Help with my broken 406

[Power Surge]

Originally Posted by Excaliber

I don't buy into the logic that 'old' parts should be case aside. A 30 year old doesn't automatically mean it's junk. It's just as likely a new rod has a casting flaw. How you gonna know? Xray? Check for hardness, straightness, etc. etc.? Sure, like we gotta a NASCAR budget for engine building. Your taking a risk, less risk for new part than for an old part? OK, how about a little common sense here, COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS.

I'd rather have the customer run modern, improved parts, than to chance a vintage part breaking.

Originally Posted by Excaliber

Torgue plates MUST be used for the bore? Yeah right, like everyone did THAT back in the day! What you gonna do with your motor? COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS. HELLO!!! Align bore\hone? Sure why not, thats a SAFE answer!

It's not the safe answer, it's the RIGHT answer. The block distorts when you bolt the heads on. ESPECIALLY thin FE blocks. Why would you bore something true when it's not at it's natural position? That's like cutting a brake rotor on a lathe with a bent shaft. Sure, the car will still stop, but it won't be right.

Originally Posted by Excaliber

The EASY and ALWAYS politically correct and LAZY 'no risk of looking like a fool' answer is: Just buy everything new, let the BIG dogs build it, pony up the bucks, leave no part unmachined and sign the dam check. Heck with the guy trying to save a few bucks, call HIM the fool.

Sheessssh, whatever happened to building your own dam engine your way within a REASONABLE budget and driving it like you built it? Now if your gonna turn it 7000 grand and run NASCAR, you might want to get your check book out and let someone else build it (weanie that you are).

This isn't 1965. Tecnology has vastly improved since then. To NOT take advantage of better parts and better machining methods is retarted. It's ok when you are 17 and rebuilding the 200 horse 350 in your 77 Camaro yourself with a Summit rebuild kit in your driveway. These aren't the motors and the cars to be taking chances on with a driveway build. Sure, they did it that way in the 60s. That's why almost every 427 you come across nowadays has a nice patch in the side of the block, or is in need of rebuild. You might say that YOUR home built 427 is doing fine Ernie, but even a blind squirrel gets a nut every now and then. It's 2006, come join us.