Hi all,

I have a chance to buy a 440 block which has already been bored & honed, using a torque plate, .030 over, square decked and hot tanked. I have heard it said that before boring a block, the machinist should already have the pistons that are going to be used, so they can be more precisely matched. How important is this? Would I be making a big mistake to buy such a block, then buy the pistons separate? As always, thanks for all replies & opinions.

Roger

No way to be sure if it was honed for cast or hypers or forged (I would assume with that good of work either #2 or #3). Anyway you could find out what pistons it WAS sized for? A person could have a shop mike it & I would call one or more of your local machine shops & pick their brains on this one. Never ran into this before! Here's a BTT for ya

Thanks, Robert - that (piston type) makes perfect sense. I'll try to see what more I can find out.

I'd steer clear myself. Did they even align hone the block? Too many unknowns to chance it.

if it is super cheap, i would probably take a chance on it. how thin are the walls ? any paper work with measurement specs come with it ? if not, and you have never built an engine before, then i would pass. very easy to get a nice "door stop" or heavy "paper weight".

After what the 2 prior guys said I'm gettin a bit scared myself, cuz what dimention did they run into that made them have to abort the project (sonic test) and or how did the pistons it was bored/honed for manage to dissappear. Holler how it turns out

Bored and honed? Hmmm

As said, hyper, cast, forged... They expand differently and require different piston to bore clearances. What grit honed? Different ring material will require different hone grit on the cross hatch.

No matter what you do, you will likely be looking at additional machine work once you choose Pistons/rings

Thanks guys, I appreciate the input. I'm going to back off on this, as I'm a bit leery as to why they're letting it go so cheap ($500). As you said, too many unknowns. I'll keep looking.

Roger