Quote:
Originally Posted by Excaliber
When I rebuilt my side oiler it seem's like 90% of the work was getting the various parts ready. There is a TON of measurements you have to take before you can order parts, some of which are custom. Get the measurements wrong and your screwed, you can't return custom parts, you get ONE shot at them.
Then there was the multiple trips to the machine shop, and double checking HIS work with more measurements when I got the stuff home. Was the crank ground exactly like I wanted? Was the bore? Did I even HAVE the proper tools to measure this stuff and was I doing in the correct manner? Whew, it was nerve wracking man, a lot of sleepless nights over the block, the crank, the pistons, the heads. What "parts" am I going with and why? Flat tappet cam breakin procedures? Will it all work together or did I make a bad choice on some part? Ring gap file? I aint got no ring gap file, say WHAT?! Surprising how many tools a guy needs, when your doing it from scratch.
A "kit" makes a LOT of sense, ready to assemble, yup, makes a lot of sense. Heck, thats the bulk of the work right there! The final assembly is a piece of cake compared to the prepartion work to get to that point. 
It is a terrific feeling driving the car and knowing, "I built that motor, this is SO awesome".
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Ernie's post reflects my thoughts on the matter.
I would be delighted to be able to put in an order for the parts combo that I wanted and to have them machined to fit as they should.
Particularly from a reputable performance shop as I believe this makes a difference to the nature of tollerences and what will/won't be seen as acceptable.
I suspect that many machine shops would offer the service if you asked - or thought to - and that offering this as a service will make self assembly much more viable for a number of people.
LoBelly