Johnson lifters are made in the usa, clay smith cams lifters are made in USA, I can't remember what line of lifters at comps are American made in house might be the pro series, just call and ask and Howard's cams state they use the best "American made" components but don't flat out state made in the usa.
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Not at all surprised.

 

Not saying this is whats happening but you can take the components of a lifter and do final assembly and advertise as american made.. I had read many of the comp/lunati cams (same company now) are made by Howards.
Since these are obsolete novelty engines at this point the actual part manufacturers are drying up with a lot more rebranding of the same stuff going on.

 

As long as its machined in the US it should be correct. My Eagle Rods and crank are over seas forged and final machine and balnace was done at the machine shop. Thats the way he liked it.

I'm happy with my BluePrint and the customer services at this time. Just got to get some miles on the new engine.
I'm sure the block and heads are cast over seas but they do all the machine work.

 

In stock at Summit. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mll-bp3961ct#reviews

 

GM HT383 short block here. Put in my own cam and heads. Had it since 2021. Fantastic engine.

 

A friend of mine whos now passed used to work in the local GM tonawanda engine plant his wife also worked there in the engineering dept. He used to tell me about how bad the tolerances were back then and how they have changed so much since then. (this was back about 10 years ago)... If I had to guess id say some of todays crate engines are likely far superior as far as machine work and tolerances, to the original blocks..

 

When that time came I just rebuilt the C3's 427 big block. I bumped up the compression and I used the very best in parts and labor in building the engine. A buddy owned a speed shop and we worked out a deal. I had zero experience with the internals of a big block engine and his shop was on the way home from work so I stopped and helped wrench on the engine every chance I had. I bought the parts from him using his contacts. The engine was built to copy the very similar to a factory L88 engine from the 1968 L88 engine specs.

By rebuilding it over a few months made the entire process much easier and less stressful. It gave me the time to find all the "extra" parts you need/want to but BB stuff is harder to find and twice as expensive as SB parts. Because of the high compression I had to use quality Forged parts on the bottom end. I had the time to magna-flux the parts to ensure that my engine would be okay with the compression. Whenever you buy something on a schedule where you "Need" the part right away you loose some buying power. I saved a lot of money while getting my engine rebuilt and tweaked. Then to re-install the engine I hired an incredible Corvette Company in Gaithersburg, MD to re-install my engine. They painted the engine compartment and rebuilt the shifter and detailed the engine bay to look original. It was worth every penny and has never looked better!

 

Not many of us have friends in the engine business, including me, and many don't have the time, space or inclination to build an engine. Just buying quality parts does not guarantee a quality build as some on here have found out. How many small custom shops are giving 3 year,50K warranty's, not many can afford that. I have a Blue print, nothing fancy but it's plenty of engine for what I do with my car and I put some miles on it. I did have a rocker arm break after 5+ years, way out of warranty, but I called them anyways. Their customer service was second to none in this instance, tech called me back and we spoke at length, he ended up sending me a new set of GM rockers, *****, nuts, pushrods, gaskets and even assembly lube, free! They also called back 10 days later to see if everything turned out OK and asked if I needed anything else. So ask me where I'm gonna look first if I ever need another engine....

60

 

I'll second your thoughts on the GM Crate Engines. A friend of mine put a ZZ4 into something that was driven on the track. WIthin a few hours - he had white smoke out the exhaust - a blown head gasket. When we pulled the heads - four pistons were installed incorrectly.

I HAVE ordered a short block from CNC Motorsport. It seemed like a very good deal. It only has dyno time on it so far - but I was happy with the build. Can't speak to long term reliability.

 

It seems that BluePrint has really good reputation and reviews. I will definitely consider them. If I plan to ship an engine, I will likely use them. If I stick with local, I will likely use Tri Star.

 

Wow! That's surprising. GM hasn't sold ZZ4s for a long time, though. Perhaps they are better now?

I guess I should stick to road-tested LS engines from 97-2008. Heads are easy, but I don't want to touch the bottom end.

 

The "Big" advantages of the LS motors is that: 1. due to the cylinder head configuration - the heads flow VERY well, and make power, 2. If maintained "decently" they seem to be very long lasting.

The real negative is that they are not drop in replacements for the SBC, so an LS won't just "bolt into" your C3. But a 6.0 LS motor with a decent set of heads will effortlessly make 400+ HP, and with a little cam, and "Good" heads - 500 HP awaits. While you can run a carb - hood clearance issues will probably drive you to sticking with the factory Fuel Injection, and while that isn't a "Bad" thing - it will mean adding a lot of underhood wiring, running a high pressure fuel pump, and adding Oxygen Sensor bungs to the exhaust. All of which are doable - but it moves you further from a "Bolt in" solution.

 

I had a ZZ GMPP engine ran like a champ great engine. I just picked up NOS GMZZ4 for my C3 . The ZZ series engine's are a very good engine

 

Agree on the US machining.
Foundry work and machine shop work are two entirely different animals, and require two different skill sets.
Any blue-collar worker could rapidly be trained to do foundry / casting work. It is just hot, dirty, and manual labor intensive.

Machine shop work requires much more knowledge and skill, a head for numbers, a sensitive touch, and a personality that is not in a hurry, it is more important to be correct.
You need to slowly "sneak-up" on the correct measurement, because you can't go "back".
A machine shop is not a place to "rush" or shoot for high thru-put.
Not to mention breaking bits and tools that run $800 each if you handle them roughly!
My buddy would "listen" to what the machines were telling him: "hear that? you need to slow down!"

 

I not long ago had a apprentice here in Australia watching me turning a part to adapt a wheel on a custom Harley.
He said, how can you possibly get that lip so thin, and yet so precise. .....
Perhaps I had a good metal's shop teacher.
taking your time when turning is key. If you know what your doing, indeed you hear a dull bit, or certainly hear your speed or depth is off. You CERTAINLY can hear that.
And I'm hard of hearing!

 

I believe Smeding is located in TX as well. They're who I went with. 3 year no questions asked warranty, new block, in house break-in and dyno etc. I've had the engine in the car for over 2 years now and it's been great! 460hp/480tq 383. If haven't already made up your mind, they get my vote. I'm happy to answer any questions.