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OK as far as the .060 swipe tolerance goes, yes for a competitive engine builder this should be consider very important to assure max lift and max longevity of guides. I a retired GM engine division close tolerance machining inspector in an experimental test department, strongly agreed. That being many years ago now and my engine building days long gone, I'm an old fart that still has a little gear head left in me and would like to change the drive train in my 78. So, do you think if I buy a "complete" "blueprinted" 383 motor for non-competitive use from either the Blueprint, White, Summit or whatever company, I could receive an engine with this tolerance exceeded? Would that be considered "blueprinted"? I know that's kind of a separate issue but wouldn't the engine builders that designed this build, knowing which heads, rocker arms, pushrods, lifters and cam are being used, make sure that the swipe of the rocker arm on the valve stem was kept within the .060 especially since it's mainly affected by the pushrod length? If so, who do you think builds the best blueprinted 383 crate engine?
Thanks Tom
Tom,
It's now how it works in the aftermarket.
Performance
Quality
Price
You get to pick 2, can't have all 3. Some of EBAY guys can put 8 complete 383 engines together a day. I have customers it will take 8 hours, a granite surface block, emery cloth, and 2 sets of mains and 8 hours to get a crank torqued in the mains of a block.
The sweep pattern of .060" I think is more important to hottrodder that is a driver. If that pattern is to wide on the top of the valve then you are going to wear out the valve guides.
For a truly blueprinted 383 your looking at around $10K.
Best you could do on a 305CID in aftermarket would be a 165cc head. A 185cc head would support a 305 cid engine to well over 7800 rpm. Just to big a head. Also with the small bore size of the 305 a 2.02 valve would be shrouded by the bore. You would not want more valve area then a 1.90" intake. The 185cc would make the car sluggish.
And in the end pauldana you did confirm all the work they did was spot on . We all run into chaos on a build be it a tie rod shipped bad or confusion on something. I delt with AL and only AL as I was suggested I do and he was great , They even had the Titan intake which I requested a day before the dyno test.
How many machine shops have that intake available ? And he only charged me 350.00 for it ..
As far as others, Blueprint has had issues , GM performance parts has had them and I am sure white has to,, But I can say all of them to my knowledge have corrected them and that is what matters .
in my book..... there is NO EXCUSE to send someone inferior cheaper parts, charge them for the more expensive parts and act like its business as usual,,, and I worked with Al as well.... So, this makes me think... if they ship you a complete engine, all wrapped up and "finished" just how many cheap "substitute" parts do they use????
Do you really believe that I am the ONLY ONE, that they have done this to? OR, did i just catch them????
your question on the machine work? all balancing was good... Piston born were to large in 2 holes, ordered 2 new probe pistons to work.. so, as far as I am concerned, they suck....
I wish you well with marshall-blueprint, had 2 failures not to long ago. They sent new parts, no labor. They fired both up?, hydrualic cams. I would go with new Chevy when I can.
As far as others, Blueprint has had issues , GM performance parts has had them and I am sure white has to,, But I can say all of them to my knowledge have corrected them and that is what matters .[/QUOTE]
Good point! That is what matters. This is a great forum because it gives you competitive engine builders a platform to discuss some excellent design/build issues with a desire to make things a little better. I miss those days.
For a truly blueprinted 383 your looking at around $10K
Thats about right, plus all the add ons and little stuff
Buying a cheap engine is always a crapshoot, they are pumping them out in volume and god knows who assembling them.
One is bound to encounter problems and sure it can happen on $$ stuff too. I want to know the person doing the measuring/machining is the owner...with his name on the line not an hourly being pressured to knock more out. Doesnt come cheap and usually requires waiting
Thats about right, plus all the add ons and little stuff
Buying a cheap engine is always a crapshoot, they are pumping them out in volume and god knows who assembling them.
One is bound to encounter problems and sure it can happen on $$ stuff too. I want to know the person doing the measuring/machining is the owner...with his name on the line not an hourly being pressured to knock more out. Doesnt come cheap and usually requires waiting
I'm into mine for around $15,000..... good cheap fast.... mine is good and fast:-)
in my book..... there is NO EXCUSE to send someone inferior cheaper parts, charge them for the more expensive parts and act like its business as usual,,, and I worked with Al as well.... So, this makes me think... if they ship you a complete engine, all wrapped up and "finished" just how many cheap "substitute" parts do they use????
Do you really believe that I am the ONLY ONE, that they have done this to? OR, did i just catch them????
your question on the machine work? all balancing was good... Piston born were to large in 2 holes, ordered 2 new probe pistons to work.. so, as far as I am concerned, they suck....
Thanks Pauldana, for bringing back memories from my build days in the 60's & 70's. Yes unless you can do the machining yourself or at least have the ability to re-inspect everything and make the necessary corrections, you won't know what you have. You're putting too much faith in someone else's hands which too often can prove to be disastrous especially if you're building competitively.
For an old fart has been like me, I'm looking for a "complete" "finished" crate engine not to be used competitively but still want it to be reliable. I noticed some of these companies offering a 50,000 mi warranty however I have to question their standing behind it?
Last edited by Tommy K 47; Nov 18, 2015 at 02:25 PM.
Thanks Pauldana, for bringing back memories from my build days in the 60's & 70's. Yes unless you can do the matching yourself or at least have the ability to re-inspect everything and make the necessary corrections, you won't know what you have. You're putting too much faith in someone else's hands which too often can prove to be disastrous especially if you're building competitively.
For an old fart has been like me, I'm looking for a "complete" "finished" crate engine not to be used competitively but still want it to be reliable. I noticed some of these companies offering a 50,000 mi warranty however I have to question their standing behind it?
If I was going to purchase a complete engine, and not concerned about racing, then I would buy a GM ZZ... warranted by GM....
x2 on that one
At least its new or most of them. You can buy a reman GM also
Used to be there were great owner op machine and speedshops everywhere not so much anymore ya never know what youre getting.
Jegs sells a some GM crates, GMPP, etc
If the engine was assembled and survived the dyno chances are its probably Ok. Lots will give you a dyno # of that same combo but yours is not necessarily run. Take your time and research
With warranties its all about fine print
On race stuff nobody will offer one but they will fix it.
You get to pick 2, can't have all 3. Some of EBAY guys can put 8 complete 383 engines together a day. I have customers it will take 8 hours, a granite surface block, emery cloth, and 2 sets of mains and 8 hours to get a crank torqued in the mains of a block.
The sweep pattern of .060" I think is more important to hottrodder that is a driver. If that pattern is to wide on the top of the valve then you are going to wear out the valve guides.
For a truly blueprinted 383 your looking at around $10K.
Thanks StraubTech for the reply. I was hoping to find all 3 for a reasonable price. Hahahaaaaaa........ Yah Back in my day I guess there were a few more owner/operator machine shops that took "pride" in there work which it sounds like some of your customers did on their granite surface block. As far as buying a "complete" goes, since I'm not using it for competitive racing, I'm leaning towards the GMzz warranteed by GM. I think I might have the best luck with them?
Ps;
Your statement: "I have customers it will take 8 hours, a granite surface block, emery cloth, and 2 sets of mains and 8 hours to get a crank torqued in the mains of a block", almost brought tears to my eyes because I use to be there also in order to assure blueprinted clearances.
Last edited by Tommy K 47; Nov 18, 2015 at 07:12 PM.
x2 on that one
At least its new or most of them. You can buy a reman GM also
Used to be there were great owner op machine and speedshops everywhere not so much anymore ya never know what youre getting.
Jegs sells a some GM crates, GMPP, etc
If the engine was assembled and survived the dyno chances are its probably Ok. Lots will give you a dyno # of that same combo but yours is not necessarily run. Take your time and research
With warranties its all about fine print
On race stuff nobody will offer one but they will fix it.
Thanks cuisinartvette, I will be checking into Jegs also. This thread has made me very aware of just how careful one needs to be in his search for a quality complete build. I also know what you mean about the fine print in the warranties. They will cover everything except the problem you'll have in the future. Hahahaaaaa......
Last edited by Tommy K 47; Nov 18, 2015 at 06:51 PM.
Thanks StraubTech for the reply. I was hoping to find all 3 for a reasonable price. Hahahaaaaaa........ Yah Back in my day I guess there were a few more owner/operator machine shops that took "pride" in there work which it sounds like some of your customers did on their granite surface block. As far as buying a "complete" goes, since I'm not using it for competitive racing, I'm leaning towards the GMzz warranteed by GM. I think I might have the best luck with them?
Ps;
Your statement: "I have customers it will take 8 hours, a granite surface block, emery cloth, and 2 sets of mains and 8 hours to get a crank torqued in the mains of a block", almost brought tears to my eyes because I use to be there also in order to assure blueprinted clearances.
OK as far as the .060 swipe tolerance goes, yes for a competitive engine builder this should be consider very important to assure max lift and max longevity of guides. I a retired GM engine division close tolerance machining inspector in an experimental test department, strongly agreed. That being many years ago now and my engine building days long gone, I'm an old fart that still has a little gear head left in me and would like to change the drive train in my 78. So, do you think if I buy a "complete" "blueprinted" 383 motor for non-competitive use from either the Blueprint, White, Summit or whatever company, I could receive an engine with this tolerance exceeded? Would that be considered "blueprinted"? I know that's kind of a separate issue but wouldn't the engine builders that designed this build, knowing which heads, rocker arms, pushrods, lifters and cam are being used, make sure that the swipe of the rocker arm on the valve stem was kept within the .060 especially since it's mainly affected by the pushrod length? If so, who do you think builds the best blueprinted 383 crate engine?
Thanks Tom
I would think that it should have the correct geometry, but something one would want to check regardless of who put it together.
Last edited by bluedawg; Nov 20, 2015 at 01:33 PM.
Thanks Pauldana, for bringing back memories from my build days in the 60's & 70's. Yes unless you can do the machining yourself or at least have the ability to re-inspect everything and make the necessary corrections, you won't know what you have. You're putting too much faith in someone else's hands which too often can prove to be disastrous especially if you're building competitively.
For an old fart has been like me, I'm looking for a "complete" "finished" crate engine not to be used competitively but still want it to be reliable. I noticed some of these companies offering a 50,000 mi warranty however I have to question their standing behind it?
Look at vortecperformance.com or cnc-motorsports.com, I've not bought anything from vortecperformance.com but marks Internet praise is nonstop and never hear a bad word one about him, I've done business with
cnc-motorsports.com and there good dudes, both places do really good work.
Look at vortecperformance.com or cnc-motorsports.com, I've not bought anything from vortecperformance.com but marks Internet praise is nonstop and never hear a bad word one about him, I've done business with
cnc-motorsports.com and there good dudes, both places do really good work.
Mark Jones of Vortecpro is Good people and one hell of a machinest.
Look at vortecperformance.com or cnc-motorsports.com, I've not bought anything from vortecperformance.com but marks Internet praise is nonstop and never hear a bad word one about him, I've done business with
cnc-motorsports.com and there good dudes, both places do really good work.
Hey, thank you bluedawg, I will definitely look into both vortex performance and cnc-motorsports. I appreciate your reply.
hey everybody just wanted to thank you all for the input and let everybody know I went with the chevy high performance 330 hp/380,and putting a set of pypes 2.5 dual exhaust with flowtech ceramic headers on
hey everybody just wanted to thank you all for the input and let everybody know I went with the chevy high performance 330 hp/380,and putting a set of pypes 2.5 dual exhaust with flowtech ceramic headers on
Nice....you will be happy...and I believe with some kind of warranty.
I like to build my own....too many years doing it....but a crate is not a bad choice....
Would you be willing to post more pics of the Pypes exhaust?
Did you make the dumps?
Looks awesome...
thanks, warranty 2 years 30,000 miles I dont have the proper tools needed and the experience.will try to get some pictures tomorrow and post, the dumps are from summitt racing with electric cutouts that came in a kit
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