My 72 Europa SS

[Certified Lotus]

Looks good! Take your time and think through everything. I know your excited to get her running, but make sure your doing everything you need to before starting up.

[Sofa King]

Thanks. It may look like I’m moving quickly, but be assured that I am taking my time! I’m retired, so I am able to work on this project when ever I want. I also have 2 friends that share the garage space with me and we help each other with our projects, so there are extra hands available most of the time.
Also when I designed the motor and transmission mounts I planned for it to easily come in and out the bottom. I just didn’t expect to do it this many times!! I have a punch list set up so that I can keep track of all my steps and the order that they need to happen. Last time it took me about 4 hours to complete from the point where I am now.

[Sofa King]

Ready to make some noise! Still need to add the fluids and bleed the clutch, but all the hard parts are back in.

[Certified Lotus]

Wahoo! We want a video of it running!

[BDA]

Great! Congratulations! I want to see a video too!

[Sofa King]

Can I upload a video here, or do I need to put it somewhere else and post a link?

[Certified Lotus]

Post on YouTube and then post the link here.

[Sofa King]

Gotcha! That’s what I thought.

[Rosco5000]

Hey Sofa great work man!  Looks awesome. I too would love a video.  I have my wife’s Escalade all done and broken in. The LS motor is a thing of beauty in my books. They made that bottom end bullet proof and kept the heads and top end simple. Makes for a stout and small HP machine.  I forget which LS you have?  Is it a 6.0 or a 5.3?  Or something completely different?
Ross

[Sofa King]

Thanks! Mine is an LS6, which is the 405hp version of the all aluminum 5.7. It’s now bored 10 thousandths over, and has a slightly hotter cam.

[BDA]

I guess 400hp isn't enough!

[Sofa King]

Well... while I was in there....

[BDA]

Did a little poking around and found some interesting things about that engine. The pistons are  Hypereutectic Cast Aluminum Alloy (which from what I've been able to find out are strong enough (not as strong as forged) and the thermal expansion coefficient lower allowing tighter clearances. Another bonus is that less machining would be required for cast pistons. The heat treatment was not discussed on the site I saw but other sites suggest it is important so they likely are heat treated.

Also, the rods are made of "Powdered Metal." This really surprised me, but then I recently lost a Mercedes because the balance shaft sprocket was sintered steel and not properly heat treated so while I know it can work when properly heat treated, I also understand that AMG uses steel instead of sintered parts. I had never heard of using sintered steel for connecting rods but I learn something new everyday!

So I learned all that but didn't find out what I was really curious about - is the block skirted below the centerline of the crank? And how much does an LS6 engine weigh?

[Sofa King]

Not sure about the skirting below the crank, but it has 6 bolt main caps. Also interesting is that the connecting rods are broken instead of machined, so they are all a perfect fit and all unique.

I had the option of going with forged pistons, but since I don’t feel the need to ever boost it, I couldn’t justify the expense.

The engine weighs between 400 and 450 lbs. I have been estimating that my engine / transaxle combination weighs about 650.

[BDA]

From my recent LS6 exploration, I learned that sintered steel doesn't machine well because of the "granular" nature but I'm not sure what you mean by "broken?"