quote Originally posted by mcfrandon: been trying to drive it more often to try and get things seated nicely before i run it hard. seems to use a quart every hundred miles. holy cow. in that case i might be looking for a new short block sooner than later if it doesnt slow down. after doing some searching looks like either GM or hastings rings are best with no hone of course, and might as well put rods and maybe pistons in it

Been there. It won't get better. You may need to find another block with the factory hone or hone your current block properly to restore the bore surface finish, and get oversize pistons. I don't think there are any shelf oversize pistons.

quote Originally posted by mcfrandon: here is something i just found.... 93-95 pistons have a 1.53mm top ring groove. 96-99 pistons have a 1.23mm top ring groove... my rebuild kit was for ordered for the 97 block i have but i reused the pistons out of the 94 because they were already cleaned and under the impression they were the same for all years. So my top ring is .30mm too thin wow. also... going through the catalogue on rockauto it shows the same pistons for all years but points to the 93-95 piston ring. so if you order pistons under the 96-99 year you have to go back out and look up rings for the 93-95 year to get the right ones.

Umm... yeah, that'll hurt your oil consumption too, as well as not making much power.
There aren't many year to year changes, but you seem to be having trouble with all of them

[This message has been edited by Will (edited 01-22-2016).]

quote Originally posted by Will: Don't feed the trolls. If he had any skill or experience building real engines, he'd be offering helpful advice, not being a jerk.

I know exactly what a "good" build really is. You obviously don't. Moron! How do you like the name calling?

Me and the OP were having a civil discussion. I made asked a statement and asked a question, the OP answered. All was well and respected. YOU and your buddy came along with your panties in an uproar and nothing to add other than BS. The funny thing is, niether one of us were talking to either one of you.

Now, where is your experience?






And I also know all about the time bomb you call a Northstar. I've had a few and regret every single one, so does the GM warranty program and the Caddy dealerships.

[This message has been edited by Thunderstruck GT (edited 01-22-2016).]

[This message has been edited by Thunderstruck GT (edited 01-22-2016).]

quote Originally posted by mcfrandon: looking through the after market piston selection it looks like they have oversizes in .25 .50 and .75.... interesting but thats $400 not including rings/rebore. but im going to get the right piston and ring setup in there and see where im at first. besides the rings all i will need is another pair of headgaskets and rod bearings to get in and out of there. i know im being ignorant about the cylinder bores but the hone is still there and it measures out good. I want to at least give this a go before i tear everything apart completely and start over from scratch again.. I wonder how much power im missing out on

If you don't mind taking the engine down a couple more times (you've done it enough, itt should be easy by now! ), go for it. Do you have photos of the bores? How were they honed? If they're on size, then they can't have been honed much. Do you have a torque plate?

[This message has been edited by Will (edited 01-23-2016).]