Op-Testing, (Qualifying) of Street Engine #5. 
Follow along as I install cam, heads, valve train, oil pump, oil pan and intake manifold.  This engine will be street tested and I'll be paying particular attention to water temperature due to having a small bit of Hard Blok at the bottom of the water jackets.  I predict that I won't see a raise in water temp but you never know unless you test.  The rest of the op-check will be to verify quiet hypereutectic pistons, good ring seal and good oil pressure.

 
This is the donor engine pulled from my 1995 Impala SS.  It will provide it's GM846 cam, Agostino z28 fully ported heads, and intake manifold.

This is the ESE5 engine the very next day filled with donor parts and waiting for the block to be primered and painted.

Thar' she is the next day after primer and VHT engine enamel.  What your looking at is the ESE#5 short block with temporary heads, cam and intake installed for testing purposes.  Of course the heads/cam/intake are not included.

Memory refresh.  This is the short block that is for sale for $2500.  The bottom end uses a mix of budget and premium parts. The crank was purchase 4-5-05 and used for a few weeks in an engine for my "Black Wolf" car.  It's a SCAT cast 3.75" crank.  The rest of the short block consist of Eagle rods, stock main caps with ARP main studs, FM Dur O Shield rod bearings and a mix of Clevite 77 and Dur O Shield main bearings.

Parts cost:  
Used GM LT1 block: $500.00
 Used cast SCAT 9000 series crank : $240.00
New Eagle forged 6.0" I-beam rods: $270.00
New hyper pistons with skirt coating and rings: $300.00
Used ARP main stud kit: $Free$
Mix of new Clevite 77and FM main bearings: $55
Federal Mogul DurOshield Rod Bearings: $85
New Sealed Power 1235M cam bearings: $free$
New Cloyes timing gear set: $80
New Melling High Performance oil pump: $Free$
New Melling oil pump pickup: $Free$
Used stock oil pan: $Free$
Total parts: $1540.00

Machine work:
Bore & torque plate hone to .030": $200.00
Clean block mag and buff machine surfaces: $300.00
Fit stock caps and align bore/hone: $200.00
Total machine work: $700.00

Internal (neutral) balance rotating assembly: $300.00
Machine crank and add 3 balance slugs: $165.00

All high quality machine work by:
 Brinkley's Auto Machine
8706 Armstrong Lane
Upper Marlboro, Maryland 20772
301-735-5218

Assembly, blueprinting, stroker clearancing:
$Free$

Qualifying details and results:

We'll begin by pulling the LT1-350 donor.  It's a beautiful day today.  Perfect day for an engine pull.  Started at 11am and finished at 2pm.  You know this little 350 has pulled that Impala SS into the low 12's with a best of 11.98@115mph

Valve train kept organized via tray.  I use Crane shaft rockers which have had their rocker stands machined to fit LT1 heads by Terry Samakow of Samakow Racing Engines, Prince Frederick Maryland.

What the heck?  My oil pump pickup is loose.  I can easily move it back up.  I better fix that before this engine goes back in service.

Back inside and later that night:  I yanked the GM846 cam out of the donor motor and here it is going into ESE #5.

And after the cam comes the Cloyes timing chain of course.  I used the "O" position.

Degreed the cam and it's pretty close to perfect.  (1 deg retarded).

These heads were ported by Nick Agostino many moons ago.  They are awesome.  So are the Crane shaft rockers. (note that these do not fit LT1 heads without major machine work).

Installed a Melling M155 standard volume OEM replacement pump with ARP oil pump stud.

The next day:  Late afternoon at the 399 Race Shop:
I rolled the ESE#5 out to the pad for final assembly of doodads.  There are a lot of little items like rear main seal and galley plugs and knock sensors and dip stick, etc.  This part of an engine assembly is very time consuming.

I made sure to take this photo of one bolt missing from the rear main seal housing.  I cannot locate one in my pile of junk and eventually I'll scrounge one up.  It's actually supposed to be a small stud and nut.  At any rate the RTV will keep things together.

Check me out.  I always spin the oil pump one day prior to engine install.  I do it the day before so that the intake manifold RTV can cure.

OK I think this engine needs that bare block primered and painted.  It's about 8:30PM and I finished painting at 10PM.  I'll show you photos tomorrow when it's daylight.

As promised.  The block and timing cover are now VHT Red.  I'll begin the install after a few cups of Starbucks.

6 hours later.......

It's in and running and sounds, looks and feels good.  That nitrous is not electrically connected.  I'll test the motor on the road for one week or so and then pull it and inspect it.

1 week later:  Street testing showed normal water temperature and slightly higher oil temp.  That is just as expected and I was happily surprised.  The motor ran very quiet and it had good torque. Oil pressure was good at idle, 20psi, but the standard volume standard pressure pump I used only reached 40psi at about 3000 rpm and went no higher than 40psi at higher rpm.  So this oil pump needs to be looked at.
Now for the bad news.
It did sound like it had pinging/spark knock at high loads and mid throttle, (my PCM tune probably caused that).  At wide open throttle it would push oil out the dip stick so combustion gas pushed past the rings though the exhaust was super clean with no sign of oil blow by.  The day I decided to pull the motor for inspection was the same time it began to puff combustion gas out of the valve cover breather.  Things were not good.  The photo above is #1 piston which  looks so-so with some skirt scuffing but I don't see any signs of damage.  

From here the cylinders look pretty good and #1 has the most scuffing but not enough to feel with your finger.  The pistons look fine.

2, 4, 6, 8 look fine also.

This is a better view of the scuffing in #1

Bingo.  #4 piston.  Ring lands cracked.  I pulled the piece out away from the piston for the camera.

#4 piston.  Was this from detonation or a manufacture flaw?  I'm going to say detonation for now and have my machinist give me his opinion on the motor too.

This is #4 hole with thankfully very little visible scuffing.

Here are the main bearings.

And the front 3 main bearings and crank journals.  The engine will be going back to the machine shop for re-hone and any other repair needed.