Which shop gets the fun of finding out how good the quality of the machining, etc., is?

It seems like a product where nothing can be taken at face value at this point.

I thought this might be the Koleno tooling. They were crazy heavy, but they had the potential to being a very strong base that someone could saw the extra weight off of. Roush was actually machining Koleno blocks but got tired of setting up the machinery to do it for only a few blocks at a time and quit doing it.

$3975 plus shipping on the price. Low deck 4.50 bore cross bolted mains standard cam tunnel (there are options on that) billet main caps and a 1 piece # 5 cap and seal retainer with 4 bolts and all the freeze plugs,galley plugs, oil restrictor plugs and dowels., and for the weight 291 lbs. 69 lbs more than my 71 400 block with factory caps.Looks like the next plan is to see if I can scoot it back a little.

Curious why you bought it from Richard and not Bill?

How are the lifter bores?

Mark I PMd you for info back in Jan if I remember right, I called Bill at Chicago Connection and was told he was out of town call back in a week this went on for 3 weeks, the guy answering the phone had no info on the blocks other than maybe Barton's had some info, called Barton and was told they had seen a couple of them but they had no more and knew little about them. I called Bradshaw at 4 pm one afternoon left a message, he called me back at 7:30 that evening we talked, I did some more research called again asked a couple of more questions and bit the bullet, everything went the way he told me it would. 8 weeks from the day I sent my deposit it was in my garage. Lifter bores look good but I haven't mocked anything up yet. DK

I am glad to see that someone got their block. I went with a gen III but my heart has always been with the real hemi. Maybe I need to sell my stuff and purchase one of these blocks. Thank you for the update.

In case my original post was overlooked...

Keep us posted...

Yup - Bill can be tough to get a hold of. He gave me his cell phone number and that has worked for me.

I still don't understand the Richard/Bill connection and what is what. But I am very glad you have a block and good luck with your build!

After quite a bit of sketchiness, I received a block from Muscle Motors about 18 months ago. Took the block to Best Machine for machine work, and eventually had them build my 498" B-engine (4.500"×3.915"). Way more machine work than should have been required on a new block, but it is done. Just packaged up my headers to send to Jet Hot, and finalizing the dry sump system. We will find out soon if it makes the 1000+ hp NA on gas. I'm counting on it holding up...can't afford for it not to! Stay tuned on my Bonneville Speed Week 2019 thread here.

What crank are you using with the 3.915 stroke? Which rod journals?

Just as a way to put a spot light on how screwed up the block situation for Mopars is at the moment......

My friend just ordered a new iron Kauffman block for a Pontiac.
$3200......2 weeks til delivery.

It’s just mind boggling to me that no one seems to be able to do a similar thing for a Mopar.

It is mind boggling. I still say that the Chrysler guys are just too damn cheap to spend any money on a block when they can use stock junk with a girdle and filler and aftermarket caps blah blah blah. They won't spend the money. Sadly the Pontiac guys will.

It is a custom Crower crank, fully counterweighted, knife-edged, and coated. 2.200" rod journals. 6.7" Crower steel rods. I went with RB size main journals in this B-block.

You've got that right.

...and then there's the ignorant money grubber who thinks that cheap MoPar guys are going to pay $5k for a block that they refuse to spend even $3k on....at least he dropped the price down from "$6,000 FIRM"

https://www.racingjunk.com/Blocks/1...h=mopar&np_offset=86&from=search

If Mopar guys are so cheap why do they pay more for nearly every part they buy? If they were cheap they'd be buying Chevy stuff for way less. Plenty of guys would spend the $3200 for a good block. Everybody says its all about volume sold. How on earth can Kaufman sell a low volume Pontiac block for $3200? And no one be able to do a Mopar for the same money?????????????
Doug

My thinking exactly.

Iron block availability has pretty much always sucked for the mopars.

Crazy thing is he'll probably get it and then regret selling it soon as it's gone, I sold one just like it about 8 years ago for 3500 because I thought I was quitting racing and would never use it...guy wasn't even out of my driveway before I was kicking myself...

I am very fortunate to have bought a mega block 20 years ago,,,,paid $2500 Started at 4.310 and resized a few times
It's up to 4.385.This has ti out live ME! Funny,everytime a machine shop touches this block they tell me I should go right to 4.5 bore,I tell them"no thanks,just to the next size available ring size......
Last time I hurt a piston,I was able to stay the same size with a light hone.

If there was a 3200 dollar block out there and 90% of the Chrysler guys had the option they'd pick a production block every single time.

I didn't just fall out of the turnip truck. I've seen it my whole life. I still see it today. Guys wouldn't buy W2 heads because they couldn't use the rockers and headers they already had, and they needed an intake.

Same thing. So today, you have guys building 400 plus inch small blocks and they STILL won't buy a head that won't use a stock rocker.

Face it. 90% of the Chrysler guys are happy just being happy.

I stand by what I posted. If you think guys like Dart, World Products, Brodix and such haven't done the reseat you'd be lying to yourself. And, if you can ever get one on the phone whose having an honest conversation he'd tell you the same thing.

It wasn't that long ago that there were people thinking Dart was going to produce a small block for guys like Bob Book. I LMMFAO so hard I got a bloody nose.

And still no Dart block. Because they couldn't sell enough to get their investment back on the tooling.