347 Stroker engine build?

Hey, thank you so much for watching the videos! Welcome to the very exciting world of engine building! Do not worry, we will be here for you if you ever run into any snags. You will have a running engine by the end of this, no problem. Also, since you are going our route make sure you get the kit we did; you want the crankshaft balance to be internal not external. So, make sure the flex plate and damper you buy are also for internal balanced. All the links I put in the videos are for that.

So as far as what to ask a machine shop I would go down this list:

1. Need the block hot tanked (this will clean it up and remove all the grease).
2. Magnaflux checked (this will make sure the block does not have any cracks or holes).
3. Bore and Hone (make sure your new pistons and the new bore are the same size).
4. Balance your rods and pistons (this has to be done even to brand new stuff because they have to be perfectly balanced to each other).
5. Balance your crankshaft (even brand new ones probably need balancing, ours did. Tell them it's internally balanced too).
6. Since you are going for a stroker build make sure you tell them, there are some clearances in the block that need to be made so the new crank can spin.
7. Get a quote up front, you do not want a huge surprise bill at the end.

Be honest with them about your skill level and what you want to do. Every machine shop I have delt with has been super cool and has taught me a lot about the fine details of engine assembly.

Our machine shop was truly amazing, I miss them greatly. They closed up due to the passing of the owner. So, I will have to find a new one soon. There is another engine series in the works shortly.

So, if you bought everything we did, including the expensive but amazing heads, I would say you are probably right around six thousand with machine work. Prices change all the time so I cannot give you an exact price but that is right about what I think it would cost.

Good torque wrenches are fairly easy to come by these days. You do not need to spend seven hundred dollars on a torque wrench like I did, I am such a Snap-On sucker. Luckily, we are building old engines not space shuttles, so they do not have to be ultra accurate down to the micron.

Half Inch Drive: https://amzn.to/3ExrRC0

Three Eighths Drive: https://amzn.to/3Od0nVF

Will need both for different parts of the engine assembly process, luckily, they are not very expensive.

You so got this! This is literally the reason I make the video series the way I do. So, people that have never done it before can watch the content and build an engine themselves.

If you have any trouble at all, please come back to this thread and post. We will be here and waiting to help for absolutely free.

All the best!

-Ryan

Thank you so much for the detailed response. I went through all the links, and it all makes sense. I’m going to go for it. Going to start by breaking her down and making sure she’s worth the investment. Is there a certain way I should order the parts, so summit knows it was because of you? Thanks again.

I believe just clicking on the links that I post they can tell where that traffic came from.

Thanks for using 2CarPros!

-Ryan

Awesome. I’m sure I’ll have questions as I tackle this project, but I do have one immediate one. I purchased a brand-new Ax 15 manual transmission. You foresee any issues with that?

Oh, very cool!

I would just read over this page.

https://www.novak-adapt.com/catalog/adapters/engine-to-transmission/ax15/kit-fmax15/

It does need a different bellhousing as expected there might be some other parts too.

Best,
Ryan

Hey Ryan,

Forgive me if you went over this in your videos. And remember, I’m very new to this. here’s my question: Most of the new builds I’ve seen, guys are putting in a roller cam and roller lifters. And I realized you did not do that. Obviously, it wasn’t because of budget. Wouldn’t you get a little more horsepower going this way? Would you mind explaining to a newbie? Thanks.

Yeah, you can totally go that route! I picked the build I did because Summit (our sponsor) did not make roller camshaft or lifters and it was a good option too. It came with flat tappet originally and muscle cars have been using them forever.

You would get a bit more power and you do not need to break in a roller camshaft which is cool, but I like flat tappet for a hot rod anyways. Less moving parts. Heck even my big block in my personal Camaro is flat tappet.

Thanks for using 2CarPros!

Best,
Ryan