My Blueprint crate engine story - May 2018

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I'll just say thanks to anyone who has purchased, or will purchase an engine from BluePrint. The more mopar engines and parts we sell, the more it peaks the interest of our R&D departments to come out with more parts, and different/more Mopar combinations.

We support self builders with our ignition components, starer motors, fuel pumps etc. and we support those interested in crate offerings with short blocks, long blocks, and complete engines in several dress combinations.

Not every one of these "check out my new engine" threads needs to turn into a comparison between the 15000 ways to build an engine.

We're here for those that realize our value and support, and appreciate those that support us. We don't knock those that build their own, we simply offer one of the many alternatives.

Hope everyone has a great 4th of July, Stay Safe.
 
Johnny Mac said:
I'll just say thanks to anyone who has purchased, or will purchase an engine from BluePrint. The more mopar engines and parts we sell, the more it peaks the interest of our R&D departments to come out with more parts, and different/more Mopar combinations.

We support self builders with our ignition components, starer motors, fuel pumps etc. and we support those interested in crate offerings with short blocks, long blocks, and complete engines in several dress combinations.

Not every one of these "check out my new engine" threads needs to turn into a comparison between the 15000 ways to build an engine.

We're here for those that realize our value and support, and appreciate those that support us. We don't knock those that build their own, we simply offer one of the many alternatives.

Hope everyone has a great 4th of July, Stay Safe.
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I want one of your Dyno tuned monsters need it shipped to Canada please !
 
Biff said:
I want one of your Dyno tuned monsters need it shipped to Canada please !
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Send me a PM if you're ready to pull the trigger, i'll gladly help answer and questions or set and order up.
 
@Biff : FYI, I had my engine shipped to a mailbox place in Blaine Washington where they received it and then forklifted it into my pickup for $40. I then had to pay 12% at the border (GST/PST) but avoided brokerage fees and other costs and hassle by bringing it home myself. Not sure if that works for you with a couple of ferry rides etc. but something you may want to consider.
 
Dusterdenovo said:
@Biff : FYI, I had my engine shipped to a mailbox place in Blaine Washington where they received it and then forklifted it into my pickup for $40. I then had to pay 12% at the border (GST/PST) but avoided brokerage fees and other costs and hassle by bringing it home myself. Not sure if that works for you with a couple of ferry rides etc. but something you may want to consider.
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Sounds like a road trip before winter ! Thanx ,Johnny Mac has been super helpful today, the dollar sucks I’m hopeful it gets better in the next little while here fingers crossed:icon_fU:
 
Johnny said freight between 300-350 still might be cheaper than 2 ferry rides fuel and time ,no road trip for me!
 
Biff said:
Johnny said freight between 300-350 still might be cheaper than 2 ferry rides fuel and time ,no road trip for me!
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Two ferry rides in a regular pick-up is an easy $300 round-trip alone. Don't get me started on BC Ferries! :mob:

As for the 408 engine, if a person was looking to replace a 360 in their car (such as mine) with a 408, would it work balance-wise with the 360 torque convertor, etc? Is it still externally balanced at 408 cubes?
 
I see aftermarket heads on the pictures of the motor...... What is BPE doing with the heads before being put into service?

JW
 
DemonDave said:
Two ferry rides in a regular pick-up is an easy $300 round-trip alone. Don't get me started on BC Ferries! :mob:

As for the 408 engine, if a person was looking to replace a 360 in their car (such as mine) with a 408, would it work balance-wise with the 360 torque convertor, etc? Is it still externally balanced at 408 cubes?
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Same flexplate/flywheel as an LA 360.
The front is balanced as a magnum, which simply requires a new harmonic balancer, which is a good idea anyways. Everyone buys one of the professional products that comes with all 3 mopar weights. Pretty easy!
 
I built my own motors
did a perfect motor home motor, ported heads everything perfect
let it sit for awhile and when I went to start it the valves were varnished up and bent a set of Smith brothers 7/16 pushrods
now to collect on my warranty :)
Which heads to replace the Mopar Performance Magnums, the ones with stainless valves and springs with dampners if I need to, blended under the seats is all
need a valve job or TBD
DIY valve Job- I have access to a SERDI and know how to use it, maybe 2.02 valves cut to 1.94 or 2" with 3o degree seats
EQ heads
Aluminum
new cam - HR
92 Dakota 3:54 tow
 
Do it the way you want, post about it to maybe help others get some ideas, save the jack-off contest for your own thread where you can jerk away for those that like to spectate:rofl:
 
Johnny Mac said:
Same flexplate/flywheel as an LA 360.
The front is balanced as a magnum, which simply requires a new harmonic balancer, which is a good idea anyways. Everyone buys one of the professional products that comes with all 3 mopar weights. Pretty easy!
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No offense Johnny but I bought one of those Professional Products harmonic balancers and it wound up costing mr $12,000. I installed one on my supercharged 340 that I built in 1988 (about 30 years ago) and I should have known when it just slid on my crankshaft without any effort. Well after it was on for a few months I stopped at a gas station to fill up the Dart. After filling up I started the car up and heard this horrendous knocking that sounded for all the world like a rod knock. I limped the Dart back home and the next day I got my buddy Larry's opinion on it . Larry was in agreement that it sounded like a rod knock so I started the wheels in motion to build a new engine. It was when I was disassembling the engine that I discovered that the the balancer had come loose and THAT was the cause of the knocking and it also tore up my timing cover on the process. When I built this engine I installed a Summit brand degreed balancer and it fit like they should (had to be pressed on. Just a heads up. Also even though I love the performance of my new 418 striker (490 horsepower and 516 ft pounds of torque) I might have been better off with the Blueprint Engines stroker as I have a oil leak (either rear main, camshaft plug or one of the two oil galley plugs) and it's coming out of the bell housing. Also I am building crankcase pressure and its pushing the dipstick out (might be why the main is leakin). I did a leakdown (the engine was cold and the cylinders were dry) but the cylinders varied fro a low of 3% to a high of 16%. Some have said that I need to not baby the engine but give it some full throttle blasts (dangerous with my tires LOL) and also gear down when coming to a stop, we'll see. Anyways this is where the BPE warranty comes in, maybe next time.
 
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superchargeddrt said:
No offense Johnny but I bought one of those Professional Products harmonic balancers and it wound up costing mr $12,000. I installed one on my supercharged 340 that I built in 1988 (about 30 years ago) and I should have known when it just slid on my crankshaft without any effort. Well after it was on for a few months I stopped at a gas station to fill up the Dart. After filling up I started the car up and heard this horrendous knocking that sounded for all the world like a rod knock. I limped the Dart back home and the next day I got my buddy Larry's opinion on it . Larry was in agreement that it sounded like a rod knock so I started the wheels in motion to build a new engine. It was when I was disassembling the engine that I discovered that the the balancer had come loose and THAT was the cause of the knocking and it also tore up my timing cover on the process. When I built this engine I installed a Summit brand degreed balancer and it fit like they should (had to be pressed on. Just a heads up. Also even though I love the performance of my new 418 striker (490 horsepower and 516 ft pounds of torque) I might have been better off with the Blueprint Engines stroker as I have a oil leak (either rear main, camshaft plug or one of the two oil galley plugs) and it's coming out of the bell housing. Also I am building crankcase pressure and its pushing the dipstick out (might be why the main is leakin). I did a leakdown (the engine was cold and the cylinders were dry) but the cylinders varied fro a low of 3% to a high of 16%. Some have said that I need to not baby the engine but give it some full throttle blasts (dangerous with my tires LOL) and also gear down when coming to a stop, we'll see. Anyways this is where the BPE warranty comes in, maybe next time.
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Well hopefully we can do some business in the future and save you some of those headaches. Although we don't directly sell that pro products damper, I have never personally seen one give it the issues you had. Sorry to hear about that. Customer is free to use any balancer they wish as long as its magnum weighted.
 
Dusterdenovo said:
Been running around 190* with a 180 Tstat, but it creeps up to 200-205 in traffic. Using Evans Waterless Coolant. For now.
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I'm running a 160 stat with Evans as well. It gets around 210 in very hot weather. Runs very cool in cool weather.
 
Howard1784 said:
I'm running a 160 stat with Evans as well. It gets around 210 in very hot weather. Runs very cool in cool weather.
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It's been mid sixties around here - will get up into the 80's next week so I'll see how that goes. Not sure if I need to be concerned quite yet. Going to check my lower hose with the GoPro this week sometime to make sure that's OK.
 
Mine hovers around 199° to 200° in 90 degree weather. 180° thermostat, 22" Champion rad with a Chevy HHR electric fan on it and 50l50 coolant mix and Purple Ice. Still would be happier at around 190°
 
My temp gun shows the upper hose to be 10* cooler than the Speedhut guage reads, and the lower hose temp is consistently 45* cooler than the upper. (Temp gun doesnt work well on the polished tanks).
Having said all that, at this point I'm not sure if I need to care about my temps or if I'm golden. Just going to have to keep driving it and checking stuff out. First world problems :)
 
Dusterdenovo said:
My temp gun shows the upper hose to be 10* cooler than the Speedhut guage reads, and the lower hose temp is consistently 45* cooler than the upper. (Temp gun doesnt work well on the polished tanks).
Having said all that, at this point I'm not sure if I need to care about my temps or if I'm golden. Just going to have to keep driving it and checking stuff out. First world problems :)
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Sure seems like your radiator is doing it's job. I am curious about mine, I think I'll check it tomorrow.
 
Dusterdenovo said:
My temp gun shows the upper hose to be 10* cooler than the Speedhut guage reads, and the lower hose temp is consistently 45* cooler than the upper. (Temp gun doesnt work well on the polished tanks).
Having said all that, at this point I'm not sure if I need to care about my temps or if I'm golden. Just going to have to keep driving it and checking stuff out. First world problems :)
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If using the IR heat gun on a polished tank, just put a small piece of electrical tape on it and shoot that. Gets rid of reflectivity and you get a good reading.

Cley
 
SLOPAR72 said:
I see aftermarket heads on the pictures of the motor...... What is BPE doing with the heads before being put into service?

JW
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Hey Slopar,
The heads are Inspected, decked, valve job and guide cleanup, then cleaned/assembled.
So they are not just bolted on out of the box, but they are not ported beyond flashing cleanup.

When washed down, we run the fluid through a sediment filter to see how clean they were when unpackaged, and record that value. That helps us record how much contamination would have went into an engine, had they not been properly washed. Pretty cool setup.
 
what kind of aftermarket heads do they use now days? I have seen some with edelbrocks but that was a few years ago.
 
gtsdude said:
what kind of aftermarket heads do they use now days? I have seen some with edelbrocks but that was a few years ago.
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still edelbrocks on the mopars for the time being.
 
89on35s said:
If using the IR heat gun on a polished tank, just put a small piece of electrical tape on it and shoot that. Gets rid of reflectivity and you get a good reading.

Cley
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Maybe I'll give that a whirl. I've hesitated to do that because I didnt want tape goo cooked on to the tank but a small piece could just stay there I suppose. As I posted earlier, getting different info from my new guages and the temp gun so I do want to get to the bottom of that.

Getting less convinced that the Evans is the way to go (mostly the viscosity) but want to turn over every other rock before changing that out.

Greetings to Saskatchewan! My folks hail from Melville.
 
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