Would you build it? Bore wall thickness.

grander · May 2, 2020

Hey all,
I'm a bit stuck moving forward with my build and would like a few opinions.
The original plan was a LA 408+ stroker using the 360-1's and manifold that flow around 320-330 (as I recall). It will be going into my 64 Dodge Phoenix with a built 904 /5k stall and 3.9 9". Cam will be a custom grind.
The car is purely a weekend plaything and am thinking low to mid 11's would be nice.

Now, unfortunately sonic testing has revealed that one bore has a wall thickness that measures at .080". The rest all range up to .210"

So. My question is - should I save my hard earned $$$ or should I throw the dice?
What would you do?

Here in Australia original Mopar parts are few and far between not to mention expensive.
The search over the last few months for a new block has as yet been unsuccessful.
My next thought is to cut my loses and go with a 6.4 hemi but it is not the car for a modern motor if you know what I mean? and again expensive here.
There is a local supplier importing ritter blocks but the finished cost alone would end up being nearly $10,000 so also not an option.

Any opinions, thoughts, suggestions are all greatly appreciated!

Graeme.

Darter6 · May 2, 2020

Will your machine shop sleeve that one cylinder ? Plenty of guys around here are running sleeve blocks.One guy racing his Duster has 4 sleeves in a 340 block without problem. Just a thought.

yella71 · May 2, 2020

Darter6 said:
Will your machine shop sleeve that one cylinder ? Plenty of guys around here are running sleeve blocks.One guy racing his Duster has 4 sleeves in a 340 block without problem. Just a thought.

I was also thinking sleaving it but will that get him to 408 cubes? just do a 360....all this stroker bs has gotten out of hand

flyingfarley · May 2, 2020

I have had probably 1 out of 3 360 blocks with bad core shift problems...just sleeve the bad cylinder...bore to the size of the rest of the cylinder, and build that 408.....they are awesome motors...love lots of cam, and make great horsepower

33 IMP · May 2, 2020

I agree with all the previous. Especially since blocks aren't falling out of the trees where you are, sleeve the bad hole, bore it, and run it. If a sleeve is done right, it will be the best hole in the block.

91r/t · May 2, 2020

Gotta figure all the new aluminum block engines are all sleeved anyways so nothing wrong with them if done right.

:thumbsup:

fbs63 · May 2, 2020

Long as you have a machine shop you trust to do it correctly sleeve it. As said, it will be the strongest hole.

IQ52 · May 2, 2020

So, how thick is a cylinder sleeve boys? Most are .090". Then you are going to bore it? You know it doesn't work like .080" + .090" = .170"! This is in the racers section, hang on until you can get a good block.

R413 · May 2, 2020

A sleeve is not made of cast iron with rust on the other side in the cooling passages.

sleeves are tough and will not fail!

snakeoil24 · May 2, 2020

People have been sleeving blocks for 100 years with no issues. Just make sure machine shop knows the process to prep the block.

steve340 · May 2, 2020

You have not mentioned the location of the thin bit?
Is it on the thrust side?
I would not sleeve it if you do not have to. 80 thou is 2 mm I would probably give that a go.

IQ52 · May 2, 2020

Well there you go, 9 to 1 for the sleeve or running your engine as-is versus finding a good block for a question posted in the 'Racers Hangout' section. Throw the dice baby, throw the dice! I wouldn't run .080" on the pin side of the bore in anything but a stock rebuild.

33 IMP · May 2, 2020

Jim, the op is in Australia. The nearest "good" block might be 5000 miles away.

IQ52 · May 2, 2020

33 IMP said:
Jim, the op is in Australia. The nearest "good" block might be 5000 miles away.

Of that I am aware. If you choose to build an engine not original on your continent you don't have to play by the same rules of physics?

Oh, I see, the stress on an engine is less in Australia! Something about the earth's rotational forces south of the equator then?

Dodge 330 · May 2, 2020

yella71 said:
I was also thinking sleaving it but will that get him to 408 cubes? just do a 360....all this stroker bs has gotten out of hand

Why are you crying about what other people are doing with their builds? Stroking makes a lot of sense if you need to replace all the internals anyway.

Endangered Species · May 2, 2020

Another question would be, is it just one spot, and is it on the major or minor thrust side?

Curiousyellow71 · May 2, 2020

Anyone have thoughts on using a short fill to reinforce the thin spot? I would think it wouldn't hurt..maybe would just start to get some weeping vs a epic failure?

Tex013 · May 3, 2020

its all a matter of timing . how long can / do you wait . if the machine shop says we can sleeve it and achieve the bore you want ,go for it .
if not reassess .
yes here it is at times difficult to get parts . have you considered a stroker 318 ? at least those blocks should be more available . Even a blueprint short motor ?
you might want to think 4.1 gears as well .

Tex

grander · May 4, 2020

Thanks all, a lot of food for thought here.

I've been told it would be a wet sleeve by the time the block is prepped for it so not sure how well that would go.

318 stroker has been discussed but that size bore would apparently shroud the heads too much.

I wasn't aware that blueprint did short motors?

Thanks.
G.

Tex013 · May 4, 2020

https://blueprintengines.com/collections/chrysler-crate-engines

https://www.enginemaster.com.au/BluePrint
Out of stock but im sure they could get it

Tex

Would you build it? Bore wall thickness.

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