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Machining timeline?

icetech said:
Just had a general question.. my cars are beaters so i usually find a good motor and use it or re-ring/bearing and drive. This time i wanted to do a stroker and do it semi correctly.. Took my block in over 3 months ago to get bored 30 and decked.

I was just curious, how long do you guys usually wait for a block to get done? I see guys that seem to do alot of motors and i just don't see how anything gets done in less than 6 months+ at this rate.

I'm not that worried bout it yet, i am just hoping to have the motor for spring. Last time i took a block in it was just for cleaning/cam bearings, that took bout 2 days. was also 30 years ago though :)
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never tell them your not in a hurry for I !!!
 
copper67sat said:
I recently got my 383 parts back from the machine shop. Took 2+ months for a valve job on new aluminum heads, R&R pistons, hone cylinders, polish & rebalance crank. Took me a while to find a trustworthy shop in my area so that slowed my build down significantly. I kept tasking around until I got solid recommendations. This guy is a drag racer and builds a lot of 5.0s and Coyotes for that crowd but can also handle other makes. I was encouraged when I dropped my parts off and one of his workers identified it as BB Mopar just by looking at the rear of the block even though it was covered in a black trash bag.

I had a comparable $ estimate from the shop that did the work last time (35 yrs ago) with a 1-week turnaround, but this is the shop that did questionable work on my original heads the first time, so he was a last resort at best. Glad I didn't go back there. The new shop told me that the crank was not well-balanced by the previous shop, so they had to spend time undoing some of that work to get it balanced this time. He also told me that my new 440 Source heads needed extra work because some of the seats were not quite located properly relative to the valve.
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Yeah, finding someone you can trust means everything... Back when i did my 400, i just had it cleaned and cam bearings/core plugs done and when i got it back the cam bearing oil holes weren't lined up for the rocker oiling.. and i couldn't get a cam to go in.. The guy actually told me i spun the cam bearings trying to install the cam.... amazing :)
 
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Yep. It's often a choice between the shop down the street that isn't busy for a reason, and can get your work done in a week, or....
The busy shop you trust, that has a great reputation, and you get your stuff back in three months, if your lucky, or....
The race shop who is REALLY good.... and charges both arms and a leg, and get your stuff back whenever, . if he doesn't go out of business first.
Edit: I know who I want to do my work, I know it's basically a two man shop, and I know they are very busy, and have a great rep. I plan on the necessary wait. (For those curious, IMM)
 
Back when I was in the market for a 340 rebuild, I ran into a guy (now a very good friend) who has had the same guy build all his engines... about a mile from where we had just recently moved. Turns out this builder (also a very good friend now) specializes in head work, but does total rebuilds... only Mopar... and used to do work for Kenny Bernstein, Joe Amato and others when they were racing in this area. Man, talk about the stars and planets lining up perfectly!
 
Hilljack68 said:
Back when I was in the market for a 340 rebuild, I ran into a guy (now a very good friend) who has had the same guy build all his engines... about a mile from where we had just recently moved. Turns out this builder (also a very good friend now) specializes in head work, but does total rebuilds... only Mopar... and used to do work for Kenny Bernstein, Joe Amato and others when they were racing in this area. Man, talk about the stars and planets lining up perfectly!
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you are a lucky guy :)
 
It all depends on how busy the shop is, but more so.... how much work they take in that they jump in front of you. People who use the shop all the time typically get bumping priority is my experience.
 
I'll have the machined block, crank and rods[ what came in it], new cast early pistons with moly rings, cam bearings in and fitted, freeze plugs in, balanced rotating assembly. So, I need to buy everything else.
 
The shop I use is performance oriented and has an excellent reputation. As such, it is a very busy place. I dropped off my block, new crank, rods, new pistons and other parts on 7/22 for the 'works' incl line honing, r&r cam brgs, rods reconditioned, pistons hung, rings file fitted and the rotating assembly balanced among other things. The crank got 2 slugs of heavy metal to balance it. They measured everything incl main brgs, rod brgs, lifter bores, lifter diameters, etc. They had me provide the cam I was going to use to make sure the cam brgs didn't need honing. They went as far as honing the new ATI balancer hub to ensure a .001 interference fit. Top notch work. I picked everything up on 9/23 - but there was a 28-day delay waiting for custom rod pin bushings as Indy, Barton, & others were out. I escaped with a $1600 bill. I cringe at the stories I hear about some of these other shops.
 
I live near Madison WI, years ago we had at least half a dozen automotive machine shops, some had crank grinders, some could balance cranks, few could align bore, most did rebuilds on almost anything. One by one they disappeared. Now we have ONE very reliable shop that does ALL phases of machining. (1.5 hour drive one way) 2 years ago I brought him a 440/512 for machining. I just "showed up" with it, based on his reputation (I had never met him). He stated he was 6 months out, but he was sick of doing work on foreign engines. I got lucky, I left it with him, took about 6 weeks. He uses state of art plateau honing, align bored it etc. I told him I was building it, that definitely saved lots of turnaround time.
 
JC Boatguy said:
I live near Madison WI, years ago we had at least half a dozen automotive machine shops, some had crank grinders, some could balance cranks, few could align bore, most did rebuilds on almost anything. One by one they disappeared. Now we have ONE very reliable shop that does ALL phases of machining. (1.5 hour drive one way) 2 years ago I brought him a 440/512 for machining. I just "showed up" with it, based on his reputation (I had never met him). He stated he was 6 months out, but he was sick of doing work on foreign engines. I got lucky, I left it with him, took about 6 weeks. He uses state of art plateau honing, align bored it etc. I told him I was building it, that definitely saved lots of turnaround time.
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I'd say you got lucky. When I first presented what I wanted done to the shop I spoke about in post 31 above, proprietor said about a year out. Ok, I got on the list (Apr 2023). Apr 2024 came and went. I posted about it here and @MOPARMAGA offered to fit me into his schedule in two weeks time. The 4.355 block didn't clean up at 4.375 so we elected to take the bore to 4.500 and had to wait a few weeks until the pistons were sourced and sent to 'MAGA. Once he had the slugs, he jumped right on it. He also arranged to deck the block while it was in his care. Outstanding work all the way around! Unfortunately, I didn't have all the other parts at the time to have him complete the work I just had done locally. But I'm all good now. I hope to get the engine completed and in the car before the snow flies.
 
PsyOps said:
I'd say you got lucky. When I first presented what I wanted done to the shop I spoke about in post 31 above, proprietor said about a year out. Ok, I got on the list (Apr 2023). Apr 2024 came and went. I posted about it here and @MOPARMAGA offered to fit me into his schedule in two weeks time. The 4.355 block didn't clean up at 4.375 so we elected to take the bore to 4.500 and had to wait a few weeks until the pistons were sourced and sent to 'MAGA. Once he had the slugs, he jumped right on it. He also arranged to deck the block while it was in his care. Outstanding work all the way around! Unfortunately, I didn't have all the other parts at the time to have him complete the work I just had done locally. But I'm all good now. I hope to get the engine completed and in the car before the snow flies.
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Good luck, may the "force" be with you.
 
I'm picking up my short block pieces tomorrow. Assembly, by me, will happen once I make enough income to put it together after I've paid for some activities coming up. Fall Fling[ travel, hotel, grub, show] then in December I have the Hot Rod Power Tour West[ travel, hotel, grub etc].
 
ckessel said:
I'm picking up my short block pieces tomorrow. Assembly, by me, will happen once I make enough income to put it together after I've paid for some activities coming up. Fall Fling[ travel, hotel, grub, show] then in December I have the Hot Rod Power Tour West[ travel, hotel, grub etc].
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I feel your pain. I've pushed the limit of 'early Christmas presents' in gathering the small things to assemble the engine - those hidden costs will kill you. Hopefully your travels are a lot of fun and uneventful.
 
The travels are going to be fun. Looking forward to them but I have to be a big boy and cover expenses first.:lol:
 
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