I hate cars

[akrapovic]

So the new big block I installed decided to come apart. Low and behold the roller cam had about 1/4" of play from front to back. This is awesome since my machinist insisted on putting the short block together bc he wanted to make sure it was right........ Turns out he doesn't believe in using all the parts included in the repair kit (ie torrington bearing) for the thrust portion of the block. Slowly but surely the timing gear was chewing in to the thrust face of the block. Bad news is the motor had to come out. The good news is all of the hard parts look great. No damage to anything except bearings and the "thrust face" of the block.

So in closing, it's better to pay more for quality as opposed to paying twice. The good news is I was hooked up with Motor City Speed/Billy Briggs formerly of Wheel to Wheel. He has been very helpful and accommodating. Going with a bigger cam and higher compression while I've got the motor apart. So maybe I'll get something out of this annoyance aside from a parts and labor bill. Hopefully more than 350miles.... Sigh.....