Would there be any reason to have a machine shop check clearances and PV clearance and basically the whole mock assembl for you and stuff and once everything is OK, let you take the stuff home and put it together? Or should it just all be done at the same time in my garage.

The reason I ask is because at the moment that task makes me feel kind of lazy and not want to do it and worry that I could screw it up, and yet I do want to put things together myself for the final assembly.

My dad and I went through putting the 350 together without checking ANYTHING or doing ANY sort of cam break-in...I feel we can only be lucky once!

Take your time and check mains,rod bearings,file fit rings, etc. yourself and save money. Otherwise have the shop build the shortblock for you, which is not a bad way to go! Goodluck!

I just had most of that done. I took my block in to the shop, and they checked it out, and bored it. Then I ordered the lower end through the them (crank, rods, pistons, rings, bearings, main studs) and had them set up everything so it just needed to be put together. They test fit everything to where it goes, filed rings, checked bearing clearances (and they gave me thicker bearings to fix a couple looser fits) , and everything was labeled and marked as to which cylinder it was for. Then they balanced it, and put all the parts in a box for me to take home and final assemble myself.

I was impressed... he gave me a copy of his notes, with all my bearing clearances and ring gaps showing what he set up my parts with. And EVERY thing was numberd, so I knew where it went. Rods,pistons, main and rod caps, ring sets, even the bearings (He scribed the cylinder number on the tab on both halves of each bearing!)

I installed the timing set, and cam myself, so I took care of setting it up, and checking P-V clearances myself.

I enjoyed the experience.... knowing that a pro had test fit and checked all the critical clearances. Then I got to clean everything, and do the final assembly myself.

I felt doing it this way was a lot safer than doing it all myself in a garage with limited tools/knowledge. But probably not as safe as having it completly done and assembled by a pro. It cost a few dollars more than doing it myself, but it was reasonable, and the peace of mind was worth it to me.

Check around, and see what the shops in your area are willing to do, and how much $ it'll cost. It might be a good way to let you do the fun stuff, while letting the shop do the hard stuff. smile.gif

Chris

Thats a machine shop going the extra mile huh?! :eek:

I had the sop assemble mine for me. It cost a considerable amount more. But, it's woth it for the piece of mind and the fact that, as was mentioned in another post, they're more likely to stand by their work if they assemble it.

If you are thinking of doing your own assembly be prepared to clean everything, do a pre-assembly fitting, clean everything again, and assemble. Buy a good step by step engine rebuilding book, a good torque wrench, piston ring installation tool, plastigage, and some mikes. You'll also need a nice clean area (large) to work in.

If you don't want to do that, bite the bullet and pay to have someone do it.

Mike