aussiesteve

Has anyone used one of the more performance marketed engines for any period of time.


my head says build it "383,427" with local engine guys here in Australia.


but my wallet says buy a blue print 400ci 508hp chinese internal hand granade and take a chance.


they market the 400,s with forged internals but no mention of lifters roller rockers etc..there just isnt enough info by blue print to make me buy one,
ALTHOUGH i support this guy and his quest to offer budget performance and i really want to give him support.


The engines sound great on paper and quite a few good reviews on the 355 383 basic replacement motors,, but i wanna get more involved and run a 12.1et,,
CAN the blueprint get me there or do i sell my kidney and buy a real DART 427 from shafiroff or CNC motorsports in SD or Get Ron Shaver in Cal to put something together with chinese american stuff,, scat/eagle etc,
.

BluePrintEngine

Hey AussieSteve,

I'd be happy to weigh in as to the quality of our engines! In reference to the 400, that's a our engine block that we cast in the USA. We also cast our own cylinder heads, and we have BluePrint branded forged internals that are produced to our specific spec, and as you noted some of our parts such as our cranks and our head castings do come from overseas. We do a thorough evaluation of all our potential suppliers prior to selecting them. If we feel we can get the quality we demand to offer our 30 month 50,000 mile warranty, we will use that supplier, but it always starts with quality. We have seen both good and bad suppliers no matter which side of the pond. We take care of our customers, and I personally am happy to help with any tech questions, and i can provide insight to any specific builds you like. (yes the 400 has full roller rockers) We're a large company with tons of quality control, and we produce a phenomenal engine. (I realize I am a little biased) Shoot me a PM for my contact info, or post questions here. Glad to help!

Johnny M
Director of Project Management
BluePrint Engines

aussiesteve

that motor looks great,,,and its priced well below what i can build it for,,,,we grow up as kids knowing ya get what ya pay for,,, syndrome,, and if that had a manley bottom end i would be happy to buy it now and pay another $800 or so....i am 56 and grew up on jahns pistons,,,isky and crower being all there was...

BluePrintEngine

I fully understand the "get what you pay for" mindset. With BluePrint Engines, we offer the best warranty in the industry to go hand in hand with our value. BluePrint is a premium brand, that is carried by the world's top performance retailers. Again I'm obviously biased, but for those reasons I rank BluePrint amongst the top performance names in the industry. If you have any other questions feel free to keep them coming or PM me. Happy to assist.

Johnny @ BP

aussiesteve

i think the 383 top model and the 400 forged engine are my favourites,,, these engines are no problem with lots of the 383 short motors sold through eagle spares with zero returns. .. i need to import this motor 12,000 miles and boy its a big call...buy one or sell a kidney and one eye on ebay and go something else for $3000 more..

aussiesteve

I just bought a New GM Bow Tie Block with machinable up to 4.125 cylinders $2250. and i will talk to compstar and manley to get a rotating setup to $1800 and get a set of AFR heads to $1300 to build a 383 to 6500rpms.


I have 2 other cars that can use a blueprint 383/400 engine.

skinny z

$5350 for what you listed. (AFR heads for $1300?).
Add valvetrain, cam, sheet metal, intake, carb, distributor, balancer, flexplate....
Add machining.
What's your ultimate budget? You'll be close to $7000 by my reckoning.

For what it's worth, I'm targeting 11 seconds with a street build. (That is to say, no dedicated drag racing suspension parts like shocks or struts). I'm hoping a 383 shortblock (and I've yet to decide if I'll buy or build much like you) with my ported RHS heads and a 288 hydraulic roller cam will get me there. Should be close but the shortblock is going to cost less than $3500 USD. All forged with US stuff (good or bad US stuff I can't say).