Engine building newbie

After having others build my engines, I'm getting ready to try it myself, mainly changing out the cam and valve train. I have experienced engine building help, but not specific to 2300's. What is the best source for help for the new guy?

This forum is a great place to start. Ask specific questions, and you'd be amazed at the knowledge and how willing and helpful people are. Be fair warned though, a good sense of humor is required and appreciated!

There is a DVD at Speedwaymotors.com "Building the 2300 engine". It is very helpful.

The cam installation/valve geometry is the most critical part of building a winning 2300.
The lower end and short block are fairly straight forward, and similar to other engines. The cylinder head/valve geometry/cam timing is the key to making power on these engines. For a first timer, I would definitely enlist the aid of someone who has set up valve stem height/TVL/cam degreeing before and watch closely, and ask plenty of questions. A dial indicator, degree wheel, caliper and dummy set-up lifters are essential tools.

Good luck, we've all had to do it the "first time".

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I definitely depend on this forum to get lots of help, and I'll check out the DVD. My 'helper' is a guy with lots of race and drag engine expertise, so I think I'll be in good hands. Still, you can expect me to be on here quite often over the next few weeks with what may seem, to you, to be silly questions.

As my Grandfather always said, "The only silly question is the one not asked."

Remeber not to get sucked in by the small block chevy mentality. I got 2 motors and 3 heads given to me that were built by a shop that built Busch North motors. All 5 had the valvetrain in wrong and all 5 cams and followers were junk.

The bottom end is pretty much straight forward where it is good to know, ask or have someone help is everything above the tops of the pistons.