Well, for those who have seen any of my past topics, I have suffered a major down fall where I will have to get extra dirty while working on my vette. I had to not work on it, because my house took presidence for the last 6 or so weeks. It not running with this incredible weather really bums me out, but I had to put that project aside for a little while.

So- now that I have a little time to get to work on her the long block is about ready to come out. Thanks to much help several weeks ago from scorpion that is...

Now- with one of the main bearings spun, and the block being a wonderful shade of blue in the area, it is time to actually go through the motions of a decision. Once the motor is out, I will be taking it to an engine builder (somewhat local) and he will put his $.02 in on weather it is able to be used/built for reliable cruising.
how about y'all? I am expecting to budget about 2k on this job...and have a still "reliable" sports car when I am done. With that kind of $$$ can I get away with a quality forged steel crank, flat top pistons, etc? Obviously I am going to need to have over-sized bearings put in. Bore to 383?

Also- I have heard that line boring is a very tough operation for a machine shop to do correctly. Is there anyone on this forum (I am sure that someone has...) that has had this done?

Suggestions, anyone?

 

ttt

 

Try posting in the engine mods section -- lot of knowledge on this subject there.
A line-bore is a difficult task for most local machine shops. However, any good performance engine shop with the proper equipment can do it right.

 

I probably would look for another block.

LT1's can be had for $200 if you look around.

Can't just install oversize bearings...must line bore like you said. Unless you have a pro shop doing the work...I find the less you have a local shop do the less they can do wrong.

383 is a "stroked" 355 which is a 350 with a .030 overbore.

Buy some books and read up on the basics...seriously knowledge is power and when I was dumbfounded at what some people were trying to sell me...I figured out real quick that the newstand magazines/books/etc were worth their weight in gold.

Heck I see complete LT1's for less than 1000 bucks...maybe that would be way to go to get back in driver's seat.

:)

 

up your budget i'm in almost 2000 in just machine work, slightly less but not enough to talk about. stuff adds up. i did about the best possible combo for the dollar i could think of. i'd double your 2k budget and you should have a 400hp long term running car.

 

I agree- stuff can add up. Getting into another block is a little much, if I have the possibility of salvaging the block I have. I am going to have a couple different guys look at it, and then I will make a decision as to which way to go. If I am able to work with the block I have, I will go to a Eagle brand forged crank, and have a line bore job done. I don't have the proper tools to do the lower end on my own, so I am going to have who ever does the line bore set up the bottom end too. I am still researching my options: as an automotive engineer, the aftermarket parts business(es) are a little sketchy, and I am not overly comfortable with a whole bunch of new things that I am unsure of the quality control...
More to come...