Thinking of going BB...

rumblefish360 said
Sounds about right.

For the cost of the KB 400cid slugs and a balanceing, he could be up and running quick and cheap (Except pistons cost. What was it?)

The extra work of the crank can depend on cost. It is a widely vaiable cost. Just things like where you live, one machinest vs. another, material of crank, int. vs ext. balance. Machining journals down. etc..

While it COULD be done cheaply, I've never done the homework on it. Fast01 ditched his 451 w/cast crank in a heart beat flat and redid his entire engine over. The 451 set up is collecting dust right now. (Hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...evil thoughts.....)

This is exactly right. I can get a balance done for 250 plus the cost of Mallory metal. That's dirt cheap compared to some of the other charges I've seen around the country. I don't get it. It's the same job whether you're in tinbucktoo of Macon, Georgia. It just doesn't make sense. Also, unless you're in a big hurry, i recommend just waiting until you can afford what you really want. Nuthin worse than havin a beer one night wishin you had built somethin else instead. I can surely see trying to internally balance a cast crank getting expensive because of all the metal involved.....but it can be done. I've done it. I did it with three stroker small blocks with that cast steel crank. Was a touch over 300 each time. I am just going to do my stuff one system at a time. Crank work, then the rods, then the block. A cam bearing tool you can use for damn near any engine ain't but about 150 bucks. You can install your own cam bearings and some for friends and make up the cost for the tool real quick. then you got that to do it yourself. Freeze plugs and oil gallery plug installation could literally be taught to a chimp. Just like basic cylinder head work. heck, maybe I need to document my build in a thread here and show yall how I do it. Might be good to show that you don't need a machine shop for every single thing. It'll probably be a while before I assemble, but I'll be glad to do it.