I'm surprised this thread started up again. There is no reason anyone should have to front these people money to build a block someone has to wait 16 weeks for, much less over a year. That it's worth the wait mentality is not mine. That's why I haven't ordered a block from them. I'm not going to take a chance with Indy either, and I have friends that had good luck with them, and those that didn't. The next time I need a block, if nothing else is available, it's on the the competitor where I can get one shipped tomorrow.

Yes I've contacted him. Nice guy no doubt. I'm not complaining either. It is what it is and fortunately I'm not in hurry. I'm just letting people know. I've seen 6-12 months tossed around here a lot and in my case it's over 12 months and I don't have a casting. Maybe others are getting pushed in front of me.

I don't think others are getting pushed in front of you. I've been waiting since july. I made my second payment in March.
And i am complaining. a guy shouldn't have to front someone 6 grand in hopes of someday getting a block.

It is just a matter of where you fell in line. Waiting for over a year you were likely one of the first on the list. A guy jumping in now may only wait a few months now.

that doens'nt explain why takes 8 ++?? months to do the machining work? He's had my casting since march.

Well MAYBE that's not 100% fact. Have been going through this drama for a few years. You will hear stories of guys waiting over a year and some only a few months. Any other rational explanation why ????

Perhaps it takes so long because he is the only game in town? A whole lot of demand and one place doing it correctly. You can't just go out and go from doing one block a day to 1000 and he may not want the headache of stepping up production. Not like hard working, knowledgeable, trustworthy, available guys are knocking at the door looking for jobs and trying to make do with the bad ones will cost you more than you make off them commonly as well as mess up your reputation.

Yep. You can double the size of your company and cut the profits in half. All while creating four times the work for you yourself.

Or maybe, just perhaps, he is just a sh!tty business man.

Been to a great/expensive restaurant, and see a line of customers?

The line can be fine being quality product and fast service, and BTW read my signature.

The problem is that KB can get away with it. That's why it happens. Ken isn't going to use HIS money to front blocks that may or may not sell in a timely fashion, so he is going to WAIT until he has the customers $$$$$$$$$$$$$$. And the customer is losing $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ because he no longer has the USE of HIS money because some other piss poor business man is holding it.

Why Chrysler guys put up with this is beyond my ability to understand. nI can tell you, with out doubt, if I was going racing again, it would be with a 5.0 bore spacing (maybe bigger) aftermarket BB engine (it's not really a chevy). I would never again be bothered by the crap dealings I have personally had with chrysler. Let alone they way chrysler has treated Roy and Allen Johnson, for decades. Why the Johunsons take it I'll never know.

It's just stupid really.

You guys do know that Ken does not cast these blocks don't you? Maybe just maybe his hands are tied too. Not a lot of foundries around these day. I do not and never have owned an Indy block but I am thankful that they are produced. Fact is Ken's quality control has stricter guidelines than Indy does.

What difference does any of this make?

Do you think a chevy guy (or worse yet a ford guy) would pay all that money up front and WAIT?? I don't know Ken Blck. Don't want to or need to. But the issue still is: 1. Availability of aftermarket blocks. 2. Cost of said blocks. 3. Rediculous lead time of same blocks.


I don't know a chevy or ford guy who would put up with what the chrysler guys do. If you are doing anything other than screwing around, I don't know why you would do it with a chrysler. It's sad, but chrysler corporate has [censored] all over the racers for decades. I knew when I wore out my W-% stuff I was done with anything chrysler. Rather than putting a chevy into a car I loved, I sold it, and let the new guy put a chevy in it (which is the fate I saved it from when I bought the care in 1985). Were I to start racing again, it would be with a GM based something. The bodies are so ugly I'd probably have to put it in a ford, but the power would be some GM based platform.

I really could care less what you think about Mopars. Or what you drive or maybe even race. This is a Mopar website and I'm proud to say will always race Mopars. But that's just me.

There was a time when Mopar was the fastest most reliable race engine you could buy. That was a long time ago and they failed to keep up. In the last 20 years their contribution to the competitive race community has been abysmal. Yes they had aftermarket blocks for wedge and Hemi stuff for a while, but it is still based on the 4.800 BS. The real race people started looking at eventually producing heads and blocks for 5" and bigger BS. Those are readily available these days. How do I know that? I typically qualify bottom half, and they qualify top half in T/D. I ask how they are able to do it N/A, and they tell me. I can order a 4.75X4.75 tomorrow from Schmidt or Sunset, and have it for next weekend for 10K less than what I have into the 604 Predator on my engine stand. That is fact. So don't ask me what KB's hardships are, I really don't give a rats a$$. Don't even bring up the Pro Stock stuff, it doesn't really apply to that majority of us.

I think the Arrow is begging for a small block bowtie...lol

Evidently, you are opposed to facts? I gave you FACTS. camastomcat gave you FACTS. I can tell you, for a FACT, that chrysler screw Roy Johnson to the wall. More than once. What I can't tell you is how I know that FACT and why he doesn't tell chrysler to jam it sideways in their craw.

You can do what you want. If I ever decide to rece seriously again (which will likely never happen as I like going to the track about as much as I like a root canal) I'm not going to waste my money/effort/time/abilities trying to make some antiquated junk go fast. If this is insulting, or hurts your feelings I can't help you.


For the record (because evidently, on this site, pittsburgracer vets all of us to see if we are MoPar enough) I have been a chrylser guy since 1979, when I bought my first car. I didn't by one because my dad was doing it, I did my own research and bought what I thought was best. I have never owned a race car that wasn't a MoPar. I don't own anything now that is not a MoPar.


Hope that clears everything up, and proves my bona fides.

Like I said I could care less what you do. My Dad never raced but I've loved the sport for 40 plus years with all my race cars being Mopars. That's kinda why I hang out on a Mopar website. Have fun sitting on the side line bad mouthing mopars

Only on a mopar site can we be called "too cheap" and "wastefull" of our money. Guys call us cheap for whining about $5000 for a useable block and at the same time people are shocked we buy them for that much.

BTW the advantage of the bigger BS block is you can run a bigger valve with more room from the bore, a hemi solves this problem.

Seems someone would come up with a race style Hemi head, ditch the "real hemi" chamber for a shallower one like the genIII with a couple quench pads so you don't need 500 pound pistons to get compression. Then you can beat em with a 4.8 BS while they are all trying to run a "wedge" that ain't a real wedge either. Look at the apache head, giant valve with big flow that still fits on a 3.91 bore for inspiration, no massive dome required. Scale it up and make it fit the 605" and let it eat. Too many mopar guys in the top classes trying to prove they can do it with a wedge. Does any one realize there would be NO comparisons of the Hemi and wedge if the hemi had 440" under it from the factory? That is the only real reason there was ever a comparison, the extra cubes are what gave it more TQ not the stupid wedge heads or magic 6 pack.

I always do.

The problem is you are hypersensitive. You must be allergic to FACTS.

camastomcat has been fairly forthcoming on his predator builds. He has given actual FACTS and approximate costs. Clearly, CTC would have been time/money/frustration ahead if he would have used a 5.0 BS based engine to start with. CTC is RACING in an enviroment where he has to QUALIFY. I think he would admit (and I think he has done so here on moparts) he would have been better off doing something other than a chrysler based engine. Again, FACT. The FACT that this thread even exists is PROOF of the FACT that it is almost impossible to compete at any top level in drag racing using a chrysler based engine. FACT. Guess I should have included the NA part because some slug will come along and point out the hair dryers and blower guys compete. I'm talking NA here.

Like I said, I will never understand the Johnson family loyalty to the chrysler brand. I know in 1999 he couldn't give me a reason for it, after several hard ball screwings by Ma MoPAr. Maybe today, he feels differently. If I get the chance to talk to him again (since I don't go to the races much anymore I won't see him at the track) maybe I'll ask him.

So, I don't have any loyalty to the current MoPar regime. Never really cared for the Iacocca days either. And the fatherland owners didn't impress me either. Oh, that Walter P. was still around! But I wax nostalgic. We must move ahead.

We will still be waiting on outdated blocks, with a puny supply, at an outrageous cost. You can ask Yogi Berra for an anecdote that applies here.

Have fun at the races.

And don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.