well that confirms that I will likely have no luck as well lol. I feel comfortable either going with Shaun in Tx, Prestige Motorsports in NC, and ofcourse Woody of Fordstrokers and Zach of ZSR but the latter two I know will be a long long long wait lol.Loved the guy. Really helped me when I was new to the game. I've had 2 of his cams. I reached out to him for a 3rd w/ addl valvetrain components... several months passed. Reached back out again; was directed to fill out the form. Did so, and asked if he had everything he needed, which he affirmed. Months went by again; so, I reached out a 3rd time and he acted like he didn't know anything about my order. So, my Ed days are over. If you can get his attention & support, I think he's the best in the biz. If not, he's more towards the opposite.
Man I tell you what you are spot on and today and probably especially after covid and getting people to work, it seems it's a challenge for folks to find good help. If you find that good help what would be their level of dedication and can you put your name behind their work? I guess you have to give them a chance but I just think it's an uphill battle these days to find good consistent help in anything that you do or want to do.I will say that I just don't think there are very many people in this world that grasp cam shafts so its hard to delegate those things to without risking a fall off in quality / performance. Flip side is all the accounts of poor communication which also hurts business. I am lucky in that that guy that machines and builds my motors knows cams very well and can talk with Ed on a whole other level of nerd speak.
If you are comfortable with Shaun and close to the shop then move that direction. My engine guy is 1.5 hours from my house so when the 331 was getting freshened up a couple years ago I made a few trips just to learn. You seem to have a good grasp on your goals and is something that 95% of the people that want a new motor for their street car are lost on.
wow that's good to know straight from the horses mouth in same relations of what I want to do. Yeah he said with the right setup that thing will want to spin right on up to 7000 or so. Might be some other builders in SC but there in lies the trustworthiness of the whole process as not just the build but the machine work, ect as it will likely leave the builder to have some of that done.Stock 5.0 blocks are not the $100 deal they used to be. I will be very honest with you about my 331 build. I am kicking myself in the ass every day for not biting the bullet and just getting a Dart block. The motor wants to spin way past the 6200 rpm shift point but that is suicide with a stock block. So I am giving up about 1000 rpm to keep it from coming apart in that aspect and on the engine dyno it built just shy of 470 fwhp which is also pushing the stock block. My builder said with a good block and solid roller it would be a game changer. I have been emailing Blueprint engines to see if they would sell one of their four bolt main blocks that they say will hold 700 hp all day long but they are not currently just selling the block. He has offered to sell me one of his 347's but it doesn't make the power that my 331 does and that's not a viable solution anyhow. I'm just ranting now but take a hard look at the Dart block you want to spin the rpms and or make stock block killing power.
I may end up building another short block with a Dart block and the existing rotating assembly but that's a year or two out as I have a few other projects on the car to get finished.
One other thing to consider is getting the motor from Texas to SC as that will also cost some money. There are a lot of reputable builders closer to you but it is your build.
oh gotcha. Just texted the guy about his block and asked those questionsIf the bottom of the cylinder walls go down far enough they may need to be notched to clear the rod caps. Some stock blocks need it and some do not on a 331 but mine did. I have not seen a stock block 347 yet that did not need the notches.
With regards to machining a block. Regardless of who made it a good machinist will most likely line hone and deck the block. Boring will depend on the cylinders themselves but a new block will most likely be good to go with a hone and standard bore pistons. Not sure on the aftermarket blocks as they may come smaller than standard bore which would require punching them out and honing.
Block will most likely need the cam bearings pressed in, freeze plugs installed, and the oil galley plugs installed but all that happens after machine work.
I said hey Will that block need to be bored and honed for a 331 and he said yes it's a new block. Which I knew the block was new but I'm not up on all of the stroking and boring, etcHe may not know. It literally took my guy an additional 10 minutes to clearance for it so not a big adder.
wow thanks for the insight. I've never looked for stock block 302's or 351's other than just a quick look per se on marketplace so I wouldn't have known the change from what they really used to go for to now. I guess everything has gotten crazy nowadays and so I'll really have to consider things from every option and make the best overall decision that ultimately makes the most sense. I know whatever i build will be there for quite awhile as I don't plan on making any changes but also have to factor in if I sell the car or engine later and resale value, ect. I do have the 94 cobra engine and will have the engine out of the 95 GT but I really want Shaun in Tx to do my build and there in lies shipping my block to him, either block and he'll check it to make sure they're fine to use.I keep my eye on the market all the time, and I agree that it's definitely not like it used to be. Lotta folks out there are wanting $2-3k for a running stock-ish 5.0 motor. At those prices I'm afraid of getting ripped off. In the old days, you could pick up a $500 engine to swap your stuff on, and if they lied it was just a bad day. Hell, I had a friend, @Ford Moore swap my old turbo kit and X-heads onto a $50 junkyard 302, smooth out a damaged piston, and rock on with ~450rwhp not really caring if he blew it up. Honestly, that's the way to do it. No waiting months on a build, having to navigate the whole aftermarket catalog, and then worrying that every little tick or noise is some expensive engine killing catastrophe. At the prices a 'new' stock build is going for, it really does put you in a spot where jumping up to holding out to find an aftermarket block (Dart, Boss, World, R302, A4) is pretty reasonable.
You can still get stockers on the market at reasonable prices, though. Here's one that's frankly hard to believe:
If it comes with everything in the pic & it all works, $800's a smokin' deal. Getting to 500 rwhp in a fox is about the most you'll be able to do on a budget. I think one of the best bang for the buck combos out there is to slap on any aftermarket cylinder head you can get your hands on with the cheapest quality explorer intake you can find to get to what would be a 230-250 rwhp NA build, then buy a 340 lph pump, 42 lbs injetors, & a quarterhorse or Tweecer, and then slap a turbo kit with an intercooler on there and run up to 15 psi on 93 octane to max out the stock block. The beauty of it is that you don't have to worry about internals/displacement/cam etc... You won't get nervous about problems or running it hard. You should be able to replace all the parts for cheap and run that car deep into the 10s on that kind of power.
You can find rebuilt ones that'll cost you more, but I'd worry about how they were put together, or whether they were even actually rebuilt. Example:
alrightyYou will want to strip it down to the bare block as nothing in the 302 rotating assembly will be used. Stock bare block weighs 135 lbs.
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