Cuda and its new 360

Always nice to hear from you Billy. I do just fine spending other peoples money, and so far, no major lack of satisfaction from my customers. I did have a 440 that spun a rod bearing a few years back, and at one point I left an extension from my wratchet in the valley of a 360 that resulted in some noises, but everybody's human.
My last 416, solid roller cam, Shady Dell Speed Edelbrock headed street engine is running fine in CA. At least, that's what the owner said in his letter and $150 tip (My assembly fee for his was $300..Indy charges $1000 IIRC, and they have issues). His brother in Michigan is assembling the 496 I machined for him, also edelbrock heads. That's for a bracket Duster, 4link car.
The used 440 I went thru for my buddy's '71 Cuda was just dyno'd 2 weeks ago. Hydraulic cam, stock rockers, junk 516 heads I ported, and a $600 used but rebuilt shortblock running TRW heavy pistons. It only made 378hp @ 5200, 480tq @ 3500 at the tires, on a known stingy(my preferred) dyno. It makes 450 pound feet tq from 2300 to 4800, on pump gas, with the sixpac, and a cam under .520 lift. Do the math. Thats a pump gas 440 that makes 525tq+ and just shy of 440hp with the head well documented to have the worst exh flow of all factory castings, and an intake system that many racers and builders know is fairly restrictive. It cost him $2000 to have it complete and running in the car including the heads and new cam/timing set, headers, and distributor, not including the iron six pack and carbs. My work for him was free, we barter a lot, but I'd charge $500 for the work I did to a stranger.
I work within budgets, and I make the power the customer asks for, in an engine that doesnt break as long as they are honest with me about usage and habits.
I have a 440Source kit B block 451 ready to be assembled for a fellow a couple towns over. It will be completed with Edelbrock heads, and a flat tappet cam. His cost will be close to $6K, but he'll still need a convertor, headers, intake, and bigger carb than the 383 in his RR. That 383, in a '69 RR with 3.23s at a track rental 3 weeks ago, I took from 14.80s to 14.1 and got 4mph more from it. That was for nothing. He's still running the carb I built for him. I bought it at a swap, went thru it with my time and $$ for the AED kit I used, and I tuned it at the track. Hasnt cost him a dime so far.
I post costs in my builds because for most guys, cost is an issue they fight the whole way thru. And I'm a firm believer in being honest. Can I build a $1500 360 that runs 11s? Sure. It just wont last, or have every nut and bolt included in that cost, and it sure wont be running a low stall convertor and street gears, but I can build it.
I build street engines primarilly, that race occasionally. It's much easier to make an 11 second race car, than an 11 second street car, that drives 50 miles round trip to work ,runs the power brakes, gets spun to 6800 on the highway racing Hondas for 20 miles, and runs on pump gas, reliably. But you already know that, or should. I assume most guys appreciate that honesty from me. It sure makes up for being despondant when they pick up the engine, and it feels sluggish because of the TQ convertor replacement the builder left out of the build up cost, or the 5/16th fuel line that wont feed the 500" big block like the 383 could run with.
I guess it's easy to judge when you're a thousand miles south of here, and you do this for a living. Oh, that's right, I forgot, this is a hobby for me. You have years on me, and years of being in the business full time. You better be better at engines than I am, my mortage doesnt depend on my engines. Personally (since you opened that door), I find a lot of your guidance severly dated anyway. There are a ton more options in 2006 than what you typically suggest. Many are less money overall, and give better results than the "old tech". Your pricing, in your posts anyway, also seems to be based on old price sheets, not PDF files, if you catch my drift. I doubt if the end cost once the car makes it's first runs on the new engine is really what is posted, but I'm in the most expensive state in the country, so maybe that's the difference.
I dont belive in pounding my chest, or being the loudest in a crowd, so you dont hear what I do. I'm only listing stuff here as a response. You'll see an entire car I did ecept for bodywork at Carlisle. I just pulled it from the body shop yesterday morning in NY city. It's a G machine '73 Cuda, running a 432" Indy crate engine (NOT my choice, and he's already regretting the purchase), Gear Venders OD, Baer brakes, tubular control arms, trick headlights, electronics, 17" front, 18" rears. I set the car up for road racing, and repaired thousands of dollars of misguided previous repairs, and it's easliy capable of cruising at 150mph for hours. Did I say he contacted me?
I dont solicit as I've seen you and other business owners do here. It's not my way, For Sale or Wanted ads have thier own threads. People that like my work talk for me. Heck, I've even posted for guys to call you for some stuff they needed to have done.
I do complete body jobs, rust repair, wire race cars, do string alignments in my garage, have 11.0 street cars runing my rears and transmissions, plus do engine building, which is where my interest really lies. And I can do all of it fairly well, at least well enough that I have earned a living doing it. I fell back on it several times in my life. I've been an ASE master tech, incuding Engine Performance.
As far as this particular post, I gave 2 seperate builds. I thought it was simple, maybe the poster did too, if not, I'm sure he'll respond other than "thanks for the advice". If you cant keep up with my mind, that's find..I sometimes get too excited and dont make sense. My friends tell me that all the time, so I have to sit and clarify for them too.
I'm sure our paths will cross at some point. I'd still love to sit and have some beers with you some day as I'm sure I can learn a lot from you. From our consversation, I felt we werent in direct competition, just two guys trying to help people out. From this last post, perhaps I was giving you too much credit. Too bad you are under the impression you already know everything. Have a great Memorial Day!