libolt

I eventually plan to replace my mostly stock 305 engine with a 350. At present the most experience I have working on an engine is replacing the injectors in my current setup. So I know that there is a lot to learn. What are some resources for a novice like me to learn how to build an engine from scratch? Are there any websites, books, videos, etc that I should look at? I plan to take a couple of years to complete this project so I am in no rush and want to make sure I do it right

I plan to keep the TPI setup and understand that the injectors will need to be swapped to 22lb replacements. I would ideally like to make around 300rwhp. Everything that I have read here says that will take some modifications to my current system.

Any help/info is appreciated

1gary

David Vizard's books.

libolt

Thanks, I will look into them.

AlkyIROC

I've been a mechanic for many decades and even I don't "build" an engine. There are too many tolerances to check and adjust and without thousands of dollars worth of machine shop tools to make sure it's all within specifications, you'll never do it 100% correct even for a street engine.

I knew exactly what parts I wanted to use. I got the entire rotating assembly balanced then took it all into a machine shop for the machine work and I had them assemble the shortblock. Once I got the shortblock back, I put the rest of it together. The precision of the rotating assembly is the key to an engine lasting.

Yes, anyone can put an engine together but building an engine isn't the same. It's easy to make mistakes and if some tolerance is too loose or too tight, the engine will fail and you just paid for experience.

With little to no experience, you can expect to pay a lot more to build an engine than buying a prebuilt engine. Engine packages are available for all budgets and power levels.

When the machine shop was done with my engine (all new parts) they said the rod bearings were too tight when first assembled. They resized the rods to maximum and still couldn't get enough clearance so they swapped the rod bearings for an X bearing to get more clearance. If the average person bought a new crank, rods and standard bearings thinking that they'll all fit together properly, they would probably overheat and seize up a bearing, ruining the engine.

Taking years to learn and build an engine still won't guarantee it will last. There is that pride when you can say "I built it" but like I said, building and assembling are two different things. With the availability of prebuilt engines in either a shortblock, longblock or complete engines, you can save yourself a lot of time and money. What they show you in books, websites etc will only briefly cover what you really need to know.

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (2)

I have to disagree with AlkyIROC. Building an engine doesn't require thousands of dollars worth of measurement tools at all. There are accurate, inexpensive measurement tools available all over that are well within the accuracy range necessary for engine building. But honestly, even most of that isn't necessary for a mild street motor. Some plastigage for your bearing thickness checks, and a dial indicator with a magnetic base for runout, endplay, cam degreeing, and various valvetrain measurements is about all you'll need for measurement tools on a normal build. When you're building the type of motor that Alky is running, some of the tolerances can get more critical and some justification can be made for some specialty measurement tools, though still not anything extreme.

Anyway, I'm a huge fan of Cartech books. I've got a stack of them. They may not teach you everything, but they'll get you damn close. Here's the SBC rebuild book:
http://www.cartechbooks.com/how-to-r...chevrolet.html
It should be on the shelf of your local Barnes & Noble. I have the SBC dvd from this series and I like that too.

AlkyIROC

Sure, but what happens when your measurements show that something isn't right? Bearing clearance too loose or too tight? Not enough crank endplay etc. Very few people will have tools to correct stuff like that.

When building a basic street engine, specifications are generally close enough but everything still needs to be measured to make sure. Too many threads about people recently building engines only to have something fail because they failed to check something or thought it was good enough.

1gary

Coming from a background of working for Chevy as a engine tester you can NEVER know enough even if you don't have the tools and equipment to do the work yourself so you can speak the language to those that do.As a policy we have as many eyes look at a build that are not related to each other for "checks and balances".At the end of the day we do the final assembly to review what work is done and do have the tools to accurately measure that.Our race engines take about 120hrs of doors closed total focus work and in 20 yrs+++ of racing have never lost a engine.Yeah we have won our fair share of races.

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (2)

You fix it. It's not often that a bearing clearance falls out of spec, but if it does, you try a different bearing, or you take some material off the thrust bearing until it's in spec. If it's a bigger problem, then consult an expert. 99% of the time, the solution is simple and within the abilities of the DIYer.

When I built my LS, I checked absolutely everything. It's a good thing I did, because I found some issues that needed to be corrected (crank endplay, valve spring heights, and other minor issues). I'm a huge proponent of doing it right, but that can be done at home without expensive tools. If you do encounter an issue that you can't fix (ovalled rod ends, mis-aligned mains, etc), then you get a pro to fix it, but those issues are far and few between.

1gary

A good site to read monthly is:

www.enginebuildermag.com

The tech section

libolt

I appreciate all of the information and help. I understand that there may well be things that I need to have done at a machine shop. I will also likely have a friend who has many years of experience building engines help me with the process. Right now I am just gathering as much information as possible. The build won't be started for a while due to other factors. So I figured I would learn what I can ahead of time before deciding on block, components, etc. I've been reading through some of the build threads on this site already.

Thanks again for all the feedback.