A tale of three Windsors.

[Hoodabest]

I stopped by my engine shop last week after a day of not so good news at the clinic, and there next to the door was the completed short block. Oh happy day!!!! Three and a half freaking years. This is my first take-away from this. If you let other people slide, they will, but if you need an excuse to slide yourself, these same folks will happily oblige. Anyway, here's a rundown of the work:

-boil, bake, blast the block
-index & install main caps and line bore
-bore and torque plate hone
-clearance for stroker
-deck block for zero height with new pistons
-new cam bearings and freeze plugs
-balance and prep rotating assembly incl. file fit rings
-pre-assemble, check, then assemble short block
-install cam at 0 and timing cover
-disassemble and clean new Edelbrock heads, lap valves, install Howard's springs
-cc heads, cc cylinders, calculate static compression ratio 10.6:1

So to walk out of there with my newly refreshed parts, total bill was $1741.00. Plus an additional $309.00 for the front of the house where the spring set came from. Other than the springs, that bill covered machining, the outsourced services of bake and blast the block and balance the rotating assy., and his assembly work on the block and heads.

That being what it is, it's easy to get a better feel for how reputable engine builders arrive at their prices. I don't mind paying for high quality work, I do, however, like to know that the rate is comparable to what others in his league would be. I originally thought of having a Brent Lykins built engine, but he quoted me a two year wait. This is where I feel like a complete FOOL! Had I just said "sounds good", I'd have had my engine over a year ago, and likely for very similar money, I'd be the proud owner of a Lykins-built engine. Oh hindsight... One of his cams may be in the works for dyno day, on my list to contact.

A few more shots of the short block...

[1795]

Hind site is 20/20. Just keep moving forward. Hopefully the availability of parts will start easing up and it will go a little quicker for you.

[Hoodabest]

Manage attachments is giving me static. Here's another couple. One is of my freeze plug. A couple weeks ago I walked in to the engine shop to check up on things. In every engine waiting for pickup, the freeze plugs had the large-font capital letters "CHINA" stamped deep into them. I told Bill (the engine guy) "Don't even THINK about putting those in my block". He actually had to make look for non-chinese freeze plugs. With me, it's the principle.

[Gaz64]

Nice pics and story so far, keep it coming.

I would ask your builder to show piston to valve clearance, plus retainer to seal etc. Hopefully he can quote this, and not hesitate.

I start a dummy build with the camshaft, then the crank, then one piston and rod, then one head with 2 valves and light checking springs.
Dial indicator on the valve retainer while watching the VTP clearance, versus crank fitted timing wheel.

[Hoodabest]

So, let's talk crankcase venting. (This is where it becomes CLEAR that I'm a mere hobbyist ) . Up until now, I've simply used whatever setup was there, be it pcv, vented caps, didn't matter.

So now i have 3 engines, 3 different sets of valve covers, 3 different intakes. I'm not sure what criteria would even be used to guess where to start. I believe all 3 carb setups have some provision for a pcv line, but that's where I'm stuck.

Oh, and the 408 will be getting a pair of those beautiful Blue Thunder cast covers. They just showed up with a vent-cap, 2 non-vent caps, and a cap with a built-in pcv valve. So I guess I could surmise that to be a nudge in a direction maybe?

[Gaz64]

Originally Posted by Hoodabest

So, let's talk crankcase venting. (This is where it becomes CLEAR that I'm a mere hobbyist ) . Up until now, I've simply used whatever setup was there, be it pcv, vented caps, didn't matter.

So now i have 3 engines, 3 different sets of valve covers, 3 different intakes. I'm not sure what criteria would even be used to guess where to start. I believe all 3 carb setups have some provision for a pcv line, but that's where I'm stuck.

Oh, and the 408 will be getting a pair of those beautiful Blue Thunder cast covers. They just showed up with a vent-cap, 2 non-vent caps, and a cap with a built-in pcv valve. So I guess I could surmise that to be a nudge in a direction maybe?

By all means, we could do that. I recommend you start a new thread, so this one stays on your original topic.
Makes searching threads for future reference/information etc a lot more practical.
I am sure there are many members on here that will contribute to a well-informed discussion.

Gary