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How many stock blocks, money wise, does it take to bore, hone, align hone, square deck, etc, before you could have bought a good block to start with

Do the aftermarket blocks come ready to go?




They need to be machined as well, atleast I know most do...and it seems some have their own problems that need correcting also (not BBM in specific, just in general), which is part of the reason I am hesitant to ever want to use one...Lots of coin to buy, then more to machine, and possibly more to fix "problems" that when you are paying the money they command new, you shouldn't have to pay to fix...Thats just my opinion though


ANY block needs to checked. I build a lot of motors of all brands and use mostly aftermarket blocks. All these "problems" that people speak of............well I guess I have been lucky, as I haven't needed to do anything other than normal machining procedures on any of them. And also I guess it also has to do with what people consider problems. On a Mega-Block, you have to do some grinding to make a Jesel belt drive clear and also some grinding to clear some aftermarket oil pumps. Not sure I consider that a problem, just something that has to be done. But still, whatever machining is required is cheaper on one block than two or three.

As far as stock blocks, some of you guys must have way better luck than me. I usually have to go through several before I find one I would even be willing to use. I find the core shift to be very bad and the cylinders get way too thin on the major thrust side even before boring. Admittedly though, I am VERY picky about what I will use. It took me 4 blocks to find a 360 block I would use on my daily driver Challenger motor and it doesn't make 450hp.........LOL!!!........If it is not the cylinder bores, it's the lifter bores. Very erratic castings

Monte




I agree that stock blocks are a gamble Monte (Why I half filled my SB because I was nervous the block would split), and I can't say I have ever used an aftermarket block to have problems with one. To me, grinding something is not a big deal either...but I have had friends with Dart Chevy and Ford blocks, or Ford racing blocks that needed modifications beyond just regular machining to work, for things that seemed that they should have been right when they bought their blocks- bad batch, maybe? But hearing more then one story about it kinda had me scratching my head since aftermarket stuff should be NICE, not need WORK. Then I read about the ritter horror stories on here for the sb stuff...and now there is no more stock of R3 blocks at Chrysler...just makes someone like me who can't afford to do things twice or re-design/work a part that should have been right from the start a little hesitant.