First Engine Build - Advice Needed

IQ52 said
1) If your wife has claws, forget building the car, or prepare for a divorce.
2) Read, read, read before you buy anything.
3) If the 727 was original to the slant six it will not bolt to a 383. However some internals will interchange with a B-engine 727.
4) You cannot buy pistons until the machine shop tells you the condition of the bores.
5) Read, read, read.
6) A weekend cruiser doesn't need to be stroked.
7) Read, read, read.
8) How did they manage to break an intake manifold? Frozen water expansion? Check the engine internals!

1. Divorce may be inevitable regardless, she tolerates me working on the car and having my hobbies, but doesn't seem to grasp the concept of money being required to do it.
3. I have a buddy holding a 904 and another 727 for me, just in case mine won't do. Technically I own them both (for $30, not too bad). I plan on this project taking years so I know I'll have time to correct issues later on.
6. I actually just want to know what my options are, I don't necessarily plan on stroking it, was just curious if I could and what the outcome could be.
8. No freaking clue. I just saw the crack when I was disassembling the engine. The exhaust manifold on the currently running and installed /6 is cracked as well, I just assumed it was normal and would need to be replaced.

66fs said
First find a good machine shop. If they can't bore and hone with a torque plate, find another shop. If they want you to buy parts before they check the block, crank, rods, and heads, find another shop. If they mention Chevy, find another shop. Even if you have to drive a hundred miles.

New parts to buy, pistons, rings, main bearing, rod bearings, cam, lifters, valve springs to match the cam, double roller timing chain, stainless steel exhaust valves, Fel-Pro gasket set, water pump, brass freeze plugs, high volume oil pump, high pressure oil pump spring, windage tray, "A" body oil pan. What size pistons? Don't know till they measure the bores. Go as small as you can to get the bores straight and round. What size exhaust valves? Don't know till you decide on heads. Your heads are probably fine for what you want. Any 4 barrel intake and carb will do.

I have a "throw" together 383 in my 68 Barracuda, didn't even replace the pistons. 20 years later and about 100,000 miles on it, it still runs great. It was my daily driver for years. You don't have to spend a lot of money to go fast.

As for your transmission, I doubt it is a 727 from behind a /6. You'll need a big block auto trans, and shorten the driveshaft and have it balanced. You will also need an 8 1/4 or 8 3/4 rear, unless you build it up to 500+ ft lb of torque. Then you are looking at a Dana 60.

This is the type of advice I was looking for, it's the little things that I don't know. I understand the basic concept of internal combustion four stroke engines and how they work... but just like a water turbine hydro-electric generator, I have no idea how to build one. It's a learning process and I'm just getting started. Thanks for the tips, I'll try to be more specific with any questions I have later... though I may be studying books for the next couple months, so questions may not arise as often.

yellow rose said
Throw the ridge reamer away and never use it again. If you need to use it, the bores are shot anyway, and all you did was make it harder to get the bores correctly.

Find a machine shop. If you want to do the assembly yourself you are making a mistake. You need to have all the tools to measure everything. Plastigauge don't cut it.

Back to the bores...it's very difficult to find 10 HP in the bores or even the short block but it's damn easy to lose 40-50 HP with crap bores.

I was under the impression that a ridge reamer just removed ground up metal from the top 1/4" of the bores? I'm confused how it would screw up the ability to properly gauge the remaining lower part? As for the assembly, I imagine I'll have to assemble, disassemble and reassemble multiple times. I honestly have no problem with that. I'll be buying to necessary tools (dial bore gauge, micrometer, t-gauge, etc) as the project reaches those points.

I'm honestly not doing this out of arrogance or some other nonsensical reason. I want to learn these things and have a sense pride in my car. I want to be able to tear it apart and repair it myself if needed later on. I've thought of going with a crate motor on multiple occasions. I guess I just can't bring myself to do it. Feels too much like cheating or instant gratification...