hammertime

Thats half the battle finding a good shop who stands behind the stuff they build ... some do not .... some do

cepx111

The thing is, most dont unless you pay for it :shock:
Big money grips sent theirs out, poor folks DIY, but then again, poor folks usually dont have 1400HP motors either... JMO>Cp

Tod74

I always do my own.I can't afford to have someone else do it. I have nobody to blame but me that way, and I never have to worry about "is it what they said it was".. But I have 10 k in mine not 20K ...and no power adders...that makes aBIG difference too, in my opinion.

TS1955

My opinion on this is...I keep everything as clean as possible and have my torque wrench calibrated every couple of years. I watch very closely on what I do. and when I assemble an engine I am by myself, no one around and not even the radio on, so there are no distractions. So far I've had pretty good luck. I'm like alot of you...can't afford to have someone else do it. And have the pleasure of saying "I" built the motor. JMO

TS1955

bjuice

ok so let me Get this straight...So you consider yourself in the same league as Gene Fulton, PAR, R/M,Nye's ???....

Cause the only point i was making is that spending $500-$700 more to have One of these four BUILDERS ( Not Assemblers) do your work is a wise investment choice for Many....


OH OneBadgmc..i hate to tell ya...just because you have owned 3 engines in 18 yrs Dont tell ME much...........How many passes did you make and what did they Run (ET)........i Mean Hammer is making (300) 4 second passes in his rail before doing some preventive re-freshes..nothing mandatory at (300) just a precaution.....now that tells me something about his builder.

OneBadGMC

Well back when I raced on a regular basis in the 90s, ate, slept and dreamed of going fast...

I was at the track every Wed/Sat night with the 454. I have no clue how many passes were on the motor, but I sure know it was a ton. That motor was running 9.60s at 3700+ lbs, pushing a brick down the track. 300 passes sound realistic, then add on street driving, car cruises, etc etc. Probably another couple thousand miles of street driving on top of the 300 passes every year.

The 505 lived from 1997 until 2005. Same conditions.

Do I consider myself in their league. As far as assembly and attention to detail, you bet. As far as experience with head porting, cam selection, and carb selection, I wouldn't make an oil stain on their pants.

Just because someone doesn't do it for a living doesn't make them a weekend hack who doesn't know which end of the torque wrench to grab.

Just because you don't feel comfortable assembling your own motors at a given power level doesn't mean everybody else is too.

Do you think these top tier builders started off that way? They popped out of mommy's vagina and instantly were God's gift to the automotive racing world?

Everyone starts somewhere. Why would you discourage someone from actually learning how to do it themselves? Honestly, it's not that tough.

“Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.” - Peter T. McIntyre

bjuice

I deleted my Original reply .the more i thought about it..i just wanted to bring out a few things to the point.

1st - I gave this Guy my opinion of what i would do. He did ask for some opinions...Didn't he ??..My reply wasn't for You Sir..If My opinion discourages someone then maybe they should not have ask for opinions to begin with......so with this said...I didn't call you a weekend warrior you stepped up and assumed the Role ?? :roll:
for the record i have no clue what you do for a living..you could be a engine builder for all i know...lol


2nd- Also IMO you haven't run Fast Yet OnebadGMC a 9.60 1/4 or your 5.50/5.60 1/8th is not so impressive to me for the type of motor set up you have 3700lbs or Not......Again just My opinion..based on what i see run each weekend.

3rd- My ET #'s speak for itself, could it possibly be maybe i Know something about this ??....not near as most i am sure.. thats obvious... but enough to put a 3,000 lb door car on 10 inch tires in the low 4.70's and fixin to go 60's !!!...but i guess there is always someone 2 seconds slower always willing to give information to you on how to run faster........lmao..


i know, i know...running that Fast on 10inch tires at 3,000lbs is No Big deal Anyone could do it ...LMAO...don't let me Discourage you ...go out and Bust it off this weekend and let us Know how easy it was...i hope you can get it there...seriously !!!...if not i know a Good engine Builder you may want to call

lively

....{you talking about 500 to 700 assembly fee}-----------------that price won't touch any good shop in my area as far as assembly goes--
i build my own engines and have had some high revving small blocks over 450 horse--i have not built a 20,000 engine but if i had the time i would still try to do my own[ i am just funny that way 8) ]
i think if someone wants to learn -you have to learn somewhere and sometime--all these other engine builders started somewhere :? :? --they just did not wake up and pow--i can build :twisted: :twisted: !!!

sorry guys but i have to go back to the old basics-[money don't buy everything -sometimes hot rods are built at HOME]

LIVELY

DirkaDirka

I am with him. You can call it being stubborn but I am going to attempt to build the engine for the Stang myself. Im trying to get it into the 9 sec 1/4mi bracket.

Tod74

In my opinion it is almost an apples to oranges comparison when compairing the average weekend bracket racer's engine to one like yours. Obviously all engines need to be "right" to live, but at the power levels you guys make(especially with power adders) the margin for error is much smaller. Every aspect of that engine must be carefully thought out for them to be able to survive. Not exactly the same thing as a 9 or 10 second bracket engine that is bolted together from a Jegs catalog. So to me it depends on your goals. JMO