To build or not to build . . . that is the question.

here's a page about blueprinting and balancing ...

http://www.rpmrons.com/Balance.html

and some blueprinting specs:

http://jason.fletcher.net/tech/blueprint/blueprint.htm

My engine guy has been building SBF's for most of his life and is the go to guy in southern idaho as far as racing engines. He did the balancing and clearancing and such, and gave me the parts. Before hand, the most complicated thing I had done was installing an MSD in my pickup truck. But I did a lot of reading in books and on the internet. Thank God for Corral and Stangnet. Working only during short breaks from USAFA I got it built and into the car in two years. Over 3k miles later she still runs like a champ. I still think its a bloody miracle I managed to do it right.

BlackVert said:

i am of a similar mindset ... would you say you are happy with how your build turned out?

maybe after i get a garage and have some free time, i'll start building my own.

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I am totally happy with my build. I have no issues: no oil burning, overheating, good oil pressure, no unusual noises etc, etc. I would do it again if need be, especially since it's not my DD. I got my driveability in check, via the TwEECer. The car runs strong - no bucking, hunting idles, surges etc.

I know there is more power there but I've yet to hook up my WB (got the bung welded in the exhaust and that's it) - lots of other things going on now. I plan to complete the WB install and hit Buds Creek before the season ends to try and tune for WOT.

final5-0 said:

...Here are just a few things ... certainly not all ... I can quickly think of that need to be addressed .................

piston height in the hole
piston to wall clearance
ring end gap
main clearance
rod clearance
crank end play
and
the list goes on and on

Not everybody has the knowledge and tools to check all that
and
As talked about above ..............

Say you find something wrong in your garage

You gotta tear it back down and haul it all back to the builder for him to make it like it needs to be.

IMHO, you can find knowledgable builders on the internet or local to you that can provide good references to build you a package that is reasonable.

Add up the cost of tools ... your time ... and trouble
and
Compare it to the builders assembly fee

A decision everybody has to make for themselves ... I guess

Grady

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Hey Grady how are you? I agree with you that not everyone has the tools and knowledge to put together a motor, however, I must say that engine builders today did not have the knowledge or the tools at one point either to build engines - they had to learn. And how do you learn? By doing, which includes reading, questions, OJT, making mistakes and learning from mistakes etc.

I assembled my motor but I had the machine shop do all of the work that I did not have the tools to do (such as balancing the rotating assembly, boring, honing, cleaning the block etc.). Now I want to point out that I did not say the knowledge to do the work (just tools) because knowledge as defined by Webster is just having an "Understanding" of the topic and not the skills to do the job. There are numerous books, even specific ones, on how to do anything in the engine build process which anyone here could learn. But believe me if I had the tools that the machine shop has or even knew someone with a machine shop I would have done the work myself - it's the only way to learn. "Those that can do, those that can't teach"

I addressed all of those areas below and more, which I learned during my research, reading and interview process, during the engine build process. My weapons of chose were the plastigage and feeler gauges.

piston height in the hole
piston to wall clearance
ring end gap
main clearance
rod clearance
crank end play

Oh by the way, I had the mind set that if anything went wrong, I was prepared to pull the motor and redo 'til I got it right. I would've pulled the motor several times 'til it was right. I am probably different than most when it comes to things of this nature.

In the posters case, it's probably more beneficial to just have the shop do the work because of cost of tools, time etc. Each situation is different as we know.

Without a doubt, you must compare costs of doing it yourself vs. having a builder or mechanics do the work. In my case, it's always seems to be cheaper and more beneficial for me to do the work.

Excuse my rambling. Just One Man's Opinion

Peace