocks
20X12 - MORR VS51 Concave Monoblocks

PHPD7102

Slowly but surely, scheduled to be on the chassis dyno this coming Monday!!!

K B Vettin

Looks like you are coming to the end. I'm sure you are stoked