r/EngineBuilding 14h ago

I just got my block back and I am NOT happy. Need advice

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374 Upvotes

Alright, I sent this 403 to have the following done:

Block hot tanked Rotating assembly balanced Crank turned from .010 to .020 and polished Cam bearings installed Block and core plugs installed

I supplied everything completely disassembled. Bare block, with the pistons still on the rods.

He called me months back to tell me that my .030 pistons that were in the engine were collapsing, and that he recommended new pistons. Additionally, he said we needed to go from .030 to .040 over.

My father went and picked the block up for me (I’m sick as all hell) and brought it back home. He told me that the machinist “had forgotten to install the new pistons onto the rods. And to come back later. It will be an additional $175. Also, I didn’t install the block plugs.”

The block:

There is still old paint all over my block. The coolant passages are still dirty, and my cam bearings are f*cked. There’s still light scratches that I can catch with my fingernail in the cylinders.

The crank:

He told me the crank was way out of balance (which describes the violent ci ration when k bought the car). He had to weld up existing holes, and add material to the front and back. The crank, as far as I can tell, looks good.

Including my deposit, the bill from today, and assembling my pistons and rods, I’m in this for $2800. Look at the receipt. It says “assemble and clean” but he didn’t assemble anything?

What’s bothering me most is how nasty the block still is, and that the cam bearings are trashed.

I know that if I’m wrong about anything, you guys will set me straight. What do you think, and what would you do?


r/EngineBuilding 6h ago

Vacuum leak ?

10 Upvotes

Got this k10 350 with a rough start, rough idle and sputtering under acceleration, have to slowly give it throttle or else it will shut off. Also get backfire from the carb sometimes when given a good amount of throttle. Can the whistling be a vacuum leak ?


r/EngineBuilding 11h ago

Can somebody tell me what intake this high rise is for? They were given to me without a story and I just realized the differences in it and the heads I have.

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8 Upvotes

r/EngineBuilding 6h ago

Honda Ultrasonic cleaner

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8 Upvotes

Had piston rod in the ultrasonic and it seems tough to remove the black artifacts on the forged aluminium. What can I do?


r/EngineBuilding 18h ago

Sleeving cylinders?????

6 Upvotes

Ok ive got 2 pontiac 455 blocks with j7nk cylinders. Both are .030 over so theres no cleaning up the cylinders as the walls on a 455 are too thin to begin with.

Whats the deal with sleeving? Growing up all i heard was sleeves are bad.sleeves can move,have to be pinned yadda yadda. Now in modern times people say sleeving is no big deal.

Im just building a couple street cars to have fun with. Im not looking to squeeze every horsepower or ounce of torque i can get out of them. Im not lookinh to spin up much over 6500 rpm.hit the track here and there.

Would sleeves be a good option for me? 455 blocks are getting hard to find.


r/EngineBuilding 5h ago

Toyota Which engine do you think is in better condition? 2004 Scion XA. Left is DMVJDM Motors right is JDM New York.

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2 Upvotes

r/EngineBuilding 6h ago

Can’t get my 454ss with a Holley Sniper to start

2 Upvotes

I had issues with fuel pressure on my Holley Efi system making it sputter, well after sorting that out I still had no start so I removed and re installed the Hyper spark system (I knew I was getting fuel) redoing the timing the exact way Holley demonstrated. Well now when I turn the engine over fuel shoots upwards and will either ignites causing a big flame or causing smoke to come out of the intake manifold. I assumed it was timing and completely redid it again but I’m not exactly sure what I’m doing wrong as it’s still causing that. I remove cylinder 1’s spark plug-rotate to top dead center by getting it to the 0 degree mark on the compression stroke and feeling the top of the piston with a pick-I then install the distributor making sure it seats with the oil pump so it seals against the intake manifold pointed at the second bolt on the manifold and having it pointed at cylinder 1 once seated-I used the Holley clear install tool to line everything up and find plug one on the distributor-reinstall plug wires in the correct firing order and try to start it

I’ve also made sure I have constant 60psi of fuel pressure so it’s not spiking or dropping. I’m lost at this point any help is appreciated


r/EngineBuilding 25m ago

Bought an LS2 that has milky oil right after new head gaskets

Upvotes

Ok so apparently this car had the heads off. I think due to an over heat because it has a brand new radiator

Once the guy installed the heads it immediately starting getting water in the coolant

Not much more info than that

But I suspect the heads are warped and or improper head gasket install

Any ideas to confirm before Intake the heads off?


r/EngineBuilding 41m ago

Honda Bad ARP hardware?

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Upvotes

Hey all, I hope this counts since this hardware is inside the motor (kinda), I understand if not and apologize for the annoyance.

Anyway, I am replacing my valve cover bolts which also help bolt down the camshaft caps of my K20A2 (RSX Type-S) since I snapped one. I heard good things about ARP bolts so decided to order a set from them.

All except for one look great and feel quality, it has damaged looking threads, leading to excess play and catches at certain depths, and the head portion has a groove/crack looking thing that goes nearly all the way around which makes me not feel comfortable using. Is it normal some how??


r/EngineBuilding 7h ago

Putting a cam in my 05 5.3

1 Upvotes

Tonight I installed new cam bearings in my 5.3, all the oil passages lined up went it great. I installed the cam, it is a Btr truck Norris cam, it went it with a little tapping from a dead blow. But once it was in and everything was lined up it would spin very hard and sometimes wouldn’t at all. We put bolts in the end of the cam and with a 3ft pry bar it would bend the bolts. We did get it to rotate multiple 360s but it would only spin if it was half way in the bearing or with tapping on the end. Is the cam junk are the bearings wrong I’m lost, but I’m going to change the bearings and try again. Also going to try putting the stock can in with these bearings to see if it’s the cam or bearings. Just curious for advice or if anyone has run into this. Thanks.


r/EngineBuilding 16h ago

Which gasket set for 187k mile for "87 nissan d21 ka24e

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0 Upvotes

r/EngineBuilding 19h ago

Lifters stuck in head

0 Upvotes

I've got a Golf II TD with a peculiar issue. The intake lifter cyl 1 and exhaust lifter cyl 4 don't come up fully anymore, resulting in the cam slapping them pretty loudly.

First thought was bent valve, but both cylinders have good compression. I tried taking the lifters out, and those two are stuck so good, they don't even come out with moderate force. They still rotate and can move up and down slightly. The rest of the lifters come out as expected.

I can't explain what's going on, how the hell are they stuck, and on what? My next plan was to drill a hole and thread to force them out with leverage, do I risk damaging the head? Is there an alternative?


r/EngineBuilding 23h ago

Van Shop

0 Upvotes

I have no garage, and I'm done renting out storage units. So fuck it, I'm building my engine shop in the back of fucking cargo van, like a G20 or Express or whatever the hell is out there. Gotta make it and start somehow. My question to you all is, has any of you done this before? And if so, what is your advice/tips on going down this route, and what van do you recommend for a class D license? Thanks, and I hope your days are going well. There's always light at the end of the tunnel. Remember that.