I looked at all the forums, and this seemed to be the best place to make this post.

I am looking into doing a stroker for my 95 Z28. Right now, it has LT4 GTP Stage II heads, and the LT4 intake w/ the 58mm bore. It's running the CC 306, 2800 Vigi, and a Moser 12 bolt (3.73). W/ other goodies, but just not going to waste the space. It is just for an idea.

When I do this, I want to use a LT4 block. I am interested in doing a 383, I have heard 396 and up are more trouble than they are worth. If I am wrong, please feel free to let me know.

I have been looking around, and I found a guy on eBay that builds these w/ anything you want, mostly Speed Pro parts, etc. for really good prices. He told me he had a few LT4 true blocks, and offered to do a shortblock for me for 3k plus shipping. It is called Parish Enterprises, and he is from IL. Have any of you heard of him? He has been very informative and helpful so far. These are the parts he said he would use:

LT4 4 bolt main block - cleaned, line honed, clearance for the longer stroke, bored .030, arp main studs installed, painted chevy orange, cam bearings and freeze plugs installed...
Parts -
Speed pro forged pistons
total seal plasma moly rings
scat forged i-beam connecting rods
eagle internal balanced 3.75 stroke crankshaft
clevite 77 race bearings
melling high volume oil pump and pickup screen
oil pan
cloyes timing set
timing cover
brass freeze plugs
clevite 77 hd cam bearings


It all looks good for 3k, and I can keep my original block. Like I said, I like my heads, cam, and intake, and want to reuse those. I also have another guy in NC quoting me, (similar stuff) but he is at 4k. But he is VERY reputable, and I trust him completely.

I really need some info, and some ideas on all of this. I want to make sure I do this the right way, and I know yall can help me out. We will be putting the heads, cam, etc. on, and installing the motor. So all this is just labor, and parts put together.

Ideas???

 

If I distill it down to the nuts, appears you want a reference on Parish Enterprises, you want us to confirm that a 396 is more trouble than its worth, and maybe comment on your parts list. Not sure what part of this is "Advanced Tech", and why this isn't on "LT1/LT4 Engine Tech". I'll let it ride for a while, but I think its in the wrong place.

 

Not sure if Eagle has improved the quality of their cranks or not but a local speed shop up here had a shipment of them that were way out on the tolerances last year. Especially in the snout. Can't remember if they were cast or forged cranks but they were definately 3.75".

 

I wasn't sure if it was the correct forum. But when I read the forum descriptions, strokers are mentioned in advanced tech description.
In LT1/LT4 Engine Tech, you can always find the best exhaust, best CAI setup, what plugs to use, and who does the best PCM tuning. And I thought about giving it a shot over here first, after I did some searches in each forum.

It is always nice to find out if someone has heard of any of the racing shops you want to build your engine, since it is such a $$$ process. And about the parts you want used to build your engine. Your information on the Eagle crankshafts is news to me, so I count that as something learned. Didn't mean to bother anyone, just looking for all the info I can find out there. And assumed this was the best place to start.

 

Price is about right for the parts and for what you are wanting to do with your car it should all be sufficient. Most of the stuff he's using is heavy so you'll be rpm limited but like I said, unless your goals have changed for your car it should all be plenty sufficient.

Never heard of this guy but then again, no one has EVER heard of my engine builder....yet...so that ain't saying much.

396 is more of a novelty than anything else when comparing the two strokes in an LT1.

 

I'll post a couple of stock answers.

1. I prefer to use an engine builder that's local, mainly because of the amount of communication required to get things like you want them, and to be able to bring things back and forth, and maybe even more importantly being able to visit the shop. Visiting a machine shop can be very informative, the obvious things like cleanliness and organization, not to mention getting a "vibe" on the work environment, does it seem "professional". That being said if the builder wasn't local I'd wan't one with a very solid reputation, but as can be seen by searching on this board, many shops have started out reputable and end up in trouble, sometimes because they're good and get more business than they expect.

2. Even more stock answer. The bottom end, (shortblock), is important, but most motors don't require expensive parts unless you are really planning on stressing the motor to the absolute maximum. After some experience I'd say you'd be fine with a quality cast crank, and a decent set of forged pistons. I think a good set of rods is probably the most important small block part, probably just behind a quality assembly job as the most important shortblock "feature".

Bottom line, the power is in the heads and this is where you should concentrate the largest part of your budget if you want to make power. I don't have a lot of experience with GTP, but I think I'd look at some of the head porters that are all over this board as well, Lloyd Elliot, Phil at AI. Just never believed very much in an "off the shelf" stage "X" head.

3. If budget is important, make up as detailed as part list as you can, down to every gasket, seal and bolt that you can remember. Once you think you've got absolutely everything you need and have the cost as close to the "nat's rear" end, add another 20 percent, and then be happy if you come in under that figure.

Good luck, it's fun, and I've enjoyed most of my experiences so far, but it's certainly taken much longer, and cost much more money than I originally anticipated.

 

That info is exactly what I was looking for. I really appreciate the time you guys took in typing all that out.

Bobby! Long time! Hope all is well, send me an email sometime. The heads I have mentioned were J. Benton's, remember that far back?!

I agree w/ the locality of the shop. I will be doing some more research. And no, I don't plan on drag racing this car, so it won't be pushed to extremes all the time.

Thanks for all the input guys

 

Sup Ang

Yeah, I remember that far. I helped solidfy that deal Your top end is already sufficient and I actually agree with the other poster in some of his comments concerning the bottom end. BUT, for the price your still gonna be around 3K even with a local shop using cast parts unless you are friends with the owner. So getting a complete forged bottom end may be complete overkill in this situation but the price is pretty good. Ofcourse this speaks nothing about the quality of work this shop puts out so take that with a grain of salt....

I also agree with working with someone local which is why I've had one engine builder for all my builds. Being able to always check on your stuff speaks volumes as well as finding a shop that may be small with alot less overhead (read: paid for equipment) so you can get better pricing on basic buildups like the one you are talking about doing.

 

Better to start in the lower forum and let people invite you to move up to advanced, instead of getting kicked out of advanced.

If you did searches, you should already know the answers to most of your questions.

There is no such thing as an LT4 block.

For the rest - get recommendations for a good local builder, then take his advice.

 

Thanks for answering my post so well
LT4 "block"-I want a 4 bolt main instead of a 2 bolt main.

BTW, where I live, there are no "good local builders". Everyone here works on carb cars, and anything under a 75. The most local would be a 3-4 hour drive to NC. Either way, I thought this thread was over a couple of days ago, when I thanked the guys that did take a minute to help me out.