There are crate engines that can be bought for 5K......so I really don't consider that to be a budget minded price.
"MY" idea was this.....
Stock block, absolute, minimal, necessary machine work. ...and possibly machine work only liimited to cylinder heads....maybe with the exception of honing cylinders to remove glaze. New rings, bearings, oil pump, timing chain, camshaft and lifters.
Cylinder heads reconditioned only. Three angle valve job would be allowed, since that is a basic valve job to begin with. Valve springs to match camshaft (any flat tappet) but no upgrades such as porting or larger valves. No roller camshafts. Got a roller block? Use flat tappet lifters. Solid or hydrauilc, ok.
Some in the thread have scoffed at reringing without new pistons. I don't get that. In every single service manual, pistons have a go/no go specification, so what's the problem? The "you'd upgrade the piston if you tore the engine down" arguement doesn't hold water to me, simply because adding new rings and honing cylinders does bring back some lost sealing ability.
Also, I think any outside bolt on such as intake, headers carburetors ignition, etc., should be allowed. Just a basic "overhaul" as used to be known in the industry. It's even referred to as an "inframe" because the engine block is not removed from the frame of the vehicle. Not that I think it should go that far, because our engine bays are somewhat tighter than those of a large truck.
Some people seem to "shut down" when trying to lay some ground rules. There need to be some, so people will know what to follow. This would make the playing field level and the winner would be that who had chosen the best parts combo and assembled and tuned the best.
In that way, the difference between the winner and the runners up would be in the person, and nothing else. Wanna run ported heads? Fine, go enter another contest. Wanna run something other than a factory NON HP compression ratio, or something higher than an 8.5:1 blueprinted limit? Fine, go enter another contest. Nitrous? Fine, go enter another contest. Blower? You get it by now...I hope.
What I was thinking of was a bare bones overhaul that some kid in high school could afford. Something like what would have been our very first engine. But, what the hell do I know? Obviously not much, because nothing's ever materialized.
