Piston 2 wall clearances..... Arias forged high comp.

[TeggyBear_Ls]

So i bought a new LS block for my civic.... i was told it had shotpeened rods and a micropolished crank as well as the Arias 11.5:1 pistons, but I take it apart and all it has is the pistons.... Not even ARP rod bolts....

Anyways, it was VERY hard to rotate the crank with the block still assembled. I couldn't do it. I used a mother F'n torque wrench and it was clicking off at like 60 ft-lbs!!!! So I was very scared the motor had seized.... But I go ahead and take the pistons out, and the crank spins free and smooth as butter. The pistons weren't stuck or anything either....

Is that too tight of clearance to run?? I've heard of turbo guys using a thicker clearance to allow for the forged piston to heat up and expand, do all motor engines run tighter clearances here?

thanks for help guys, I'm trying to assemble my first engine!

 

[msilbernagel]

Sorry it's so quiet... sounds like rod bearings/journals. If the mains allow it to turn smoothly, and the pistons move in/out relatively easy, what's left?

Here's a list of ideas I have - just to toss out a few:

If some of what you were told was b.s. - then you should verify *everything* against specs for that engine. Just because the mains turn easily doesn't mean they're not out of spec too. I'd plastigauge them to be sure.

• Inspect all the parts and check for dings or other damage from poor handling / assy.
• Plastigauge the rod bearings and see where that gets you. If they've polished the crank, codes may not be useful anymore... so it needs to be carefully measured for clearance.
• It could simply be a poor job of torquing the rod bolts (e.g. over tq); best to use a rod-stretch gauge, if you can. I've read stories in the forums where folks have put a little extra torque on the rods 'just to be sure' - unaware of what that does to clearances/bearings/engines - until it's too late.
  If things measure out Ok, perhaps bore gauge the rods to see if they're true. Hopefully, the crank is! Most shops have the tools and would measure things for you; cheaper to measure twice, build once!

Let us know what you find as you learn more. I'll keep a light on for ya.

Good luck,

Mark
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So i bought a new LS block for my civic.... i was told it had shotpeened rods and a micropolished crank as well as the Arias 11.5:1 pistons, but I take it apart and all it has is the pistons.... Not even ARP rod bolts....

Anyways, it was VERY hard to rotate the crank with the block still assembled. I couldn't do it. I used a mother F'n torque wrench and it was clicking off at like 60 ft-lbs!!!! So I was very scared the motor had seized.... But I go ahead and take the pistons out, and the crank spins free and smooth as butter. The pistons weren't stuck or anything either....

Is that too tight of clearance to run?? I've heard of turbo guys using a thicker clearance to allow for the forged piston to heat up and expand, do all motor engines run tighter clearances here?

thanks for help guys, I'm trying to assemble my first engine!