I'll tell you one thing I have learned; Here in Manitoba getting accurate machine work done is kindof a crap-shoot. Because of that, my next project will have little to no machining work done.I have swapped heads and intakes and blocks around for years and years using virgin Mopar parts and never had a single sealing issue. But it took 4 machine shops to get my block straight enough to be useable, with each one adding their own errors.And that's just the block.The crank and rods were another adventure. It took me a full day to assemble the short-block, with most of the time going to fitting the rods onto the crank, and getting the deck heights reasonably close.
The decking guy cut the decks wrong. They were not at the correct angle to eachother. And they were sloped front to rear. In opposite directions. Their fixturing is messed up for this to happen
The boring guy drilled the holes off the crooked decks..It's not drilling its boring and when a deck mounted boring bar is mounted on the deck it could happen but the decks would have to be machined VERY crooked for it to effect the boring job a noticeable amount.
The line-hone job, put the rear of the crank up into the saddle so far, the neoprene rear main seal, wouldn't seal. Again it had to have been align bored for it to be this far off. Did you fit aftermarket 4 bolt caps? This is the only reason for a block to require align boring.
The crank was turned 10/10, but the index was not the same on all of them, so I had some at 3.58stroke and some at less. Indexing a crank refers to machining the throws at a perfect 90 degrees. Equalizing the stroke is different.
The rod lenghths were not the same. They never are when OEM rods are remanned. Unless they are bored on a Tobin Arp rod boring machine--Doubtful
The KB107s were bang on within a couple of tenths. Why wouldn't they be?
So just imagine that mess; organize the rods according to length, organize the pistons according to compression heights. You just said they were bang on--What's left to organize? Take the longest rod with the shortest piston and map out the holes, using the deck height as the comparitor. Then fit the rods and pistons in there to achieve some semblance of equal deck heights. Then fine tune it. Then re-number the rods.
And the holes are still crooked. They cylinders would have to be so non perpendicular for you to notice that your piston skirts are going to show you how bad they are in short order.
The engine doesn't seem to care tho. That's because it isn't as bad as you think.She's a streeter. But it still bugs me. There is nothing I can do about the rear mainseal, so in went a ropeseal. Seems to be working;mostly.
Never again. I will order custom pistons to fit my overbored block and make 'em fit, cutting the tops to fit the chambers What are you talking about? Cut the tops to fit chambers? What are you building a Big Chevy with domes? Even then chamber mold kits exist now so pistons can be made EXACTLY how you need them.
No line-hone, no decking, no head or intake shaving. No crank work, no rod resizing.Just boring;thank you very much. I have two 360 cores waiting.
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Anybody need a fully machined 360-40over block, with matching maincaps? I'll palletize it in a big plastic bag. I'll call it a ready-to-go, block-in-a-bag.
'Course Ima kidding. When I finally replace this hummer, I will personally take a sledge-hammer to it. You sound like your own worse enemyEvery blow will bring me immense satisfaction.
BTW, every machine shop said "bring us another block and we'll make it right." ........Um, no! In the shops mind they are thinking "And this time we won't listen to this guys asinine requests and just machine the block the way we always do"
I forgave them right then and there, so if they burn in the Lake of Fire, it won't be on my account..
Yeah, so I'll be 63 this summer. Blasting around in my S is sorta losing it's appeal, so I might never get to another engine. I gots 2 grandkids now, tho, and maybe a couple more coming, so you never know..............And I still have excellent health.