So I need to rebuild my motor, and I found these two rebuild kits and I could like your guys opinions on them.

The first one.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-SBCKIT1-300/

The second one.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FE...-300/?rtype=10

Any info on any of these would be wonderful, If any one has used either one info would be great. Im just wondering the quality of the summit brands parts, on how durable and reliable they are? Thanks in advance ya'll!

 

has your shop already told you that the block needs to be bored .030 over?

Are you getting new rods or is the shop resizing them? Are you installing the cam bearings yourself? Are you pressing on the pins yourself?

 

The block is already bored over, if the rods are bad ill get new ones. Im going to be doing all of this myself.

 

Is this for a 350 or your 383?

 

Its for my 383, I posted on here already operation: investigate knock, Showing what I found when I took my heads off. If you look at the thread its my progress on what im going to be doing, and what I found.

 

do you have experience? or is this your 1st adventure because I would love to try this in the near future. I found these videos if you need any help

http://speedtalk.com/engine-building-videos-2.html

I was thinking of getting them for myself then again if you have experience you don't need them I'm a complete rookie. I hope that everything works out for you and keep us updated. to the untrained eye they (the kits)look pretty similar but that's just me

 

Thanks for the link RS, This will be my first rebuild but I am not new to motors, my dad builds race cars for a living. Now he does rat rods, hot rods, anything you can think of. I have plenty of people to ask for questions including this forum! Thanks everybody who is on here! Its going to be quite the adventure!

 

I realize the sealed power kit has more gaskets that is just by looking at what is included in the kit, I would just like to know if there is any difference in quality and durability of the two brands?

 

Without knowing what's actually IN the Summit kit, although it's probably all standard stuff, I'd say, go with the Sealed Power.

The difference on price is minimal, in terms of its contribution to the overall project cost. No sense taking unnecessary risk.

 

not to be a wise guy but seriously, ask your dad. If he builds race cars then all of this stuff is old hat including just re-using rods without resizing after machine work was done to the block.

 

The bad part is me and my dad aren't on the best of terms to say, he's a very last resort. I was thinking the same thing of not skimping out on some thing that is very important to this car. Im most likely going to get the sealed power. This may be a stupid question but why would I need block work?

 

perhaps I'm not aware of any other threads by you on this topic. But, if you are assembling an engine than I just automatically assume that you aren't simply taking any old engine, including one that you had running and tossing parts into it.

Again, I would assume that you are doing it correctly and using a machine shop. I also see that it has been stroked, when? How many hours are on the engine since it was machined and why does it need a rebuild kit?

I'm probably missing something here because I'm sure it's not just a short block you picked up off craigslist or the junk yard and believe what you were told by the seller.

 

Im using the old motor that was in the car when I got it. If you look up my other thread Operation: Investigate Knock, you'll see why I need to rebuild it, at first I found a cracked piston, but when I took it off I found more problems. As far as how many hours are on it I dont know exactly, I drove it less then a 100 miles. I believe when the guy rebuilt it he did something very wrong. The bores look good no scratching, grooves, still has the cross hatching on them. This is my first rebuild, what kind of machine work would I need to have done?

 

Im going to be ordering the kit this week. If someone could suggest which one they would choose that would be great! If someone has used either one of these kits, could you tell me how the quality of the parts are? If someone could tell me what block work I would need would be nice also? I dont know what I would need because the block is already bored over, and the bores are still smooth.

 

OK, investigating knock thread. FWIW, the cylinders in my latest engine had 165k miles on them and were smoothe as well. The ridge on the top was beyond simple reaming but the bores were smoothe.

If you just want to toss some parts into the engine and hope for another year or 2 then go for it. In that case, a rebuild kit from EBAY would suffice.

Otherwise, bring the engine to a machine shop for a claning/inspection/magnaflux and then go from there. If you want it thoroughly cleaned and dipped then you'll need new cam bearings installed. If the machinist tells you that the cylinders are in fact good, and a simple hone would be good then let them do that. You are putting the cart before the horse if you want to do it correctly. But, if you have minimal funds and just want to toss in parts then do it; who knows, it might run for years.

good luck

ps- when it comes time to sell, don't dare call it a rebuild or refresh unless you have machine shop documentation to corroborate the claim.

 

Thank you that is really good on the info for resale. Im going to bring it to a shop and see what they say about the machine work. But as far as rebuild I want to replace almost everything in the motor, im going to get a micrometer and make sure the cam and crank are in spec. Im going to get the heads decked. But if the cam and crank are still good im going to put those back in.

 

Just got back from my machine shop, they said the cylinders need to be bored .010 over, everything else looks good. Going to get the summit kit. Going to have the shop put in the cam bearings unless theres a way to put them in without the tool? So that would mean I would have a 385 stroker? If there is anything such as that! lol

 

you are now one of the converted who will encourage posters to go to the machine shop despite the insistence that the cylinders look fine.

Absolutely have them install the cam bearings for you. Have you ever seen flying cam bearings? Many years ago they were common in my garage as I tried to send them to the moon and thus why I don't even bother any more.

Are your rods bad that they really need to be replaced? Also ask the shop if they think it a good idea to line bore or if the crank alignment looks ok.

Oh, how are you with ice and a torch? I also have shops put my pistons onto the rods. Some people can nail it the first time, I can't.

 

I always knew it was the smart thing to bring it to a shop, just money was the big problem but im getting a good price on it, I think. I going to see how much roughly it'll cost for him just to rebuild the motor with the parts I buy. Which if its cheap enough ill just do that, giving me free time, and quickness. I work nights and I sleep pretty much all day before my 10 hour shift, and I wouldn't get very much done myself.

 

I'd ask them to price with them purchasing the parts as well. You then get a a neat thing spelled w-a-r-r-a-n-t-y

If you are doing a performance engine then yes get the parts yourself because markups tend to be higher on high priced items. Even if the shop only tries to get 20 or 30 points on a $1,000 part that is a $428 markup.

I was just in the same boat this time as I was doing a stock rebuild. The first shop wanted around $2200-$2500. They wanted $1200 just to do all the machine work that I wanted done.

I found a 1 man automotive machine shop with a good reputation who did the entire engine for $1300 including a 3 angle valve job. He made a reasonable profit and earned a reference and a repeat customer.

For $1300, I re-assembled my engine, put it in the back of the truck and drove it to him. His shop wasn't as pretty as the first shop but he knows what he's doing and just wants to make a fair living. He's also in a lower rent district thus lower overhead. To me that was a no-brainer decision. I get no thrill or rush reassembling an engine so at that price, I jumped on having him do the entire thing.

 

A friend of mine works at a shop, and he asked his boss how much he would charge if he brought his friend(me) motor in to be assembled. He told him he would assemble my motor and have it running on a stand for $500. Thats with no machine work, the machine work is being done for $100 for boring, inspecting, cam bearings, and cleaning.

 

So I was inspecting my crank and cam, and I found that the bearings made grooves on the crank. Is there a way to machine the crank to get the grooves off? Would I need to get different size bearings or anything?

 

the man at the shop will be able to answer the question for you. At the price you've been quoted, even if you need a new crank you're still gettng out real cheap. Please be sure to buy the shop owner a $50 gift card to a restaurant.

You'll get discounts for as long as the guy has a shop. Tossing in a few extra $$$ gets forgotten. But when a guy takes out his wife or family to dinner he knows who the benefactor of the meal was and that $50 gift card will pay you back in spades vs $50 cash.