89musclestang

Damn man that is ridiculous my bill was only 500 and i had it cooked, bored, honed, freeze plugs replaced, new cam bearings, reground the crank and milled the deck.... you can buy a whole new block for less than that and it will be ten times stronger than your stock block and im right there with ya on your statement about the turbo

Portmaster

Well I'll tell you my experiance with DSS and other engine builders and some of my own experiance. I had a few customers bring me DSS shortblocks and long blocks to install in their vehicles. I've never had a single issue with them as far as the assembly of the engines. The thing I did find is that people think that because they bought a DSS Bullet shortblock (the cheapest model) that they had the misconception that it would handle a 250 hp shot of Nitrous then thought they got screwed over because their DSS block split or broke a piston. I've also had a customer installed DSS short block that came in because the engines spun a bearing after 200 miles. These people were already posting up how they got screwed over by DSS when in fact they had installed the oil pan with at least three tubes of RTV instead of a gasket. The oil pump pickup was full of silicone and the oil pickup was sitting flush with the bottom of the pan. Had it not been just off level it wouldn't have been able to pick up any oil. It took the "crew" of "Beer buddies" installers 3 days to get it fired up and running while buring up two starters because they couldn't figure out the cam timing, wiring, timing and firing order while spinning the engine over without priming the oil pump before hand. Any assembley lube was long gone before the oil pump ever primed on that thing. As an engine builder I could tell you hundreds of horror stories. I wouldn't build short blocks for anyone unless I knew who was installing it and I knew that they knew what they were doing. For full on engines they were built, run in and dyno'd before they left my shop.

It's not hard to mess up a quality built shortblock I don't care who builds it. The install, the assembly of the rest of the components and proper start-up are critical to the life of the engine. The first minute that engine runs will normally make the differance how long it last. I thought so much of the excellant machine work that I saw from DSS I ordered my block from them. It's not hard to assemble a shortblock and if all the clearances are within spec and the engine is kept within it's rpm limit of it's rotating assembly it will be fine. Normally when things go wrong it's the fault of the person who put the rest of the engine together. Now, on occasion becuse engines are assembled by humans things happen. Most of the people who talk trash have never seen an engine from who it is they are talking about. Rumors should be taken with a grain of salt. Everything I've seen that came from DSS was first rate and THE best machine work I've ever seen, BAR NONE. Bottom line is it's just as important for the installer to get things right as the person who builds the bottom end of your engine.

Hollister Hoodlum

Wow thanks alot for that portmaster.. that is by far the longest reply to any post of mine lol...

thats all i was curious of... was the quality of the work. I can see exactly where you're coming from on the assembly... hell when i replaced all my gaskets and removed some emmission stuff i forgot to put one of the bolts on the back of the head in when i started it up, i realized i made a mistake somewhere.. i pretty much knew what i did... but point being i made a stupid mistake.

I just want a block that is machined with excellent quality, rather it be the one i have, or one i order.. i just don't want to get boned over by some local guy trying to scam me out of a job that shouldn't cost half of what one of the quotes i got.

yes, i plan on going with the hp kit, don't know if anybody here has dealt with them either, but i know of a buddy that has a kit on his... hasn't had any problems so far...

Explosive

I don't think anyone would mind a nice turbo fox,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcOOEeYL6og

Portmaster

When you sell as many engines as DSS there will be people that screw up their own blocks and even DSS can be at fault at times. When you read all the bad things about them read carefully and see how many of those people actually purchaced their engine from DSS. Lot of "My Friend" "A friend of a friend," "this guy on the XXXXXX Forum told me" "The car I bought had a DSS engine in it" Next time someone talks crap about a DSS engine have them show you the reciept.

XPBaller

You didnt **** me off, and no offense taken.

Theres no doubt that a turbo will make more HP per pound of boost than a S/C in most cases, and definitely takes it for the "cool" factor.... however in my opinion theyre less practical for a D/D on a fox.


I picked up my S-trim used for 1,300$ on corral, and when it goes on it will be more than enough power to stress me out about the stock block everytime i slam it to the floor. What im saying is, either way the block is going to be your limiting factor, so why pay 4000$ more to get to the same place when you could be focusing on that block?



& to all the turbo guys on here, dont take this the wrong way. im not knocking turbos at all... infact i think theyre badass.