I know someone that has a LS1 in their firebird. How bullet proof are these engines ? He uses the rev limiter as a shift point. I told him it won't last too long driving it like that but he said he read on the web you can't kill them they are "bullet proof" He smokes the tires bouncing on the limiter for blocks at a time... Poor car I feel bad for it.
The LS1 is relatively bullet proof. But no engine is invincible. You abuse it enough and it'll die, usually at the most inconvenient time and place possible.
Tom S.
Ya know? It always defies conventional wisdom. Thicker webbing, splayed mains, everything made in outer space with forged vanadium/titanium alloys and alien technology; it'll break. Heck, it's DESIGNED to break! What's it called again? "Finite analysis"? So, I guess "bullet-proof" is a relative term depending on the size/quantity of the bullets, huh? Kinda like takin' a .50cal to a bulletproof vest:) Here's one for ya to ask him. "Hey Mr. Owl. How many licks does it take to get to the center of an LS1 engine?" Hint: automotive engineers contend that, statistically, the answer has to be a real number... :) Regards, Drink P.S. "Hmmm. Let's find out! HaOoone! HaTwoooo!..."
Well, in my experience, it won't be long before he SHOOTS a pushrod straight through a head, or even worse the side of the block. People have died that way, you know. Shot in the stomach with a 1000 degree pushrod. Tell him to stop it and to be nice to his torque converter/clutch, whatever he has; either way, his transmission is most likely crying out in pain right now.
The Freak
Don't forget grain of the bullet, jacket type, tail type, and powder load. Plus are we talking long rifle, assault/short barrel, pistol, shot gun?
I know this from using a few cars as targets (cars I own, where I am legal to fire), a Mossberg with a 18&1/2 inch barrel firing a sabot slug will go almost thru the brake booster on a Pontiac sunbird. Goes in, takes out the rod in the booster, deforms the other side. The Sabot Slugs I use are 12 gauger 2&3/4 1OZ Magnum load 1450 feet per second with a copper jacket (Copper Solids). For those not in to hunting, a Sabot slug is a Hollow point Deer Slug that (or in the case of what I fire) expands 2 times the original size on impact. That means it's losing energy with twice the frontal area from the moment of first impact.
If I was firing a Non-sabot slug, with a copper jacket, I think it would penetrate a LS1's block. Charles
First stop the flow of shit. 1.If a push rod got above 600 or so degrees it would self destruct. Push rods are thin wall tubes with pivot balls welded to each end. When a valve train component binds in place, the push rod will bend, shatter or snap. The rocker arms and lifters are 10 times stronger then the push rod between them.
2.For a push rod to escape thru the Block, it would have to get past the lifters, down thru the lifter galley, past the cam, bounce off the crank shaft, and have the strength to punch thru at least 1/4 inch thick cast iron. 3.While in a High RPM Stock Car or Drag Car engine a push rod has occasionally escaped, I have never seen or heard of a reported push rod injury. I do own a valve cover off a E-mod 383 SBC that a push rod broke thru. That steel is less then 1/32 of a inch thick. The only reason this happened is the Racer who previously owned the valve covers used pressed in studs. On any high RPM Chevy engine, you should use Screw in studs for the rocker arms. Pressed studs tend to lift out of the head at 7000 RPM's, which most Street Driven SBCs hand grenade at. 4.If your internal engine tempitures reach over 900 degrees (ohh say the oil pan area), not only will the oil in the engine combust, the water & coolant in the jackets go to steam then blow out of every pressure seal, you will not just lock up the motor, but have slag where the barrings were.About the only human injurys I know of from exploding engine parts or engine accessories are from people that were working over a engine when something failed (IE Water pump shaft with fan attached) or someone in the danger zone when a top fuel dragster blew the engine or sneezed the blower at the line. This is why VERY FEW people are allowed in the Starters Box at a Drag Strip standing between two cars ready to leave the line.
Charles
Sorry about that charles, didn't mean to make truth out of an old wives' tale. But I do have a friend who did shoot a pushrod straight through his hood on his firebird. Poor guy, he liked that car too...
The Freak
So I guess they built them to really scream...
I've built a lot of engines (used to work in a garage and rebuilt 100's) also built a lot of race engines... Never had anything but a few spark plugs that blew the porcelain out of them. (that sounds nasty when you are just driving along and that happens) I just wondered if these engines are built to take that much or not. I know the ones I put together were made to handle high rpm's but only for short times and we went over them frequently. Some of my small blocks I took to
8,000 and shifted my 454 at 7,500 . Nascar can crank 9,000 for 500 miles but not much more than that and sometimes not even that long.
Im pretty serious about using old parts cars for targets before I take them to the crusher. Less messy then paper targets at times. I put over
250 rounds in a 91 eagle . .22LR, different days, let a few buddies fire off a few rounds at it. All in the name of fun.I have taken my shot gun to work for the same reason, different car. At work Im in a Rural area, where I can shoot. My home is in the city, so unless I take it to work, I have to pay to go to a range.
As for a engine block, Never know I might try one someday. Get me some regular slugs first. Charles
The Chevy 302 always comes to mind when I think of a engine built to rev. Stock they could handle 7,000 to 7,500. They can be built to take
9,000 and be streetable.Blown spark plugs don't sound as scary as when a water pump shaft fails. Had that happen Spring 06, on the highway in my S-10 Blazer. The shaft broke at the barrings, fan, clutch, pulley, & shaft remains hit the radiator destroying it, then bounced around off every pulley.
I was cruising along, decided to open her up, and bang! next thing I know I got steam out of the front, see a trail of debris in the door mirror, and a trail of liquid. Wasn't till I was on the shoulder that I realized it wasn't the engine it self, it was the cooling system.
Years ago I saw the same thing happen. A guy I knew put a engine in his monte carlo, didn't bother to change the water pump. Just dropped in the dresses junk yard jewel. He fires it up and is trying to set his idle speed, and choke. Wings the throttle, bang! Water pump shaft fails, fan clutch comes apart when it his the radiator. No hood on, we both missed getting hurt by inches. Charles
A pushrod thru the hood? Let me guess setting valve lash and revving to
8,000? Charles
lifters, down thru >the lifter galley, past the cam, bounce off the >crank shaft, and have the strength to punch thru >at least 1/4 inch thick cast iron.
Actually it would have to go through Aluminum.. as the LS1s have an aluminum block.
My worse was the lower pulley ripped off the balancer on my 454. One bolt sheared off the other two ripped thru the pulley never figured out why... but it went up destroyed the rad. People got a little mad at me because it was on the starting line and I left a little antifreeze there... I launched at 7,200 and the front end came down quick and turned hard, I know something happened, I ran over my own antifreeze. Coasted to the side immediately and pushed it back out but not before making a very big mess on the track. My thought is that maybe the two that ripped thru might have worked loose then sheared the third which then left it rip the two thru... Which would have been my fault for not checking especially after the run before the belt came off going thru the traps at about 7500 which also scared the shit out of me because all I seen was red light in my face (alt idiot light) I seen red "thought oil pressure" turned off the ignition switch which at that time was still the key... that I turned all the way back to lock position and then had to turn it back in a panic to steer all at 130 + mph What a dumb ass....
P.S. the 302 was an awesome engine... also the early 327 small journal with a 283 or 265 crank gave them 302 before they came out with them. I knew a few racers that told me a lot of stories of running 302's before Chevy built them.
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