So, I went looking for a 331 kit and found this one on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/302-...47176QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD4V#ebayphotohosting Do you think it's a good deal? Is there anything missing? Etc. Please bare with me if these are bad questions, I'm just a noobie with engines.
Oh! I just found this one for cheaper: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/306-...-FORD-TMD_W0QQitemZ180077665871QQcmdZViewItem Looks like a decent comparison product. Edit: I think I'm going to go with these guys. Please help me pick which of the available package would probably be best for me. I'm looking for quick, but still a reasonable daily driver. Please.
Who is going to do your engine work? Your block will need to be machined and prepped for the stroker. Are you going to do the work yourself? Talk to your engine builder or machinist, tell them of your wants. They should have access to kits and price may work in your favor. If you take your kit into a shop, most likely, your shop rate is going to be higher. (take a hunk of meat into mcdonalds ask them to cook it for you) I don't trust a balance job from wholesalers! With a complete job from your local guy (he may even be using your ebay kit) any problems and he has to stand behind it! Saves you from hearing,,, I had to do this an this extra, cause you bought them parts! Ask your local people for a good shop who they trust, if you don't have one now, talk to them. Make sure you feel comfortable with them and build you a great engine! Good Luck!
Because we have emissions in Phoenix and I have a feeling the 331 is going to be hard enough. And I'm not sure about gas consumption and engine life with the bigger kit.
I agree 100% with DK...whoever does the engine machine work will have a preferred list of parts they will want to use. Think about it, would you want to work on someone's engine, offer a warranty, and not know what the reputation is of the parts you used, and have to re-work the engine afterwards for free if the parts fail? Find a machinist, ask what he will work with, then shop around. If you get too cheaply made parts, you may be forced to do your own machining since nobody will want to work with the parts.
The parts I was looking at are pretty good names, but you guys raise a very good point. I'll check with the shop I had in mind for the job. You never stop helping. Much appreciated.
I have used Eagle kit's that were about the same price as your first post. If you use I beam rods, the block will not have to be clearanced, only bored to the pistons and maybe a deck cutting. No need to zero deck it for a street engine, just clean it up. I would go with Mahle pistons if you decide on another brand kit that offers a choice. Probe's are ok but the Mahle's don't weigh squat and the throttle response is amazing. Before xmas, a supplier of mine, had a flyer from Eagle with the SRP pistons and fully balanced assy for 999.00 with harmonic too. Also was told that most all cranks now are made in China and some final work done here??? JMO
As old guy stated, definetly go with the Mahle pistons if you have a choice. Lighter, shorter (lighter) pins, smaller rings (less friction) and they are coated....right out of the box. Having seen some of the Probe stuff, I would definetly go with Mahle before I bought Probe's. Probe & SRP are about the same thing, more or less. Same old school 1/16-1/16-3/16" ring pack, same style dome (more or less), same style pins, etc. The mahles also have round wire locks rather than spirolox...which is a LOT easier to install/remove than spirolox are. I'm looking at getting another set of Mahles for the Maverick spare engine. They'll probably be 331 pistons and set up for 6.300" rods in a 9.48" deck early block with splayed caps. Don't know how long it'll last but its' something that I have wanted to try. Its either that or 6.200" rods and Diamond dome pistons..which sounds tempting considering that the compression ratio should be up around 15:1. But I have used Mahles before and I like their ring pack and valve reliefs so I may as well just stick with them.
yep almost everything is made there now. SCAT, K1, Eagle, Probe i can go on. if it can keep prices down i'm for it! i think the only thing you can really buy US is most pistions. for rods the only i can think of is Carrillo but i'm not about to drop 2.5k on a set of rods :x but what about JE's for pistions? same as SRP (since JE makes SRP) just a bit lighter and a tad more $$.
definitely talk to your local shop. I live in Tucson and my dad owns a shop and if the stuff he buys breaks it is a lot better than if the stuff the customer buys breaks. also about the 347 if you go that big on the bore you could have an overheating problem especially here in AZ.
I have used the TMD kit. I was very satisfied with it all but one point. And that was it took a lot of heavy metal to get it ballanced. So just the ballance job cost me about $185. Other than that I had to do no machining to the block 1990 roller block) and all the tolerences were right on.
