I just talked to my machinest and he quoted me around 500 for machine and install.

 

I would think that $500 includes the cost of the splayed caps?

 

Yep and bolts.

 

$500 is not bad considering caps, studs, and (I assume) align bore.

Maybe another $500 to clean, deck/hone with plates, etc?

So $1000 in machine work plus a Compstar kit (maybe with a different piston) for $2100.

$3100 plus tools (~$500) to assemble myself (I'm considering $0.00/hr for my labor ).

Does this look realistic? Maybe $1K better than a pre-build short block. Of course if I enter my time spent - 20hrs at $XX/hr and consider cost of tools I wont need, a VRE shortblock starts to look real good at $4800.

But....I think this project will be an excellent learning experience to do it myself.

What do you think?

-Scott.

 

for like 3600 u can get a vre block

 

reamo04 - From what I saw on their site, $3600 would not include splayed mains. The 2-bolt is really my main concern above ~600hp.

The $4800 I mentioned was the Victory Lane which if you swapped the DS for the Compstar would likely come down a few hundred. The quick estimate shown above @ $3600 was with a Compstar crank and considering my time is worth $0.00.

Est: $3600+swap to dragonslayer = ~$3900 to build myself. Or $4800 to just buy the damn thing. That sorta justifies my statement that if I spend time piecing the whole thing out I could save ~$1K.

All of this doesn't give me much incentive at all to piece it together. Although I would learn a hell of a lot and have a lot of pride in it.

Still a lot of time to contemplate, get quotes, listen to reason .

-Scott.

 

Email Eric from VRE and tell him you would like a price on a shortblock with the following:

Eagle 4340 3.75" crank
Eagle 5.7" H-beam rod
JE forged pistons (whatever CC you need)
4 bolt splayed caps

Feel free to substitute any parts above, but the point is to send an email with what you want and see what they will quote. BTW - the setup above will easily handle 700rwhp.

 

look at the racer series. Pm eric and ask him if he can do the racer series with splayed caps. i bet he can

 

I know it's been discussed here before, but can't find much by searcing. What is everyone's take on filling the block? And would you do a short fill (usually used in circle track stuff), or a tall fill (bottom of water pump passages) for a car that sees quite a bit of street miles? My old motor was between a tall and short fill and I never had any cooling problems.

I'm talking about 700+ rwhp, factory (straight) 4-bolt mains-studded.

 

You do not need fill. "Reliable" and 700hp from an LTx motor is somewhat of a relative term. It is not going to go on forever and ever like a factory motor no matter what parts are selected. Keeping the revs down will help and avoiding detonation will help a lot. Careful assembly will help. Callies stuff is miles better than Eagle, but where you really need to go for the best in terms of the bottom end is the pistons. Ross and JE are my faves.

What I would do: Compstar crank and rods, Ross or JE pistons, 4-bolt main caps, King "High Performance" or Clevite 77 bearings.

Rich

 

The problem is my old block cracked after only a handfull of dyno runs and 3 passes at the track. It put a 3" long verticle crack in the #2 cylinder wall adjacent to the #4 cylinder. There were NO signs of detonation, bearings looked good, rings are perfect, etc.

The rotating assembly is Eagle crank and rods, and Weisco pistons. Just a .030" overbore.

 

That's odd. I've been running my .060" block for several years now at 17 psi boost with no issues at all. I really didn't expect this one to last, but it has been great.

 

It takes a little money to get it sonic checked and magnafluxed, but worth it.

 

Could have been an issue with core shift during the casting process. Regardless of over-bore size, shift can cause thin areas between bores.

Kevin's got it. Sonic check.


-Scott.

 

I'm hearing too that Compstar cranks are no longer being manufactured.

Still debating the best way to go about the SB

I don't think a street fill would be bad. It can only strengthen the lower area of the bores/main web area. Stiffer bores are going to make more power as there is less deflection under load and better cylinder sealing. D. Vizard seems to think as well that there isn't much need for coolant in the lower area of the bores. Most of the temperature is up near the top where combustion is occurring. Also helps keep the oil hot.

-Scott.