I am doing a 355 buildup and decided against doing the assembly myself due to the fact that I dont have all the correct tools to do the measuring of the machine work. I would rather have a reputable shop put it together for 300 bucks and blue print it so that I know what tolarances they are using. You will also more than likely have to have your assembly balanced again anyhow, so thats another trip to the machine shop. I am planning on roughly 1k in machine work after the block is bored honed etc and the shortblock is put together. I purchased all of the rotating assembly parts/gaskets myself already including freeze plugs etc.

 

300 for assembly?

damn, i paid 900 to get it done by someone with good rep....

300 seems sorta cheap

 

The only close shop to me is in Denver and thats 3 hours away and when you work and go to school you dont get days off so we'll see how my plastigauged bottom end turns out... ive allready got to bottom end together. but i wish that there was a shop around.

 

900 to assemble? The shortblock or the whole thing? If just for a shortblock that seems pretty steep. $300 is the average price for the labor of a shortblock build around these parts.

 

Yah, everyone i know has paid around $300 for shortblock assembly - that was my quoted price but i assembled it myself (with plastigage...4,000 miles so far and still running strong )

 

I might still take a crack at it. I don't have all the tools but maybe 1racerdude will let me borrow his.
What kind of machine work that's not involved with the bottom end or the block would cost 1k? Do you mean porting the heads or something?
Also, can anyone give a second opinion on the likelihood that a balanced assembly from a decent seller would have to be re-balanced. And is an internal balance really just a crankshaft balance, or do they also put on the connecting rods and pistons, and then balance the assembly? (If the second is the case, I assume that if one has to switch the pistons around and such to get the best fit on assembly, then the balance is shot.) From what I've heard, if you have to have an internal balance done by the shop, it will add at least $200 to the bill. CNC sells their assemblies with the option of a balance for $150; not a significant difference, but if self-assembly is the plan, the balance from the seller would need to be right.

 

Oh, you mean 1k FOR that work. My mistake; not a bad price either.

 

They don't actually put the connecting rods and pistons on the assembly to balance it, that would tend to sling things around a little. What they do is weigh the pistons, rods, bearings etc and then use a formula to come up with a bob weight that they attach to the crank in the balancing machine. The right way is to weigh all of the pistons, rods, etc, take the lightest weight, remove material from the others until they all match and use that figure in their calculations.

I don't think I'd take a chance on the balance from anyone except the machine shop working on my block. I'd rather order the rotating assembly without the balance and pay the $200.00 to the machinist doing the bottom end work. I'm also assuming that you're going completely internally balanced because if not they're going to need your flywheel. I guess they could externally balance the RA using a "standard" LT1 flywheel, but again if I'm going to have the rotating assembly externally balanced, I would want it balanced with the flywheel that I'm actually going to use. I happen to be getting my assembly internally balanced, but you can be sure that I'm going to have the machine shop check that my flywheel and pressure plate are neutrally balanced before I install them. I've got too much money into this project to take a chance on something as relatively cheap as balancing.

 

The reason it can be expensive on the internal balance is cause of the Mallory metal needed. Also known as "heavy metal" The stuff is like 100 bucks for a 1" cube. Depending on how much you need is what you should be charged for. The stuff certainly isn't cheap, but like what was said, don't skimp on the balance and if you are going to replace the pistons you should re balance the entire rotating assembly, A balanced engine will live longer and make more power through out its life.

 

i will be doing my 383 stroker with a buddy of mine...an older guy...well hes like 35 im 20...but anyways...he has built many of motors...did his old 95 hawk i belive..cant rember the year....but he has built a lot of drag and dirt track motors...soo we will be doing that...and i will be learning a lot!!! see if u can do it with someone soo u can learn!!! and yes...buy and read those books!!!! i read em like they are the bible

 

i heard that if i get the 396 stroker and do this to my 95' it wont pass emissions? is that true?
thanks

p.s. what other things do you have to do when you do this besides change the crankshaft?

 

get the block bored and stroked...change connecting rods...pistoins....timing chain....a lot of things go into play when u do that!!!

 

Give Joe a call Lethal EFI
He is not too far from you, and has a damn good reputation, there are guy in my area sending there stuff to him.

It won't hurt to look into it, Joe is very knowledgable, and if anything else he can point you in the right direction. Also, you dont have to worry about some under paid worker, somone trying to rush it together, or anything like that with Joe and Eric building your stuff, I will have them do mine when the time comes.


*** EDIT ***
BTW, you will be paying more then $300 for a reputable performance builder to put it together!

 

If I was you, I'd DEFINATLY be listening to these guys right now. DO NOT use plastiguage, just asking for a spun bearing if you ask me. Also, getting your parts balanced from whatever company you bought them from is a waste of money, I'd definatly get them unbalanced and have a local machinist do the balancing for you. I'd include everything from the pressure plate (if you have one) to the harmonic balancer sent to be balanced. I did, and your concience will thank you for it. Also, a few other tips would be to have all your new parts in and ready to be taken up to your machinist before even thinking of getting the block clearancing, boring, or honing done. They can help you get exactly the right clearances for piston to wall clearance, end ring gap, rod bearing clearance, ect. before they even touch the block, not to mention check EVERYTHING over before final install. There's a ton of clearancing work that has to be done that most people don't even think about when assembling the shortblock. And all this adds up fast if your paying someone to do it. By the end having all this done by your machine shop and you still feel like you want to learn how to do all this, be there when the final assembly takes place and definatly take notes. There's just way too much to know for the first timer to get everything right, and if it's only 300 to have it done properly, why not just spend the extra cash? I'd say that's where the best money is spent anyways. Good luck.

Btw, I'm not trying to discourage you here because I was basically in the same boat as you just a few weeks ago and had I not of known a qualified engine builder (which took the time to teach me) the machine shop would of definatly been assembling my short block, luckily I got to learn from this experience.