LS1 Engine Rebuild Disaster, If Your Rebuilding an LS1 You Need To Watch This!!!

[@teabag402]

I really appreciate you sharing your issues. No one on KZbin shows issues with swaps. They pretend like its all easy wins and no issues...which you and I know if NOT the case.

[@curtrobinsongarage]

Thank you, and thanks for watching. If something happens, I have to show it. Im not one to hide anything, and people need to be aware of issues I find so it doesn’t happen to them. At the same time I will never fabricate problems just for views. But as with any swap, especially LS swaps depending on what it’s going in your bound to run into a snag or 2 along the way. Even if it’s something as simple as getting things fitted.

[@teabag402]

@@curtrobinsongarage I'm starting to figure that out lol. I'm doing my first one and having some issues with backfires and was feeling like a failure because dang near every LS swap video you see some 16 year old kid drops it in and on the "first crank" it's flawless and he's doing burn outs lol. So glad to see someone being real about the potential struggles and put falls when doing this.

[@theshark2804]

@@teabag402it’s called editing. I spent 2500 on a Holley terminator stealth just to learn I still have to get thing tuned. So that kinda knocked the motivation out of me.

[@RSAW73]

You know they say "experience is not only valuable...it's expensive". Thanks for passing it on to others.

[@curtrobinsongarage]

Your welcome! I have no problems sharing my mistakes. Especially if it can save just one person from making the same mistake to me it’s worth it. Thank you for watching!

[@HomiesOfMars]

You saved my ass with this video. I was just about to install my heads, and sure enough I don’t have the right gasket. I have the 853 heads for a 99 ls1

[@curtrobinsongarage]

That’s good to hear! If I helped at least one person from making the same mistake I did then it was worth making the video.

[@Dane_the_Pain]

feel your pain brother .. a few beers will fix it. cheers from Down Under 🍻👍

[@coywilhelmy1626]

I finished assembling the top end of my WS6 (new CNC ported 243s, and BTR3 NA cam) and discovered that I didn't install the coolant sensor bung plug on the passenger head by pouring about half a gallon of coolant all over my garage floor. I laugh about it now, but I was pissed at myself at the time. Good video.

[@drewmurray2583]

I assembled a LS1 and installed it into a c5 corvette and I forgot the dumbbell/barbell thing that plugs the main oil galley. Zero oil pressure for 2 minutes till we figured out what was wrong. I call it the dumb bell because I was dumb for forgetting it. To my credit that was the first ls engine I ever touched and I was not the one who took it apart.

[@deankay4434]

Go for the machined bar-bell from "SAC City Corvette". 4 decades of fixing cars, taught for 7 years, never saw an "LS" in my life. But my son drove his 03 Tahoe and found out what black ice was then had it towed to my back yard. So while researching new paint chemistry and included "LS" engines on that list, I came across it and works great. Cleaned engine with dollar store oven cleaner, scrubbed, wire brushed wiped down and spray high heat aluminum and clear. Built wood 2X8" floor stand, braced with 3/4" conduit, cleaned injectors (7-8X) w/OTC pressure pot, checked live oil pressure and compression check (165 psi avg) leak checked then freshen up with new gaskets, chinesium oil pan that was great. Oil pump inlet / outlet porting and a washer under relief valve spring. But I use Permatex 518 Red Jelly to add to sealing surfaces , installed capture needle rocker brgs, but used 8k ohm resistor to re-learn theft sitting on ground. -17 degrees in Omaha at 7PM and darn cold. The kind that hurts on 12/22/2022. No global warming here! Happy & safe holidays...

[@CharlieMason-vd5is]

853 heads have that too on the LS1 but I don't understand why yours is leaking because I have MLS gaskets on my car with the same notches

[@curtrobinsongarage]

@@CharlieMason-vd5is been a minute since I did the video so I can’t remember if I showed the leaking head gaskets but the ones I put on first you could definitely see by how they sit on the head that they don’t seal properly because of the notch in the head. The second ones I got were actually designed for both early and later LS heads. If you’re not leaking you must be using MLS gaskets that are designs for both. I didn’t even get a chance to fire my motor up, just filled with coolant and it started dripping.

[@deankay4434]

I worked with Ford tech at an independent shop. He did an overhaul or something on this Ford engine, got done, poured coolant in only to watch it flow out the left front and right rear. He took the Lords name in vane, then said something about the head gasket he put on we're backwards. The guy next to me was good friends with him and asked him if those gaskets came stamped with "Front"? They were! It happens. 😢

[@JoeSparro]

5:36 lol but F at the same time.

[@williamakers3990]

Happens to the best of us brother

[@curtrobinsongarage]

Yes, it does. Just always sucks when it happens to you. Thanks for watching.

[@williamakers3990]

@@curtrobinsongarage you ain’t lyin brother but hey good you caught it before the start up and before anything catastrophic could’ve happened Keep your head up brother love the content

[@joshuagibson2520]

Cash problems? I thought all you KZbinr's were flush with money. Lol. I'm just fuckin with ya. We all start somewhere.

[@curtrobinsongarage]

Yeah I wish I had money coming out my ass. if I did I would have just put a GM crate LS3 in, then I wouldn’t have even been in this situation. Thanks for watching though.

[@deankay4434]

Curt, as a retired ACDelco "Market Area Service Mgr" I would address shops that had failures with a part, catalog issues or even the wrong part sent. Texas Speed & Performance most likely doesn't even make the head gaskets you bought that are leaking coolant. First, I would contact their "Customer Service Rep" and as a customer who has a small stack of invoices from TSP, and explain your case. Just be prepared to provide them documents of past purchases including the head gaskets. If their is a valid TSP catalog issue, it is there fault. They have the ability to reimburse all labor & parts or a 50/50 split. This is not uncommon. But be kind yet firm and explain your experience like a dealer tech. I worked at a Buick-Isuzu dealer and never saw an "LS" engine of any kind. First, researching other manufacturers head gasket part numbers and fitment. RockAuto, click on the part number and you get a list of vehicles these fit. Just remember that Texas Speed & Performance in 1 of 7 companies owned by "EAH", called Enthusiast Auto Holdings, that different companies in this group sell Performance Chips, Nissan/Infinity parts, Porches parts, BMW and European car parts. GM doesn't manufacture every part they use on new vehicles as (Roughly) 108 companies in the US, Mexico, Canada and overseas to build one Silverado! There head gaskets can come from "Mahle" or "Victor-Renz" and not even theirs, just repackaged and stamped with different number or color. I can not find one thing about a 806 head or block tab that would cause this issue. Loose or under-torqued head bolt was more common but I can't say without a doubt. The (MLS) multi-Layer Steel construction has been the GM go-to head gasket for years! By the way, go to TSP website, click on jobs and you will find a job open for "Customer Service Rep" & Product Specialist " both. But first establish a block, head or gasket issue and fitment. You can join forums and search or ask! Re-using bolts is no big deal (50%) and spaying copper sealer (50%). My GMesi has nothing on either except the torture to yield crowd that finds loose bolts on tear-down all of the time. But if you have "Zero-Miles" and documented fitment issues, then arm yourself. The holidays screw up customer service calls but with block, head #'s and gasket invoice, create a case and push for satisfaction pointing out $'s spent at Texas Speed. I am so sorry to have this failure and not the Christmas present you were hoping for. If you have a valid case, the catalog could be the issue! The same gasket for 98-02 ends with the Camaro run, but is 07-14 on Tahoes 5.3L. I have 806 heads on my donor 03 Tahoe engine but never took the heads off. I cleaned injectors, compression test, leakage test and even coded w/TECH2 on the ground stand I built. I simply passed theft by installing an 8k ohm resistor and a re-learn to start. Best of luck to everyone near you Curt! Safe holidays. DK, ASE Master Tech since 78, retired.

[@dannyboy632]

I just welded the notches up and shave the heads

[@curtrobinsongarage]

Yeah if I had access to a tig welder and a mill I would have done the same.

[@drewmurray2583]

Reuse the head bolts 😉 They will be fine

[@YoJoe-t5f]

The perimeter bolt valve covers didn’t tip you off?? 😂. It’s all good, I’ve let worse slip by me. Thanks for sharing the lessons learned. That’s the real winner.

[@curtrobinsongarage]

Thanks, yeah I don’t use clickbait. If I really screw up I will show it. While I rarely do dumbass stuff there is a few occasions.🤣