I inherited a motor and much much more

2000xp8 said:

I'd probably have it gone through before install.
Not sure what DSS is like now, but in the early 2000's they weren't exactly known for quality. But everyone assumed they were because they ran huge magazine ads.
It shouldn't really be a big deal to have it gone through, since you have all the expensive parts already.

Click to expand...

Definitely not a bad idea. Something to think about for sure.

Hello all!

It’s been quite a busy summer for me and I for haven’t posted much on here.

Ended up doing a lot of work on my house which has kept me very occupied. A new roof and a new furnace definitely hit the wallet and the ego pretty hard, but on the upside my wife and I are expecting our first child, which I’m absolutely geeked about!

Anyways...

When I last posted I had received a DSS CNC machined race prepped long block with DSS pistons and rods, trick flow heads, and an x303 cam from a family friend. I asked a bunch of questions about how to freshen up a new motor that was never used and the consensus was basically that I needed to call DSS Racing and talk to them.

Well... I’ve spoken with DSS twice now. They were very helpful and were willing to go over all my various options for getting the motor up and running. Since there is no rust on the cylinder walls (Amazon scope for the win!) I’m going to follow their recommendations to get the motor turning again.

Jed at DSS went line by line through the work order giving me all the details on their processes and part numbers. I have been accumulating parts to replace the couple things they recommended, and get everything back together.

Scrolling through the various pages on here it seems like DSS has some mixed reviews from years past but I will say, in my limited experience with them they have been very nice, knowledgeable, and helpful.

In the mean time, I’ve been busy sanding, priming, and painting the engine bay and K-member as well as changing out ball joints, bushings, and the rack and pinion.

08GT500 said:

What did DSS recommend replacing? Tear down, clean, verify & Bolt it back up?
Glad to hear it’s going well!
-John

Click to expand...

The only thing they recommend replacing outright is the rear main seal as it’s the only fully exposed “soft part” on the motor and the front timing chain because it also has the most exposure to the elements.

Otherwise they gave me some prep-procedures to do before actually turning the engine over with a wrench.

They recommended finishing the bottom end with an oil pump, pickup, and pan, then adding 5 qts of oil, priming the oil pump for 5 minutes and then draining the oil right away.

The basic line of thinking is that I need to flush any of the assembly lube that has no doubt dried up and gotten sticky over the years.

I’m supposed to repeat that process 2 or 3 times before even attempting to rotate the crank over.

Once I get to that point, he said to reach back out to them and that I could send them more pictures and videos of the inside of the pan, and the rods. At that point they might recommend replacing more stuff, he said it really depends on how well the motor takes to being re-oiled at pressure.

Obviously this is not a perfect way to ensure I don’t end up with a rod knock on the first cold start, but he said sometimes if they can see how things are rotating they might be able to spot potential problems before they start.

Worst case scenario considering I only paid like 200 bucks for this engine, I can always bring it back down to them as they are only like 2 hours away from me. I’ll try this stuff first and go from there.

It’ll be a slow process for sure, but like I said they have been really cool about me bugging them thus far.