Lets stop the bs.....

Back when i first started racing my dad and i put together a bone stock 400 to race on a 1/4 mile dirt track. Rochester carb and all. The motor came out of a Chevy pick up truck. Had no ideal how many miles were on it or how many thousandth's the cylinder walls were wore out, what kind of shape the pistons were in, what the wall to piston clearance was, weather it was balanced or not or how many rpm's it was running. Just replaced the rings and bearings then went out my first night and won. In fact one of the pistons was dropped and broke off a piece of the skirt off while it was being put back together ! Yes it lasted and had a guy buy the motor because it ran so good. Had one motor ended up with floor dry in it. What the hell has happened to building a motor these days? Can't put a motor together unless we measure this, bore that, weigh this down to the micron.... Geese..Have things today with modern technology got things so out of wack that no where but a machine shop can put a motor together ? I know guys reading this that have been at it for years know what you are doing. At times does some of the machine shop cost makes you think, is some of it really worth it ?

Decent virgin engines are hard to find now. People can still put together stuff like that if they want to but there's nothing wrong with using good parts either. To each their own. Blowing up one engine after another gets to be more expensive than one good one freshened up on schedule especially if you factor in dnf's and not finishing well enough to be in the payout.

I build my own stuff...always have. One exception was my kids b mod motor... he insisted on having a local shop do it...same shop that does my machine work.

I bought a blown 383 two years ago... just getting to work on it. My engine guy has ordered four new pistons, I dropped off four rods for resizing and balancing. I'll check the heads, hone the block. I had the crank repaired and straightened.

I'll rebuild the carb.

This should be a 600+ hp deal for under $4,000. That's all I can afford... you can't spend what you don't have...

I know guys who have $20,000 motors that can't adjust the valves.

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Originally Posted by badfast47

Back when i first started racing my dad and i put together a bone stock 400 to race on a 1/4 mile dirt track. Rochester carb and all. The motor came out of a Chevy pick up truck. Had no ideal how many miles were on it or how many thousandth's the cylinder walls were wore out, what kind of shape the pistons were in, what the wall to piston clearance was, weather it was balanced or not or how many rpm's it was running. Just replaced the rings and bearings then went out my first night and won. In fact one of the pistons was dropped and broke off a piece of the skirt off while it was being put back together ! Yes it lasted and had a guy buy the motor because it ran so good. Had one motor ended up with floor dry in it. What the hell has happened to building a motor these days? Can't put a motor together unless we measure this, bore that, weigh this down to the micron.... Geese..Have things today with modern technology got things so out of wack that no where but a machine shop can put a motor together ? I know guys reading this that have been at it for years know what you are doing. At times does some of the machine shop cost makes you think, is some of it really worth it ?

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i have herd this story over and over throughout the years , and all i can tell you is what i told them , you luck is way better than mine.......

its more about attention to detail than location,..long as its clean and accuracy is maintained with proper skills should be fine! now machine work needs to be spot on or the hole deal is pissing in the wind!

These type motors are all i can afford motor in car now is 5 yrs old i freshened it once it's not even balanced. If it blows its been a good one total investment around 1500$ it competes and regularly pulls 7500$ motors off the corners a good machinist who understands your budget is key.I have a new one waiting to go in around 1500$ investment again. I can only hope it is good as the old one like was said earlier a lot of it is luck. I have had motors with the best you can buy that would not fall out of a tree always seem to have better luck with junk.

I think the key component is knowing the engines limitations and not abusing it. My current engine has a rumor that says it'll break in no time. Scat 9000 series crank, Scat Pro Comp rods, KB Hyper pistons. I'm gonna put 75 shows on it just like I did my other 5 engines I've had no problems with. If you don't fully understand timing, fueling, cooling, RPM limits and basic maintenance and weekly checks....you prolly need a bigger safety margin.

For what its worth, I think the amount of El cheapo engines running laps FAR outweighs the number of expensive engines. For reasons unknown to me, it's a fact know one wants to talk about. My engine builder/machinist says he puts together far more more engines like mine than he does the the other way around because theres just not the same amount of guys that walk in the doors holding 10K(20 regulars) in their pocket then holding 3k(50 regulars). Plain and simple.

All I read is whining.. if you could afford a shop built quality engine or 3 of them you would have them. Quit the whine fest because you choose to partake in a hobby over you head..... they got these cheap crate motors in most classes now thanks to people like you but your still whining...

If you joined a bowling league but used a house ball and house shoes, I suppose you would whine and cry about the guys with their own balls and shoes. The whole issue is YOU and people like you.

Stock car driver i am not whining just stating the facts of my situation i do all my own work just like you including my own engines and take great pride in doing more with less.

This is what i have always done RW , and for a lot of others , but that dont mean you just throw it together , as cheap as pistons are now days , i will not put one to gather without knowing cylinder wear like you said in your opening post , if its at my considered limit , i will not put it together with out at least boring it , and i have put many together with out balancing them , even though I highly recommend it if your gone turn it over 5 grand , any way i wish you good luck cause it sounds like we both need some.........

I know I can't afford it but I love it i quit over 30 yrs ago because I couldn't afford it and to get married .I have a son who wanted to do it against my advice lol he did it till he wised up genius here bought him out at 56 yrs old got 5 races in had some medical issues had to park for year but those 5 races made me feel 18 again . The rods and pistons do weigh the same though I have a good machinist who does good work and helps me some with his labor cost. I am just having fun thanks for the support good luck to you too Merry Christmas to you.

I,m 55 and hoping to climb my ole azz back in this spring , Merry Christmas to you and yours as well......

There is tons of stuff out there that won't make any more power than a decent set of vortecs. I see it all the time. Dirt racing is a combination affair. A good driver, a great car, and a half ass motor have won a ton more races than a great motor, half-ass car and driver.

I agree 100% i won a race one nite car was perfect out ran some high dollars motors went to the pen top and bottom broke their heart one of the two cars that looked told his crew i had my tow truck motor in it was not much more than that. This was in a limited sportsman car Car set-up and driver much more important. I like being the underdog.