And use the 396 pistons still or a custom set? Thats a ghetto fix IMO if you leave the 396 in there. Not that it wont work, but really a piston strength compromise for no reason other than his screw up. Also, you are losing cubic inches that you paid for and were (should have been) clearanced for.

For the dial bore gauge, you need to measure 1/4 inch from the top of the cyl, middle, and 1/4 inch from bottom. These measurements should be made between 12 and 6, and 1 and 3 oclock. That will give you your taper and out of round numbers which should be non existant on a fresh block

Put the bore gauge in at an angle, and slowly rock it level. The gauge will read bigger and bigger and then start to get smaller again. Record the max reading before it starts to get smaller again.

A setting fixture if you have one if a much better way than trying to set the thing up with a caliper/mic.

 

I missed typed the stroke, it's actually 3.80 stroke crank. At any rate I would be losing about 6 ci. No real hit on piston strength, same pistons, bore just less stroke. My real question is if it's dangerous to take the deck down to 8.975, in other words would I need to worry about thin spots etc.

A few of the areas that I already know impacted would be manifold fitment, but I think if the top of the block is also milled appropriately that this wouldn't be a problem. Other area would be pushrod length. I planned on using a length checker before purchasing so I don't think that will be a big issue either.

 

If he won't weld it and fix it right find someone who will. You know what u wanna build and even have some parts, don't change ur game plan cause the machinist fouled up a little. If they can't fix it than they should machine your whole other block, FREE. I would definatley check your bores!! If it was only honed after welding it is very possible they will be out-of-round. Especially on the top of the cylinders.. If he torqueplate honed it you'll hafta check it w/ a plate on. IMO you should tell him to either fix it or refund you your dough. All the work you speak of is shady at best. Boring before welding o-ring grooves is a foolish move. Plus if he can't weld it he could just out-source it for less than the cost of a new crank plus decking the ***** off your block. If he don't ffix it or refund you take it on the chin and find another shop. The distance thing between us sucks, I bet I could find more wrong w/ it than a scored deck.....

 

If you were near my shop, I would check clearance in that bore as is, then spray weld up that deck, it would not take more than 10 minutes and minimal heat because it is not very deep. Then coat the bore with dykem and kiss hone till there are no shadows, then recheck clearance. If it passes you are good to go, if not, its time for a new block and free machine work.

 

This is basically what he did. I brought him the block already machined from another machine shop after talking with him about not wanting the o-rings. I didn't want to run a copper gasket and the quench was going to be .055, pistons .015 in the hole, .040 copper gasket. The second machinist agreed to give it a try. The ring groove weld job was top notch and the bores were not out of round or tapered after the job was done. The "mishap" happened during the decking operation and he was embarrassed that he didn't catch it. He's already said that if he can't fix it that he'll be getting me a new block.

I've never been happy with my crank, it's a 3.800 stroke crank that was originally pre-balanced for a 400 style balanced motor. It took alot of mallory to get right and the original machinist put a piece of metal, (not mallory), in one of the counter-weights "vertically" and then welded it in trying to save me money on Mallory. The machinist I'm working with now doesn't think I should run it because of the possibility of this piece coming out due to centrifugal force.

Right now the block is back at the machine shop where he's going to see exactly how much it would take to get the deck right. I originally described this as a "gouge", it's more accurately a cupped area probably close to two inches wide and it intercepts the bore and a water passage so he didn't think welding was an option.

Going with a shorter stroke crank was as much my suggestion as anything. My reasoning is I get a crank that I'm more comfortable with, the o-ring groove and welding is gone etc. What I'm asking at this point was if a 8.975 deck was too "short", and if it could potentially cause problems.

Alot of this whole situation is my responsibility. At this point I could be the poster child for how not to build an engine properly. Before I knew as much as I do now I bought a block that had already been machined and o-ringed. I thought that I could just yank the rings and run a standard composite gasket. No go because the D shaped fire ring intercepted the 0-ring groove. Bought a crank because it was a Cola and it was a good price. Again wrong move, crank was never meant to go in an internally balanced engine and the weird stroke limited piston selection, not to mention how much I've already spent getting it balanced. I probably should have run the copper gaskets, Flatouts btw @ 120 a pair. Both machinists told me that I shouldn't be afraid of copper on a street motor, but honestly I didn't want to live with a .055 quench. I also bought a set of Mr. Gasket .026 gasket to see if they would work with the o-ring groove and now I've got a set of Cometic .040.
gaskets @ 160 a pair. Bottom line I'm a dumba$$. So do I just start over or try the 8.975 deck option. Thanks for the help guys. Need to prove to one of your customers that sometimes we are our worst enemies, send them to me, I can tell them all about it.