[sherlock9c1]

We got the motor out, and my plan was to reseal everything, and blueprint/port the oil pump. So I pulled the rear main bearing off and saw this. Hmm.. leave it, or pull the rest of the bearings and check/replace them? For all of my transmission rebuilding which I'd been doing since 2005, I hadn't rebuilt a motor since autoshop in high school, so I was leery of going further. 168,000 miles on this. What to do.. what would you do?

 

[jayoldschool]

Best thread on here in a long time.

If I had that in my hand, I'd throw a set of stock bearings in it, checked with Plastigauge. After asking Gerry what I should do, lol

 

[Dandy]

Great post. I love following along with this and am looking forward to the updates. I am especially excited to find out what caused the hard shift from P to D as I am experiencing that in my Wagon but all other shifts seem smooth. I am not looking for a response, I will gladly wait and follow this thread until you cover that as you mentioned you would. Great work documenting this and thanks for sharing.

 

[95wagon]

I think this is all rhetorical as this is a play by play of what you have already done is it not ?
That said , I sure would have the oil pump torqued on the rear cap when checking- correcting the align hone.
Garage shift tables or something mechanical?

 

[sherlock9c1]

It is historical, but I welcome the discussion. I love learning. As to the transmission, we'll cover that early next week.

 

[Chicagoareabmx]

Whew! Glad you got that out! I'm digging the colors on the wheels, and that car is surprisingly clean underneath too!

We gonna meet up at the track sometime???

 

[sherlock9c1]

Whew! Glad you got that out! I'm digging the colors on the wheels, and that car is surprisingly clean underneath too!

We gonna meet up at the track sometime???

Absolutely! Let me know next time you're in Atlanta or Birmingham.

 

[angelo]

Hi, nice tail of the tape.... So why did you go stock springs and not Beehives ? ...asking for a friend.
-ALF out....

 

[Chicagoareabmx]

Absolutely! Let me know next time you're in Atlanta or Birmingham.

I'd like to check out both Atlanta Motorsports Park(AMP) and Road Atlanta at some point, so I'll let you know! Probably not til late 2021 or early 2022 though, if all goes well with some luck.

 

[sherlock9c1]

Hi, nice tail of the tape.... So why did you go stock springs and not Beehives ? ...asking for a friend.
-ALF out....

I stayed with the stock cam, and this wasn't intended to be a race car. As someone who always wanted to experience what a stock Impala SS was like new, my goal is for this to be a reliable daily driver that could go on the Hot Rod Power Tour or across country with no issues. You don't need 400hp or 6500rpm for that.

 

[sherlock9c1]

Well, I finally got over my fear of the unknown, and unscrewed the rest of the main and rod bearings. Other than the precision measurements and machining required for bores, bearings and cam timing, these pushrod Chevy motors are SOOO simple compared to automatic transmissions. Sheesh, why didn't I build a motor 15 years ago. Oh well.

Crankshaft looked good, no major wear or damage.

The front and rear main bearings looked the worst, and even then, they weren't terrible.

Rod bearings had some curious wear on them.

I don't know how well you can see the cylinder bores but they looked very clean. No major scuffs or scratches, at least on the parts that were exposed.

 

[sherlock9c1]

I took the crankshaft to a local machinist. He was 75 years old in these pictures. 7-time IHRA champion engine builder, and just a quiet, humble, honest man. He measured all the journals and said "it's fine." Should I have it polished? "Nah. Just put a set of standard size bearings in it and send it. He's been in this location 32 years.

Sadly, a small fire in another tenant's part of the building caused the city to prohibit further work in the shop until the property owner put $500k of code updates into it, and it wasn't worth that, so as of the end of 2020 Dennis Mitchell Racing Engines closed down for good. "I'm 77, and too old to move all this equipment and setup somewhere else." Given that there are three other machine shops in Huntsville that are all backed up 3 months out (even the lousy one!), I was tempted to quit my day job and take over the business. But alas.

Mr. Mitchell thought the bearing wear was curious; possibly from sitting so long in old motor oil? I think this car probably sat for close to 5 years with the same oil.

 

[sherlock9c1]

So we went home and put in new bearings. I had my sons help with the cleaning, prep and installation. Grandpa would have wanted it that way. In case you're wondering, those are bubbles, not grit, in the assembly lube.

Apologies on the photoshop skills, of which I have naught.

 

[sherlock9c1]

Next up was checking and porting the stock oil pump. Just going off of memory, the max acceptable clearance was 0.015", and it was well within that. I don't recall if the reading shown was what I actually measured, but just to illustrate how you check end play. Just lift that shaft up until it stops, and that's your clearance. There is lots of room for improvement on the stock pump passageways so I took my trusty Dremel and went to town. I wish I had more "before" pictures but I'll just say it becomes very obvious what needs to be done. The aftermarket Melling pump that came in another LT1 I had at the time already had most of this shaping already cast from the start, just in case you're wondering. The camera really had a tough time capturing the portwork; it makes it look rougher than it really is. I put a new plastic retainer on the oil pump driveshaft, reassembled it, pre-lubed it, and installed it.

 

[sherlock9c1]

I checked oil pump pickup clearance with playdough wrapped in saran wrap. Clearance is on the high side but as long as you keep oil in it, it'll be fine. Not worth messing with the stock pickup over. The pickup screen was completely clean, as was the rest of this motor when I opened it up. Final shots of the oil pump and rear main cap before installation. I also ported the angle drill transition in the rear main cap (not shown).

 

[96Lt1civi]

Seems like its coming along nicely!
I dunno what you'r on about, you are a photoshop master lol!

 

[91ss]

Hi, nice tail of the tape.... So why did you go stock springs and not Beehives ? ...asking for a friend.
-ALF out....

Just to add on this, over in my ford camp, they've always ran away from beehives. The 1.3" LS springs were/are the hot ticket. It's good insurance in case they break. You have at least the inner dampener or even second spring to help preventing a dropped valve destroying everything in it's path. Beehives, at least the several years ago, didn't have any options to do that. While you gain some rpm from the lighter end, wasn't worth it.

 

[nsaness]

Love to see your son involved. Even though my Dad could get short tempered, working with him are some of my fondest memories in life. Kids are future enthusiasts, and while some may not work on their own cars, the understanding gained with Dad will help them their entire life.
I guess their cars will be electric, but methods of taking something apart carefully, logging parts and locations, putting it back together, using tools, using your hands, and using your brain, are life skills that help you succeed in all facets of life. Take your sons and daughters to the garage with you, take your time and make it fun

 

[tayto]

I hope you got your mobile welder back and at least threw a tack or 2 on that pickup! thank you for sharing your project with us! I can't remember if we talked before about the RCMP springs but have you found that the front end sits higher? I also bought a set and put them in my '88 boxy Caprice and noticed this. Now obviously different outer sheet metal but my front end was definitely higher than the rear.

 

[sherlock9c1]

I hope you got your mobile welder back and at least threw a tack or 2 on that pickup!

That's a great idea; didn't think to do it, but I yanked it pretty good by hand and it wasn't going anywhere, so I left it. It hasn't moved in 26 years / 168,000 miles...

thank you for sharing your project with us! I can't remember if we talked before about the RCMP springs but have you found that the front end sits higher? I also bought a set and put them in my '88 boxy Caprice and noticed this. Now obviously different outer sheet metal but my front end was definitely higher than the rear.

No, actually it's got a slight rake to it. All of the pictures here are with those springs installed. The car is factory weight; no additional sound system or any other components.