Just bought a dart little m billet caps. what machining is needed

[Mattsv8_03]

hey guys i call my machine shop they said that the dart block need to be done on a decking machine cause the deck isint smooth enough as is to seal with mls gaskets. im building using a 31132211 block 400 block little m with billet caps all 4 bolt mains. and it will be all 400. std bore stroke but 6" rods and pistons are made for std deck height. Do i have to pay for it to be decked? he also said it needed boredl. but the paperwork shows a 4.125" bore already so all it should need is a hone correct. I thought all i would need was a hone and cam bearings installed. dosent make any sense to buy a $2300 motor and have to put $850 in machine work into it. for just a std 400 motor. it will be a turbo motor with a 88mm to replace the 357" motor im using now with a stock block.

[Dart Vader]

Dart block deck dimensions have tolerances of plus or minus 0.003 and are always parallel. Dart blocks do not need to be decked unless you have need of a particular deck height that is different from the height of the regular casting.

They are also bored in our shop and, as you said, need only a finish hone. You'd only need to bore it if you were going for a bigger bore size than the one the casting had standard.

[Mattsv8_03]

ok im going to a diffrent shop then cause they wanted to **** me out of 1000 bucks in extra work. i under stand the 40 for installing cam bearings and the 150 for the tq plate hone. the rest on a cnc block seemed unnessary thank you very much. Im shooting for low 8s. 8.0 range on pump e85 blow through carb in a s10 truck. i wish i had some sponsors to get this going faster. I just picked up the crank and rods i ordered at jegs. but i still have to buy a good set of heads, order pistons and rings, and port my new supervictor to match whatever heads i run. and order a custom roller. I think i will dominate at the true street class at super chevy this year. its gona be a lot of fun.:)

[Mattsv8_03]

if it goes as good as it should and i get the chassis right. may get to rip off one 7sec pass this season. in a truly street driven truck.

[blown71nova]

Try to find a honest machine shop mine was perfect.

[Mattsv8_03]

I couldnt see it anywhere do i need to run a roller lifter with a .300 longer body or do regular solid rollers work.

[BERT]

.300 long for the little m

[CNC BLOCKS]

hey guys i call my machine shop they said that the dart block need to be done on a decking machine cause the deck isint smooth enough as is to seal with mls gaskets. im building using a 31132211 block 400 block little m with billet caps all 4 bolt mains. and it will be all 400. std bore stroke but 6" rods and pistons are made for std deck height. Do i have to pay for it to be decked? he also said it needed boredl. but the paperwork shows a 4.125" bore already so all it should need is a hone correct. I thought all i would need was a hone and cam bearings installed. dosent make any sense to buy a $2300 motor and have to put $850 in machine work into it. for just a std 400 motor. it will be a turbo motor with a 88mm to replace the 357" motor im using now with a stock block.

We machine alot of Dart blocks for engines builders and other shops.

95% of the time most guys want main studs installed and after installing the studs in some cases we see the housing bores tighten up, So we line hone the main line on the 400 blocks to 2.8415

The blocks come with a 9.025 decks and most piston, rods and cranks require a 9.000 deck for zero deck.

Lifter bores we make sure they are to the GM tolerance of .8438 to .8443 but again most of the time most guys are asking for .904 lifter bores now.

The cylinder do come on your block appox. 4.120 and do need to be plate honed using the same gasket and hardware you will be using in your build.

Freeze plug and rear cam plug holes need to be chamfered.

Bottom of the cylinders should be camfered.

All the pipe plug hole should be taped deeper

Rear main bearing area needs to be deburred.

Water holes in the decks need to be matched to the head gasket.

On the 400 main line blocks fit up your oil pump and oil pump shaft and distributor to make sure that you don't need to any extra clearancing.

Thats pretty much what we do to the Little-M blocks.

And we charge for the block and the machine work 2695.00

I have to ask what rotator are you getting that requires a 9.025 deck???


If your buying your rotator from Jegs make sure you have the balancing checked if its prebalnced and beacuse the are new rods I am sure the big end of the rod will be on the tight side or under and will need to be addressed.

If the rods are floated those will need to clearanced to the wrist pins that come with the pistons as the pin end of the rods are alway under size.

The pin bores in the piston will have to be checked and in most cases will have to be honed for proper clearance.

When building a performace engine everything has to be checked and clearanced to the builders specs.

Dart blocks are great foundation to start with but everything needs to be checked before assembled. I MEAN EVERYTHING

[Trmnatr]

When Carl says everything, He means it

We dont do machine work , but for example with the rods, We mark every rod and pin and have them fit to the individual pins. Most of the time after you stretch the bolts, you need a dust the big end

With the money it sounds like your putting in the engine, have a good machine shop do this stuff and double check everything you can

There are even some off the wall ways to check some stuff that you would think you cant

Should be a fun ride. Good luck

[Dart Vader]

And we charge for the block and the machine work 2695.00

When building a performace engine everything has to be checked and clearanced to the builders specs.

Dart blocks are great foundation to start with but everything needs to be checked before assembled. I MEAN EVERYTHING
Considering how thorough you are and how much you do, that seems a very good price for the Little M Carl.

[Mattsv8_03]

i usually do have them checked. the piston is a je design for std deck blocks. actually its for 9.020 but most ive talked to say they run them with std blocks and still make great power. Im shooting for a few sponsors on the build. Im offering to show people how to build a easy 8 sec motor that is reliable and streetable. and deff not set on kill just fun. and with just a 88mm turbo and e85 pump fuel with a carb. its already went 9.19 at 147 on 9lbs of boost and going way lean with the a1000 fuel pump. can wait to get it done with parts i can trust. 20 lbs is going to be a lot of fun.

[CNC BLOCKS]

Considering how thorough you are and how much you do, that seems a very good price for the Little M Carl.

Thanks for the compliment. In this industry you have to pay attention to detail or you won't be in business long.

[Mattsv8_03]

if i would have know i could get one ready for 2600 thats the route i proably would have went. but then there is shipping. i got the block for 2080 at jegs without tax but no shipping.

[jerry clayton]

what are your aero plans for when you start running faster???

[Mattsv8_03]

none its a street truck!:)

[CNC BLOCKS]

if i would have know i could get one ready for 2600 thats the route i proably would have went. but then there is shipping. i got the block for 2080 at jegs without tax but no shipping.

We ship small blocks any where in the U.S. for 75.00

[jerry clayton]

Where do you run this thing???? I would like to see you run a 7 without doing some serious aero/spoiler work on a truck

[Mattsv8_03]

national trails, norwalk, edgewater, kilkare, sometimes marion. and will be going to bowling green for the all truck race this season too. and some of the superchevy shows.

[jerry clayton]

What kind of license/certification do you have??