I researched for months before purchasing the rods and pistons. Those stock pistons we're the cheapest I found. I looked at many websites also. No turning back now lol. Let's just hope my block doesn't become another statistic. I don't consider it a major upgrade, stronger is better even if it is just a little.

It is recommend that the engine be balanced due to the removal of the balance shaft , with the double roller timing chain. The only way to balance an engine is to take it apart, and drill or fill holes in the parts.
I don't plan on using the timing chain damper, cause it is recommend not to. But i did buy one for just in case.

 

No way to return the pistons? As long as you're this deep into it, the tiny delta in cost is well worth it. The stock piston ring lands coming apart are by far the #1 cause of destroyed 3800s. Just seems crazy to go through that much time and expense not to address the biggest problem.

Disabling the balance shaft doesn't necessarily require an engine re-balance. Lots of people have done the double roller chain without pulling the engine to re-balance it. No doubt, you may as well do it since you've got it apart though. If you're going with a big cam it isn't going to matter anyways from an NVH perspective. The cam will cause far more vibrations than just disabling the balance shaft.

 

I agree with everything bumpin said here as well. I see you throwing tons of money into a short block and at the end of the day basically having the same thing that would come out of a junk yard minus the arp bolts and cam. Anywho good luck with the build I hope it does what you want and holds crazy power after being rebuilt but in most cases they never last. Just keep in mind if this engine doesn't last, grab a cheap junk yard short block and use it, they are holding up at 500-600whp reliably.

 

I looked for a used l67 or L32 before buying my L26. There wasn't any close to me for a good price. If the junk yards had them they wanted $1,500 - 2,000. My used l26 cost $1100. And that was the cheapest I found. Junkyards are expensive around here. For instance they want 35 for a front fender if you pull it yourself and 70 for one they pulled. When a brand new fender cost 70.

 

Unless you live in Alaska or Hawaii, I think you limit yourself too much by only looking at local junkyards.

If you expand your search and are willing to drive a bit (especially with gas this cheap), it really opens up your options. When I did my swap, I was having a hard time finding something local with reasonable mileage. I expanded my search to what I could get to in a 12 hour drive and found a fellow forum member in NY that fit my needs perfectly. Sure you'll add a hundred or so in gas, but you give yourself a much greater chance to find something.

The other thing that helps is combining all possible search options- various w body car forums, ebay, Hollander, craigslist, etc can bring quite a few hits. Right now, Hollander has hundreds of L67s listed all over the country, and probably 50 L32 also. Certainly many are 150k+, but there are some that pop up under 100k.

Another option is buying a whole car vs buying just an engine. Totalled GTPs don't sell for much considering good running cars go or less than $5k.

That's the route I went- the car I bought was totalled. But since I only had an Impala at the time, I negotiated with the buyer to let me take only what I wanted. All of the parts I needed for my swap, plus a bunch of other parts I took and sold all fit in the trunk of my Impala for the drive home. Worked out well for both of us. I got what I needed and more, and the seller was still able to get scrap steel value out of the chassis.

The other thing that helps is time. Being able to search a few times a month for a few years also greatly increases your odds, especially since you've already got 4 years into this.

I know it's probably too late for this go around, but just something to think about if you do it again .

 

If something happens to this motor, then I def will look for a l67.
But other then that. Us the list of work for the shop good. Am I missing anything?

 

I would suggest letting the machine shop determine that. They're the pros at doing it, and you trust them to do the work, so you should ask their advice for what is needed. Not to mention, we have no idea what condition the engine is in, someone needs to inspect it to find out what is needed.

I still vote 100% for waiting until you can stick some forged pistons in there. It certainly won't make the bottom end bullet proof, but it'll give you a little more leeway on tuning issues and errors. You've already got this much time and money into it, and you're rebuilding it regardless, so you may as well address that issue.

 

The engine has already been cleaned, inspected, honed, crankshaft checked, polished, and installed Arp main studs with new bearings.

 

Rather than try to make a to-do list for the machine shop, I still think you should just drop the parts off and let them finish the work that they suggest to finish assembly of the short block. If you don't have a good torque wrench, then maybe let them install the heads too.

I assume you had the mains align honed using the new studs? You should have the con rods done too if you changed to ARP bolts just to be safe as the distortion can be a little different than with stock rod bolts.

I wouldn't bother with having them mess with opening oil galleys and such. It's not going to be some crazy high rpm race engine being that it's mostly stock parts. With a good turbo setup there's no reason to rev it to the moon anyways.

Did you find the cause of the water in the cylinder and oil? If not, you really need to have it magnafluxed to make sure a cylinder isn't cracked.

Dont forget to have them machine the oil pump cover for your double roller either. Make sure someone also checks the mating of the lower sprocket to the crank also. Some people have to put a slight radius on the lower sprocket to get it to sit right on the crank.

Also, the balance shaft oil feed delete is something you can do yourself if you're trying to save a few bucks. Just stick a dodge 440 cam bearing in the rear balance shaft bearing hole and just offset the oil feed to the wrong location so it doesn't let oil flow out. Only takes a couple whacks with a hammer once you've frozen the bearing. I want to say I only paid like $15 for a cheapo bearing set.

 

That sound like a better idea then a list, the main studs were installed by the shop. I dropped them off to be installed with the block when I had it checked, magnafluxed, honed, crankbalanced and cleaned. I bought the machined oil cover from zzp. It's on the timing cover already.

I'll look into the 440 bearing kit. Thanks