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Most shops I know of fight to get jobs out every day and the boss will dictate which job is worked on first. If they think you are in no hurry you remain on the back burner till they get slow.
I have my 400 SBC in a shop right now, the owner is a good friend, he has had my block for over 2 years, everytime I ask when I should pick it up he asks if I have my frame and body ready.
He knows I do not have it ready so there is no pressure to get it done and he has other high pressure jobs to do.
When I asked him to machine the new Jeep Engine for my nephews Jeep I dropped it off on Monday and picked it up fully machined on Friday. He knew we needed it right away.
Talk to your shop, tell him you need this engine now. They should be able to give you a firm date to pick it up if not you might want a new shop.
As Mark said they work on most pressing and most profitable first. Just stay on them. Just for reference the one I posted the pic of the heads 6/16 is in the car, complete rebuild.
I took a pair of cowboy boots in for 1/2 soles and heels,left for Germany, with the Army, the next day,for two years., stopped in when I got back, asked the guy about my boots ,he said they will ready Thurs,.
Well, thanks for the responses but that's just crap. I run transmission shops and I can only imagine me letting someones transmission sit around for 4 weeks without me even touching it. Our motto is under promise and over deliver. The only customers that we "take our sweet time" with are customers that tell us up front that they won't have the funds to pick it up till ____ . Then we contact them ask them how the $$ portion is coming and make sure we have it ready when they are ready.
I ran a bigger engine shop and had my own one man shop. I've never heard of any engine shop that has a take a number machine. They could easily have 30 engines in work and a few weeks of machine work. I had a customer complain about this once, he said you jump right on a circle track guys stuff but you make the drag race guys wait. He wanted a cylinder sleeved they want a complete engine and need it to race that weekend. I didn't make anyone wait I did as much as I could every day. Thats how it goes in the engine shop world. In this day and time your lucky to still have a shop to take it to. No one wants to learn this work any more it's dirty, hot, and doesn't pay well as all. And they have no idea what .001" is. And most of all they just don't want to work.
That's one of the reasons I am bailing out while I can at my shops. It's too hard to find techs. I spoke to the guy today and then called my buddy that worked there, He said he would make sure it gets checked out.
I understand rush jobs, we get a few here and there, a customer broke down here that's on the road from somewhere else. It happens, but when you tell someone I will call you Friday with a report and two weeks go by without a call..... that's just not right.
So going on a month with my block sitting at the machine shop and they still haven't touched it. Every time I call they are "getting right on it". At what time do I pull it out and try somewhere else? Or is this like body shop jail, except for engines?
Originally Posted by SledgeHammer 2.0
That's one of the reasons I am bailing out while I can at my shops. It's too hard to find techs. I spoke to the guy today and then called my buddy that worked there, He said he would make sure it gets checked out.
I understand rush jobs, we get a few here and there, a customer broke down here that's on the road from somewhere else. It happens, but when you tell someone I will call you Friday with a report and two weeks go by without a call..... that's just not right.
No telling what the issue is for your usual machine shop. Could be your unique cam tunnel problem or just a change in the shop management/employees. They maybe trying to send your block work out for whatever reason. But hey, it's a sbc and if that's too difficult for them I would take it as a signal to move it elsewhere.
This good you posted your experience here as it's similar to what all of us can/will experience. Thx for posting.
I think the stock piston height is 1.675 and the stock piston is down .025. with a 1.654 Replacement piston and .033 down in the hole, It appears that it has been decked .013 as you stated.
With the pistons I have now the quench with a .015 head gasket should be .048 with a compression ratio of 9.47
If I switched to the pistons I was looking at with a .041 Head gasket the quench should be (.012+.041) .056 with a CR of the 9.79.
Maybe sticking with what I have is better than the other pistons. If I can get my quench down to .033 with a CR around 9.5, I am assuming that would be best... Using the stock replacement 350hp cam.
I'm enjoying this thread and have been following along. An important parameter that I don't think has received sufficient attention is being 100% certain that you know the DECK HEIGHT before you get very involved in calculating the CR.
In theory, you can measure the deck height yourself if you make the *assumption* that the crank stroke, rod length, and piston height are all at *exactly* the values you *think* they are. In practice, making these assumptions, and then using a simple home-made measurement fixture can lead to errors. Another source of potential error is piston-rock in the bore.
When I recently built a 383 for my Corvette, I painstakingly measured the deck height at all four of the corner bores, using the method described above. Then, when I took the block to the machine shop, I asked the machinist to double-check my measurements. He remarked that the method I had used was not very accurate, but said that his method was extremely accurate. It turned out that for three of the four cylinders tested, his measured values were within a few mils of what I had gotten, but on the most important cylinder (the one with lowest deck height), his measurement was a full .008" less than mine.
After getting the block back to my shop, I repeated using my method, several times, on the bore in question. Sure enough, it appeared that his measured value was correct.
My point is that the do-it-yourself method involves a set of hidden assumptions and also involves some possible inaccuracy when using a dial gauge or, worse yet, a feeler gauge. I think it is well worth it to have your machinist use precision equipment to accurately measure the deck height.
Last edited by GearheadJoe; 07-12-2019 at 04:23 PM.
Well after 6 or so weeks of "we will get to it Friday" the machine shop called me and told me it was finished. I have not even talked to them in two weeks as I was helping my Mom out with her health issues.
They charged me $382.20 (+Tax) ($37.20 parts, $345.Labor) to clean the block, install cam bearings and freeze plugs, resurface the block, hone the cylinders and polish the crank.
They asked me to bring the camshaft I purchased, which I haven't yet because I was still waiting to hear from them if the block was any good. I picked it up this morning. I need to order the Cam, Rings, Bearings, etc and start rounding up the rest of the parts up.
Just for fun. I sent an email to Comp Cams with my specs. I am going to see what cam they recommend. I will post their response here when I get it.
Edit.... and how disappointing. They already sent me two cam recommendations, both which state they require headers, which I told them I do not have nor want.
I spoke to them on the phone and told them I was wondering if they had something comparable to the 350hp (151 Cam) that I emailed them the specs of... and this is what they came back with.
Just for fun. I sent an email to Comp Cams with my specs. I am going to see what cam they recommend. I will post their response here when I get it.
Edit.... and how disappointing. They already sent me two cam recommendations, both which state they require headers, which I told them I do not have nor want.
I spoke to them on the phone and told them I was wondering if they had something comparable to the 350hp (151 Cam) that I emailed them the specs of... and this is what they came back with.
Sledge you want to start taking volume measurements before choosing a cam. You need a 5" x 5" piece of plexiglass with a hole in it and a graduated cylinder using windshield washer fluid to measure head chamber volume. This will give you an idea of what dish piston to use for your target compression ratio . Once you choose pistons you need to install them and again measure the volume above the piston with liquid to determine final compression ratio.
Sledge you want to start taking volume measurements before choosing a cam. You need a 5" x 5" piece of plexiglass with a hole in it and a graduated cylinder using windshield washer fluid to measure head chamber volume. This will give you an idea of what dish piston to use for your target compression ratio . Once you choose pistons you need to install them and again measure the volume above the piston with liquid to determine final compression ratio.
Hope this can help.
Thanks, I bought one of those kits from Jegs. My heads were actually 65cc. I am re-running the same pistons. Using the .015 Steel l head gasket.
I know I am not perfect and not blueprinting my engine, but I believe that a 9.5 compression ratio is going to be close to what I wind up with. I used 2 different calculators I found on the Web, both gave me a 9.48 compression for a 4.030 bore/3.25 stroke/.015 Head gasket/.033 Piston deck height/ 5cc pistons and 65cc heads.
I had the block decked .010, so when I get the pistons back in, I can remeasure. I can even take the assembled short block back to the machine shop to get a precision measurement, but I believe the worst CR I am going to have is the 9.48.
Last edited by SledgeHammer 2.0; 08-01-2019 at 04:34 PM.
Thanks, I bought one of those kits from Jegs. My heads were actually 65cc. I am re-running the same pistons. Using the .015 Steel l head gasket.
I know I am not perfect and not blueprinting my engine, but I believe that a 9.5 compression ratio is going to be close to what I wind up with. I used 2 different calculators I found on the Web, both gave me a 9.48 compression for a 4.030 bore/3.25 stroke/.015 Head gasket/.033 Piston deck height/ 5cc pistons and 65cc heads.
I had the block decked .010, so when I get the pistons back in, I can remeasure. I can even take the assembled short block back to the machine shop to get a precision measurement, but I believe the worst CR I am going to have is the 9.48.
I can read you are on the right track and don't need coaching. I think you will be surprised how much a difference in compression decking the the block makes. Assembly required to measure the above piston volume is a lot of work but difficult to avoid to get an accurate measurement. Serious blueprinters will assemble a piston in each corner of the block to measure how much to deck the block at each end. That's a bunch of work if your not ready for it. But you can make choices based on what you plan to have for quench/deck height and do your measurements later on assembly. Just the point I want to make is to save your camshaft choice for last and use more than one dynamic compression ratio calculator like you are doing now.
Oh, I learn from all the hints and suggestions. Does anyone know where I can look up part numbers for engine kits without pistons? Or do I have to order everything separately?
Also what are the best rings to buy? Speed Pro makes a Plasma- Moly performance ring, is that any good?
So after a month of delays... I am back to working on the short block. I am looking at the rings (E-251K) and the deconstructions say use the bright face ring on the top, and since it's "unidentified" you can install it either way. The second ring, marked top, (isn't that nice) you install with top facing up. Did I read the instructions right? The old rings had dots on them and were pretty well marked. These aren't .
We just discussed this two days ago. You can go to the thread by After38Years, it has some information. I will post the pictures for Top and Second Ring below.
Top Ring Barrel Faced Moly Ring Notice inside bevel is up
Second Ring Tapered face Oil Scraper Ring Notice inside bevel faces down
Last edited by Westlotorn; 09-07-2019 at 02:54 PM.
07-10-2019, 01:46 PM
I have not even talked to them in two weeks as I was helping my Mom out with her health issues.
