levin_666

hey guys new in town just wondering if anyone ever blueprinted thier small blocks before? if so how long did it take? and is it worth it? plus i know its gunna be a fair amount of $$$

sgt_pepper17

Well here's my opinion on it. I've built several street motors that have lasted longer than the vehicles themselves and have performed way better than stock. Now, I have never raced these motors, but in my high school days when I was really abusive to my motors, I would rev my 302 till the valves floated... That motor is still running and my best guestamate is that it has around 315 ft lbs. and 275 horse. Not a lot of power I guess but w/e... Now to get to the point... I think blueprinting is a great thing to do to a motor that you are intending to spend lots of money on. Say something that has very high horsepower, or will be reving very high rps 6500+... Other than that I believe it's a waste of time and money. See, as soon as you turn that key, whether you like it or not, that motor is gonna break in the way it sees fit... Just like no matter how many times you change your oil, eventually your motor will become dirty inside. Now I'm not telling you to just throw something together, and I'm certainly not saying don't change your oil... What I am saying is that you should do what you can afford and put the motor toegether the best you can. Plastigauge your bearings... Make sure your ring gap is correct and space the gaps appropriately and then just enjoy it. End of story.... Thanks for askin.

JD1969

I think we should define what "blueprinting" really is. Simply put blueprinting is nothing more than measureing all the tolorances in an engine and making sure they are within spec. Why a person would not do this I don't know. There are certain measurements that are more critical than others (main and rod bearing clearance for example is a bit more imortant than ring gap). Heres the way I see it. Lets say you spend $1500-2000 on parts and labor to rebuild your engine, if you take all the parts home and just put it together you take a huge risk, if the bearing are too tight and you spin a bearing there is no recourse or warrenty. Basicly I never trust that anything was done right and I double check it myself.

angcobra

Keep in mind to, must time folks are talking about blueprinting, they are talking about following the precise build that has already been documented to work. So, you would also have to have the exact same parts and all machined and clearanced the same.
Yes you want to understand what clearances are best for your build (it is different for every combination of parts and application) and you should verify them in some way, example typical ring end gap for NA = 0.014 for FI = 0.025.

levin_666

whoa thanks for the advice u guys. i suppose im not gunna go for a true right on the dot blue printing. just bought a book "Engine Blueprinting" by Rick Voegelin and man is it friggin detailed. basically ill keep the requirment of sending the block to the machine shop to the minimum of just decking the the heads and honing the bores. thanks a lot u guys

JD1969

Still you need to check the clearances like main/rod bearing and at least make sure the cyclenders are round.