My machinist

[SlowChild3]

No question here just got motor anxiety. Lol

Got a call from him to ask me few questions.
Asked me how much i wanted off the block. Told him I wanted the minimum. I told him I believe the spec limit is .010" total. After researching I've come up with .008".
He tried to tell me you can take off any amount just use a thicker gasket.

I assume this would be right if it was taken off head. And in my mind the thinner the gasket the less chance for a blow out.

Told me i had a exhaust stud with a drill bit or easy out broke off(previous owner). Gonna take an hour plus cost of bit.

I then had to argue with him that one balance shaft has two bearings fed by block.
Don't understand why he called me if he "knew it all" already.
I asked for
Head:
Surface
Clean
Valve job
Install valves and springs
Block:
Align hone
.020 bore
clean
Balance
Rotation assembly
Got quoted $1100 and told me they are experienced with the motor.
Was told 1-2 weeks. Friday will be 4.

I should've done more research into exactly what i wanted instead of taking it to the nicest looking shop around assuming they know what they are doing. I just dropped off the parts with spec sheets.

You guys think I'm doomed for failure?
Lets hear your horror story.

 

[born2tune]

If there is anything I cant do myself whereas I need an experienced machinist and such, I am there watching them do it, being nosy and all up in there business. (to ensure done properly and learn 2for1).

I warn them before hand how meticulous I am so they don't get mad, and if they don't like me watching them work then I go elsewhere.

Its been a few times that I don't watch and only play the trust game to only receive sub-par quality just because they got it done but not exactly to the minimum detail I needed any said part to be.
Also it prevents them from monkey wrenching/improper maintenance procedures on your parts, dropping/breaking your parts, going over the tolerances negligently then pinning the fault on you for untruthful reasons.

90% of maintenance is done by myself for the above mentioned reasons.

 

[livedsm4g63]

Not doomed just as long as you tell them what must be done. Helps if you give them all of the parts for the build to, that way they know what has to be done.

 

[BogusSVO]

ll too much off the lockand the pistons poke out the top.. yes this is done in some cases, but I do not see a reason for it on a 4g engine.

Did you ask how and on what equipment the surfacing is going to be done?

The rest is fairly straight forward.

Are they going to test the valve springs? Check the spring installed height? the valve tip height?

 

[SlowChild3]

I've got new bc springs and supertech valves. Is that something i can measure with basic calipers? I think I'll be stopping by tomorrow.
Its a V8 performance shop. Not sure on equipment. Figured with 30 years in business and a nice show room they'd have nice equipment. Lol we'll see.

 

[BogusSVO]

Being in business for 30 years, may mean thier equipment is 30 years old....

Some machine shops do not update the equipment often due to the cost.

A new decent head shop cost $25,000 and up

A new decent surfacer is about $22,000 and up

 

[honda_burner]

Every machine shop i've dealt with (2), says they can get it done in x amount of time, but it usually takes triple that. That part seems to be expected. (Not trying to imply anything about you or your shop bogus).
Also my machine shop that did my head didn't completely inspect my head and almost missed my trashed guides. The guy actually told me about it when he knew I was expecting it and I had already been waiting longer than I wanted to. Just goes to show not everybody is a rotten apple I guess

 

[BogusSVO]

Honda.. you are right, the closer to perfect you want, the longer it takes. (My shop included)
Most shops want the quick jobs out first, The HP work waits for slower times so there are no distractions and not rushed thu so mistakes can be advoided.

 

[honda_burner]

I hate my screen name. Lol.

Honda.. you are right, the closer to perfect you want, the longer it takes. (My shop included)
Most shops want the quick jobs out first, The HP work waits for slower times so there are no distractions and not rushed thu so mistakes can be advoided.

That makes alot of sense but it really annoys me when someone says one thing ("it will be done by such a date") but something else actually happens (pick it up 4 weeks after said ready date). I do understand things happen but it still gets under my skin

 

[SlowChild3]

Ya I hate that too but I wasn't going to tell them to hurry. Said I can pick up tomorrow. Gonna cross my name off the weekend list at work!!!! Wooo. Now I get to find out what bolts I've misplaced.

Is it a pain to install oil nozzles with rotation installed?

 

[H@xtGSX]

WTF

Of course it is an serious pain in the ass... You can't really get in where they are if there is a crank in the way. I supposed you could do it with small hands and little tools, if you happen to have those.

 

[boost97gst]

Thats not a bad price. Mine took over 6 weeks, same exact job, maybe a bit mroe work and they totally screwed it up the first time. Got 300 miles and it started knocking. They re used the shit crank and didnt cut it right i guess. They tok it back and put a new crank, new bearings etc in it and its been running perfect ever since.
I agree with the fella that said he insisted on watching them work. Boy, if i had the time i would have done that too.

 

[tron2119]

Ya I hate that too but I wasn't going to tell them to hurry. Said I can pick up tomorrow. Gonna cross my name off the weekend list at work!!!! Wooo. Now I get to find out what bolts I've misplaced.

Is it a pain to install oil nozzles with rotation installed?

It's not that bad. I forgot to put mine in after I assembled my block. I freaked out but they went in fairly easy.

 

[SlowChild3]

Put a crank in spare block didnt look bad

 

[Diamond Star Werks]

No question here just got motor anxiety. Lol

Got a call from him to ask me few questions.
Asked me how much i wanted off the block. Told him I wanted the minimum. I told him I believe the spec limit is .010" total. After researching I've come up with .008".
He tried to tell me you can take off any amount just use a thicker gasket.

I assume this would be right if it was taken off head. And in my mind the thinner the gasket the less chance for a blow out.

Told me i had a exhaust stud with a drill bit or easy out broke off(previous owner). Gonna take an hour plus cost of bit.

I then had to argue with him that one balance shaft has two bearings fed by block.
Don't understand why he called me if he "knew it all" already.
I asked for
Head:
Surface
Clean
Valve job
Install valves and springs
Block:
Align hone
.020 bore
clean
Balance
Rotation assembly
Got quoted $1100 and told me they are experienced with the motor.
Was told 1-2 weeks. Friday will be 4.

I should've done more research into exactly what i wanted instead of taking it to the nicest looking shop around assuming they know what they are doing. I just dropped off the parts with spec sheets.

You guys think I'm doomed for failure?
Lets hear your horror story.

Jeez thats damn expensive. I did, everything to my engine and cost me less, than half that.

Head cleaned resufaced valve job valves installed block cleaned surfaced bored .040(he told me,he, wouldn't bore it until ge had the pistons so he could match each to their cylinder) crank checked&cleaned and polished and pistons pressed on rods.

My total cost was $449.00. Everything was perfectly done and all clearances were the same on crank and cam. Everything was great. Just over 15k my timing belt teeth stripped though.

 

[H@xtGSX]

That's kind of what I was thinking... Didn't know if my machinist was off any. The thing is, I am friends with my machinist, and be usually just lets me use the shop without question and I do my own work, then pay him for letting me abuse his equipment. He said if I had left him the last POS block l showed him (blown 6 bolt) to have that work done, it would have cost me about $600 total.

 

[SlowChild3]

Well... what do you guys think? Told him to lookout for the rod studs on caps. Told me on phone it cleared fine. What do you guys think. I have the kiggly girddle.

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[SlowChild3]

No one has seen caps cut apart?

 

[white92talontsi]

, the "suitcase handles" should not have been done like that, all they had to do was notch them out for clearance for the Rod.

 

[ThunderChild]

kiggly girdle or not...that was a crap job right there.... boo on that machinist.

i have a the good fortune to have known my machinist for most of my life, as well as him knowing and doing business with my dad for several years. they do great work. unfortunately they are getting out of machining and into crate engine distribution...

i always go over every detail, and if i wasnt satisfied, i took it back and they redid it for free.

 

[TSITurbo95]

Yeah, I would not run it like that. As stated above, they are notched for clearance, never cut in half.

 

[H@xtGSX]

WTF

He just cut the center off??? Those are supposed to help keep the block alignment straight and reinforce the crank bearings. That is just lazy. Notching them with a grinder even would have been better. You'll want a bearing girdle to fix that, for sure.

 

[bradselph]

Well 7 bolts don't have the suitcase handles but we do have a girdle like the kiggley so maybe it would be ok?

 

[SlowChild3]

Well in my opinion I think it will be stronger than stock with studs and girdle. I've seen alot of 2.3s without the girdle.

 

[bryanwheat]

It should be just fine like that. The studs line up the main caps you are using the girdle so it it will be fine. I would of just went ahead and cut the rest of that part from the cap if it were me.