[DorkMissile]

Out of curiosity, what is the individual weight for the LT1 piston & rings, and the factory rod?

[DorkMissile]

Bump

[L78toLT1]

my old pistons & rods are sitting on a shelf. If I can find a scale, I'll weigh them for you. The wife had a weight watchers scale a while ago, but I'm not sure it's still around.

[Eldi Z]

This is an interesting question. I asked the same a while back.

Reason: To verify claims of Aftermarket Rods / Pistons suppliers to be truly "Drop-In" instead of the stock ones and then not requiring any balancing (since weights remain the same)

[shinysun]

https://www.cnc-motorsports.com/mahl...4065-bore.html

If you see this advertisement , it is saying "442 grams".

[wnta1ss]

Not individual parts, but parish8 compared the stock rod and piston assembly to the Cunningham Motorsports 'Drop In' rod and piston assembly in this thread (post #37) https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showt...=516571&page=3

[DorkMissile]

Well I think there is a bunch of misconception with the term "Drop In", I am finding most recommend to rebalance.

Thank you for the referent on the post - I wonder about the number he states as the weight, it seems really light. He also grenaded the engine shortly after building it.

[wnta1ss]

Originally Posted by DorkMissile

Well I think there is a bunch of misconception with the term "Drop In", I am finding most recommend to rebalance.

Thank you for the referent on the post - I wonder about the number he states as the weight, it seems really light. He also grenaded the engine shortly after building it.

His engine problem was with a valve, not caused by piston or connecting rod from the pics that he posted.

[parish8]

I have a lot of abuse on that motor at over 1000hp. Dropping a valve has nothing to do with the drop ins.

[DorkMissile]

parish - my comment was really not directed at you or the build, wasn't my intent to say the drop ins had anything to do with the failure either. It just that it didn't live long enough of a life to say the drop ins were a success or not.

Vengeance and GPI have both changed their parts on their drop in kits from when they were first released to what they are offering today, so it makes you wonder what really is the right setup or not.

Thus far myself - I am going to probably go with a set of Manley H beams and the standard 4.065, 11.7:1 Wiseco forged piston and just have it all balanced on the factory crank.Its just odd that one can't find the factory LT1 weights for the rods / pistons and crank bob weight.

[parish8]

I bet I made 100 runs in the 20 - 20+ psi range. That is over 1000rwhp.

[Eldi Z]

Originally Posted by DorkMissile

parish - my comment was really not directed at you or the build, wasn't my intent to say the drop ins had anything to do with the failure either. It just that it didn't live long enough of a life to say the drop ins were a success or not.

Vengeance and GPI have both changed their parts on their drop in kits from when they were first released to what they are offering today, so it makes you wonder what really is the right setup or not.

Thus far myself - I am going to probably go with a set of Manley H beams and the standard 4.065, 11.7:1 Wiseco forged piston and just have it all balanced on the factory crank.Its just odd that one can't find the factory LT1 weights for the rods / pistons and crank bob weight.

I am still on the fence with regards to opening the SBE and replacing rods/pistons, since I do plan to bolt on the ECS 1500 Novi kit, but not boost beyond 7.5 - 8 PSI @ straight 93 Pump (no added cooling mechanisms I.E. Meth).
I hope to be able to achieve a "safe" enough - at the TiresHP - of somewhere between 560 - 600 Max.
Many say that such figures are perfectly "safe" on the LT1, especially with adequate fueling (LT4 LP/HP/Injectors), but there are a few who mention that the test is not the relatively short / few seconds bursts of boost on the street, or even at the 1/4Mile strip, but rather in a "real-life" Highway full- boost situations and for longer periods of engine stress (I.E. 60-120 seconds ++)

[parish8]

Not sure where you can pin it for 120+ seconds but if your goal is just 8psi maybe consider just filing the rings a little. If your just sticking to 1/4 mile runs or less you don’t need to do anything.

[Eldi Z]

Originally Posted by parish8

Not sure where you can pin it for 120+ seconds but if your goal is just 8psi maybe consider just filing the rings a little. If your just sticking to 1/4 mile runs or less you don’t need to do anything.

120 seconds would probably be an exaggeration...Agreed.
I am practically thinking in the direction of "road course" applications, when talking about this maximum allowable WHP figure.
1/4 Mile runs have been pretty much proven to be "safe" at 600 WHP...

As to setting the gaps on the stock pistons - Again, this means going into the motor and this I am trying (hoping) to avoid.
Moreover, it is rumored that there is no replacement for the reliability of a motor, that has been torqued correctly with the robots (man-assisted of course) at the factory...
Once opened, it looses some of the reliability attributes, even if the machine shop torques back to OE spec. - It is simply not like the process at the engine factory.
Again, I am not an expert, so this may also be a myth...