I called Indy the other day and Russ Flagle got on the phone. Boy was that an eye opener.
I asked him about their Indy blocks and availability and options that they do for their customer. He asked me if Indy was going to do the build for me.
I said no, just want to buy the block and a few of their inhouse modifications and told Russ I will assemble it myself. He hung up on me.

It costs a LOT to tool up and make blocks. Chevy blocks are cheaper because they sell a gazillion of them. Aftermarket Mopar blocks will NEVER be as cheap as Chevy and Ford..........and if that is what the guys are waiting for, something CHEAP.........just build a Chevy and be done with it.

Guys EXPECT to pay more for HEMI parts. Now why is that? Cast iron is cast iron. A crank is a crank and a rod is a rod, yet HEMI parts cost more, we all know it and we accept it. WHY? because they are pretty scarce, that's why. In the performance world, especially aftermarket, Mopars are also pretty scarce, as compared to Chevy and Ford. Scarcity means EXPENSIVE and that will never change on hard to find parts. So if the main point of contention, or lack of buying is based on a Mopar block SHOULD cost the same as Chevy............well you can just forget that nonsense. NEVER gonna happen

Engineering, tooling, core boxes, foundry costs, machining, all costs the same, regardless of the brand. For all intents and purposes, all small blocks will cost the same to produce.......HOWEVER......one type you will sell 10,000 a year and the other a few hundred. strictly based on return for investment, the one you sell few of HAS to cost more. It's simple business. These companies sell parts to make money, not because we NEED them, or they feel sorry for a segment

You can type your fingers to the bone, talk until your tongue wears your teeth to nubs and the Chrysler guys will NEVER get that GM outsells the Chrysler 500:1 at a MINIMUM. I have a rule in engine building and that is any small block over 500 HP MUST have an aftermarket block and ANY 600 HP BB gets an aftermarket block. Try and sell that to a MoPar guy who thinks Trick Flow heads with stock intake and exhaust patterns and stock rockers is going to revolutionize his world, when for a few bucks more he could do a B1 and KILL the TF head. But no, they whine about really little money. I call that stepping over donuts to scoop up dog turds.

Nope, the backwards MoPar culture is it's own killer. It's a slow grisly death, but a death none the less.

If I was seriously racing again I'd do it with a "BBC", quotes used because GM never made a 5.0 bore spacing block, but they call it a chevy. Why would you waste your time with anything else?

Chevy is abundant for one reason only. People spent money for products offered. The old mopar saying, mostly old parts and rust is why stuff is limited.

Too bad since the fastest, and quickest drag cars on the planet are based on mopar tech.

Actually, when making billet blocks it doesn't cost hardly anymore to make any block. The problem is we don't have a leader. If we did he would be offering B/RB/Hemi billet blocks, really ready to assemble, to ship this afternoon (in one of the stocking configurations) for $5,995. I would love to do it. I have the money, the shop and the inclination, like one of my heros, Keith Black. The problem is I am too old, too busy and never learned CNC machining like I should have. If I had a set of prints and a knowledgeable man to train me you would have blocks.