408 Build Thread

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A lot of the photos on the wall are cars owned or formerly owned by Pat (shop owner) or Clyde (Doc's late brother, was killed in a motorcycle accident about 10 years ago). Pat still races but is trying to get away from the machine shop so you may never see him there.
 
I also met Mike there also? I think that was his name. They both made me feel glad that I chose their shop. They listened to what I was saying and then offered their suggestions. Both seemed like cool Mopar guys.
 
Is Mike the guy behind the counter? I think I've met him a few times. He's fairly new (been there a couple years I think). I'm not sure if he is just the shop manager or if he actually bought Pat out and is the owner/partial owner. I'm pretty sure Bo is still in the back working with them. I've known him since Kindergarden, and he's worked there since high school.
 
Sorry, it was Pat who I met the other day. So I guess he is the owner?!? He gave us a full tour of the shop yesterday, showing us each machine and explaining to my son what it does, and why we're doing it. Very cool guy.

They will be starting on the block first thing Monday. They are going to tank it, measure it and then magnaflux it to make sure we are starting with a good block.

I emailed them a parts list complete with prices earlier in the week. They are going to meet or beat Summit's prices and that will give them a chance to put a little extra coin in their pocket. They are going to buy the Scat forged rotating assembly from their supplier and then add the bearings and rings that they like to use.

Doc hasn't had a chance to look into the Lunati Voodoo 60413 cam that I want to use. But he promised he would check into it. He did say that he likes to use Comp Cam products, but I told him I would prefer to not use them if possible. He was cool with that. He is convinced that he can still get the RHS LA-X heads from his supplier so that we don't have to go through Indy. We shall see.
 
I had to guess on some of your spec's here's what my dyno program gave me 523hp@6000 517tq@4500
 

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I hadn't heard back from the machine shop, so I sent them an email yesterday. Doc called me back today and said that he has been swamped with work recently. The block checked out fine and will clean up with a .030 overbore. :)

We are going to try and get together one night this week to finalize parts and prices. They are about an hour drive away from my house, so we have to figure out what night works best for both of us. It's not like I can just stop by on the way home from work.

I should be able to post more after I speak with him this week!
 
This thread hasn't been updated for a while and I guess it's in need of an explanation. Shortly after the previous post, I had a pretty serious health scare. I had developed a lump in a place where there wasn't supposed to be a lump. Of course, being a guy, I kept quiet about it hoping that it would go away. It didn't and I was finally forced to go see my doctor because it had become painful. The good news is, after a battery of tests and different doctors, it was determined to be something that could be treated without surgery, and I have now received a clean bill of health!! The build is back on.

I had been in touch with Doc at the machine shop, and he was super cool. He said not to worry about anything and to get myself healthy. They would be there when I was ready. I am now ready.

Summit Racing finally ran their 10% discount again, but this time it was only for two days. I found out about it yesterday morning, so I basically had a day and a half to get with Doc, determine what needed to be bought(at least for now), get home tonight and make my purchase! It was very stressful.

We knew the Scat forged rotating assembly (#1-48035) would be on the short list. It comes with I-beam rods and Icon pistons. I decided to use the dish pistons. I bought it unbalanced and without rings and bearings. AMP will balance it and use the bearings and rings that they use in all of their builds. I will let you know what we used when I find that out.

I also went ahead and bought another set of Edelbrock heads (60779). I had purchased a set last year new/used off of Craigslist for $1000. I needed some money to rebuild the engine in my motorcycle last year so they went back on CL and I got my money back out of them. Doc is going to go through them and check all of the clearances. He will also do some light port work on them but nothing too drastic.

I also bought a bunch of ARP hardware, a Melling standard oil pump and drive and few other goodies that I will tell you about shortly. Let's just say that my 10% discount saved me $525, I'll let you do the math.
 
Go man go.
I know when I was putting the top end on my 360 the 10% discount paid for my roller rockers.
 
Rock n Roll,Brian! Smart move ,on the Scat assembly.The Scat rods,usually clear without any clearance grinding,IIRC.
 
Here's some aussie stuff, mines the white charger, valiant charger, 408 stroker, j heads, solid cam, keep up the work, you'll love it when finished the torque is awesome. the dark blue one is a stroker too 408 does 10's. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3DXyaAouVM"]Clints charger mopar saturday skids before sunday - YouTube[/ame]
 
I had one,want one again.Best thing Mopar Performance/Direct Connection ever did.Now we need some Econo W2's back,to feed the fire.
 
Big pile of parts showed up on the porch today, luckily the wife was home and brought them inside. Looks like everything that I need to start on the short block will be coming out at the end of the month. Today, I got the Edelbrock heads, Comp Pro Magnum rocker arms, a bunch of ARP hardware and all of the gaskets.

Oh yeah, the MSD E-curve distributor came today, that's pretty cool. I guess I'll have to open that up and figure out all the settings while I wait on the rest of the parts for my short block to show up.
 
My rotating assembly showed up today. It was drop shipped directly from Scat. Just to refresh, I bought a forged Scat rotating assembly from Summit.Scat rotating assembly link

It came with their 4340 forged crankshaft, Icon 745 forged pistons, and was supposed to come with Scat I beam rods.

Well, someone at Scat must have felt sorry for making me wait two weeks for the kit because when I looked at the rods, they had sent me the Scat H beam rods instead!! That's about a $135 upgrade that I wasn't expecting. I don't know if they meant to do it or not, but I'll accept it. Score one for the little guy!

I spoke with Doc at the machine shop and I'll be dropping the rotating assembly off to him on Tuesday. I'm still waiting on the Professional Products damper that's on back order, but it should ship by the end of the month.
 
My build is pretty close to yours. Just for your encouragement, go to my members photos and it lists all the stuff I did in my 71 Dart. The thing is one awesome beast. Although the Caltracs are doing their job very well, zero traction in first and second. I am very happy with it. I would imagine at a minimum with my stuff 520 to 540 hp.
 
That is encouraging!! Caltracs are definitely in the plans. Probably after I burn through the first set of tires!

You went all out on the heads and cam. I plan on just some light clean up work on the Edelbrock heads and running this comp cam. Here's the cam card.

camcard0001Medium_zpsbd541567.jpg


My next question is, will the springs that came on the Edlebrocks work with this cam???
 
I would PM Brian at IMM or call him up and ask about those springs. You really need an expert to answer that question. If you do need to switch springs I would get a full bee hive set up from Brian. The standard 7 degree retainers and locks I think are marginal for that cam and the springs are prob marginal too. I had to upgrade mine to 10 degree retainers and locks and change my springs too.

Your build is shaping up nicely. Just wait till you put the pedal down...
 
I am off work today for a funeral, so I thought I would take the morning to run a trunk load of parts to the machine shop!!

2013-01-2307-38-31-747.jpg


I forget to mention earlier, but I bought a set of Melling hydraulic roller lifters and spider off of Ebay, and also the dog bones for them from Hughes. I am still waiting on the PP damper from Summit. It's supposed to ship 1/29.

While at the machine shop today I spoke with Doc about oil pans and I think we agreed that the Kevko M302 will be the best bet for what I am trying to do. I will get it and the pickup ordered when I get paid again at the end of the month.

Kevko_zpsab1c5e5b.gif


Doc said that are finishing up two engines right now, a Hemi race engine and also a 440 Six-pack. They should be through with those in the next couple of weeks and they will get started on mine shortly afterwards.
 
Looks good,B.T! Nice cam choice, personally don't trust the .575 limit springs.Single ,with a damper won't like that close a margin on any kind of roller.X2 ,on the beehive set up.
 
Abodybomber said:
Looks good,B.T! Nice cam choice, personally don't trust the .575 limit springs.Single ,with a damper won't like that close a margin on any kind of roller.X2 ,on the beehive set up.
Click to expand...

Ha! My wife calls me BT. Doc is going to contact Comp and see what they think about the springs, and test the springs that came on the heads. I asked him about the beehive springs before and he said that he would probably just use the ones that Comp recommends for this cam, which are the 987-16 springs.

What are the advantages of the beehive springs other than clearance for the rockers? Do they require different retainers?
 
They require special (smaller) retainers, and they are much better at keeping the valvetrain stable over a wide rpm band.
 
moper said:
They require special (smaller) retainers, and they are much better at keeping the valvetrain stable over a wide rpm band.
Click to expand...

Any ideas where I would start looking for these springs? I gotta admit I'm not up on all of this stuff, but I'm learning as much as I can as I go. Do I search by spring diameter, pressure, installed height?!?
 
Comp sells them,they will have one to match your application.
 
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