[Steve91T]

Man I'm excited. Dailydriver posted his car for sale and I could tell from that add that it was much loved and well taken care of. Unfortunately a nasty knock on the engine forced him to sell it. I thought this could be the perfect car for my dad.

This car looks amazing for having 172k miles. It is pretty rare to find a 1 owner car these days.

So, first things first. I had the car for all of 30 seconds before I broke it. I dragged the exhaust pulling into my driveway and separated the car back from the y pipe. So today I fixed that so the exhaust wasn't dragging on the ground anymore. Next, I need to make room for all the parts Dave packed into the car. It's completely full of parts. Thanks Dave! And finally, I need to figure out what's up with the engine. It has a nasty knock. It has great oil pressure, runs smooth, no smoke, but knocks really bad. I think it's a lifter, but I don't know. I think I'm going to pull the valve covers and see what I find. As well as this car has been taken care of, I'm hoping the engine is healty. I'd love to just replace some lifters and let my dad enjoy this car for a while.

Anyway, let me know what you guys would do to diagnose this knock.


https://youtu.be/AJUsOvgpnmg

https://youtu.be/otobYePJLyo

[JimMueller]

LS7 lifters are the OEM replacement for the LS1 lifters. Assuming you currently have LS1 lifters, then they should be a direct swap without having to change pushrods. The lifter trays (12595365) are inexpensive and are considered something to always replace when swapping lifters, also.

Same lifters currently on sale here:
http://www.texas-speed.com/p-309-gmdelphi-...le-lifters.aspx?

[trackbird]

The lifter trays (12595365) are inexpensive and are considered something to always replace when swapping lifters, also.

I was just coming in to add that same thing. You have to replace them with the head off. This shouldn't be an issue since you're replacing the lifter anyway.

[Steve91T]

The lifter trays (12595365) are inexpensive and are considered something to always replace when swapping lifters, also.

I was just coming in to add that same thing. You have to replace them with the head off. This shouldn't be an issue since you're replacing the lifter anyway.

I added 4 of them from summit. So lifters, trays, head bolts and head gaskets. Anything else I'm missing?

[JimMueller]

The lifter trays (12595365) are inexpensive and are considered something to always replace when swapping lifters, also.

I was just coming in to add that same thing. You have to replace them with the head off. This shouldn't be an issue since you're replacing the lifter anyway.

I added 4 of them from summit. So lifters, trays, head bolts and head gaskets. Anything else I'm missing?

Some other parts off the top of my head you may need, depending upon what you need to tear down to find all the damage. I think these numbers are correct, you should verify.

lifters 12499225 (per engine)
lifter trays 12595365 (need two per head)
head gaskets 12498544 (per head)
head bolts 12498545 (not re-usable; per head)
water pump gaskets 12630223 (per head)
front cover seal 12585673 (if you need to pull the front cover)
front cover gasket 12633904 (if you need to pull the front cover)
crankshaft bolt 12557840 (not re-usable; if you need to pull the front cover)
exhaust gasket 12617944
assembly lube (if you have to pull the cam and it'll sit awhile between cam installation and first firing, else use oil)

If you find that the cam is not re-usable, then you have these common methods to remove it. You can look on LS1Tech for details and experiences.

1) buy wooden or aluminum dowels to slide into the front of the DS head to keep the lifters from potentially falling into the oil pan when you pull the cam out
2) Buy a set of 8 long pen magnets, and insert them into the pushrod hole and touch the magnetic end to the lifter and bend the clip on the opposite end to keep it from falling in.
3) Russian roulette. Some people get lucky and the trays hold the lifters in while you pull out the old and re-install the new cam. If you're unlucky, you may need to pull the oil pan to remove the dropped lifters.
4) Remove the DS head, and since you're already there put in the new lifters at the same time.

I usually find the best pricing on Amazon, gmperformancemotor.com, or rockauto.com (cross-referencing to the ACDelco part). I'm also partial to soaking the hydraulic lifters over night in oil before I install them; shouldn't be needed with hydraulic but it's for my personal peace of mind. Make sure you follow the properly head bolt and (if necessary) crank bolt tightening procedures.