Dude!
 

You are pretty resilient. How may times can a person rebuild a new car? I like you attitude.

The way most balance a motor is put the lightest piston with the heaviest rod and take material off the balance pad of the rod and add or subtract weight at the crank.

Have a friend that has one of GM's ZL-1 blocks punched out to 496. His motor made 603 at the flywheel. Not sure the specs, but I can get them for you if you like as it would be a good starting point to try and squeeze out another 50 hp.

Are you happy with your rear suspension choice?

Todd, thanks a million for documenting so many of your real world experiences during your build. This thread gives a true depiction of what a lot of us go through to get or keep our high-performance rides 'working right' and how unreliable or incorrectly built many of these aftermarket parts are. I too have had quite a number of noteworthy aftermarket parts or systems not work as their suppose to or simply fail. Seeing your thread helps me realize that it's not just me and my typical bad luck. Also, seeing your determination and persistence helps me a lot also. So thank you for documenting all that you do. I really appreciate it. :thumbsup:

I also really look forward to your engine rebuild. I have a ZZ454 that I may 'enhance' one day and I was looking to get the same numbers out of mine that you're looking to get out of yours, so I definitely will keep my eyes glued to what you end up doing to your engine. Being a big block fan also, your ride and build thread have always been of huge interest to me. Keep up the great work! Loved your racing video clips also! :hail:

What about an aluminum block before you go back in with the engine.
YEAH.. YEAH..YEAH

Now that I've modified the lower shock mounts and changed end links I'm happy with the handling and bite. Rear sway bar is in the works. I'm already at 593/587 so your buddies build is probably about identical since I'm down 7 cubes. I'm a car junkie. Nothing excites me more that building an engine and racing. Well maybe one thing.:D

Chris, shop owners should just send there customers my thread and tell them to read it when they start whining about how long it takes. I really feel building these cars is just like GM building a new car. It has to be put through the paces and fixed and tweaked and etc.... to get it really good. As the old saying goes, you put a bunch of bastard parts together........ I feel like the car is really getting there. This engine change will be a huge positive factor. I always thought the engine made good power but there were some things I would do different today.

Rodger.....you read my mind, can I borrow 5k? :D I just don't think I can convince myself to spend the money. If I find a deal maybe.:D

Keep us posted Todd.
Just like Penny, Payback keeps on getting better! Good luck bud!:cheers:

Engine work is one of the best parts of the build. I'd punch it out if I were you Todd. Good excuse to get more power. :yes:

BTW I like your bedsheets covering the hood. :lol:

Old lady was pissed. :rofl:

Racing junk. There are new unused blocks out there. Is a dart block that much? I had a customer just buy an aluminum block for his 540 in his 56 chevy. I thought he said 3500.00

How much will the machine work be on a new block. The last on I did it was $3000.00 that was on cast bowtie small block.:cool: :cool:

I'll have to start looking for some deals, I've talked to two reputable engine builders today. They are going to want to redo the machining anyway. A new dart block is about 5k new on a big block. That only includes rough machining. There are some chinese knock offs for quite a bit less but I won't go there. There is one thing for sure, it's not going to happen very fast unless I decide to deal local and put it together. I want it done 100% right this time.