Originally Posted by
dtanker65
Sorry to hear it buddy. I have been head scratching about your problem.
Why did the motor swallow a valve? I keep thinking valve springs, maybe one busted coil? I had an engine that would float the valves at high rpm and it would break a valve spring every time.
LT1 is getting pretty ancient, it's a legendary mill like the 440 six pack. Seen many 440's around the boneyard?
I would not think twice about ebaying the LT1 stuff to and change to the current design motor. Sean has already done the engineering.
I have a friend swapping an LQ motor, I think, into his BMW. Iron block and aluminum heads I believe, he re-cammed it to get rid of the truck grind. Unmolested factory built long blocks are the way to go I think. I quizzed the local commercial rebuilder about their procedures for overhauling the new close tolerance engines and I'm not very confident about using one for racing. They reuse too many components that I would replace for a racing application.
The current production all aluminum LS Camaro engines are still too expensive on the used market. You might consider larger displacement than 5.3 and choke it down to CMC power for longevity.
I will not make TWS either, the car's not ready and I have to work. I wouldn't mind seeing a new a thread to talk about the Thunder group moving forward.