quote:(1) Its nice the block was decked (squared up) and the reciprocating assembly was balanced in some way (static? dynamic?) but its a downer the block was bored 40 thousandths over. My guess is this is the block's second bore job, the first one was 30 thousandths over, so the second bore job was taken another 10 thousandths. It sure would be nice to see a sonic check report for those cylinder walls.
Corey's view: (Ultra)Sonic testing the block was hard to do around here since there was only one guy with the tool in the valley, but I did it anyway on my standard bore cleveland, and I can see why this is important after having it sonic tested. Cheap insurance, and a .040 over block isn't a necessarily wasted block, depending upon the remaining cylinder wall thickness and the intended use of the engine.
quote:(2) 6.125" connecting rods. Normally we use 6.00 inch rods, to give the piston more room for a standard ring set that doesn't overlap the wrist pin hole.
Corey's view: 6.0" rods in a stroker can mean a low rod/stroke ratio and isn't necessarily great either. Low rod/stroke ratios can mean more wear and tear on the engine. When you add stroke to an engine, there are usually some drawbacks. Again, for the intended use of the engine in a Pantera that doesn't get driven every day, this may not mean much. For a grain of salt, some people don't like adding stroke to an engine and use the oil control on ring and piston configuration of stroker motors as an argument against such motors. Other people who have reasonable stroker motors don't actually experience oil control issues. The 351 Windsor is an easier motor to install a stroker in, given the deck height of 9.5 inches versus the Cleveland's 9.2 inches.
quote:(3) 1/16 x 1/16 x 3/16 ring set ... thats not a ring set built for longevity, this exemplifies perfectly why a shorter rod is preferred. The Eagle/KB stroker kit is a wonky combination for the street, I guess it was intended to be a low budget race kit. The problem is kits like this are dumped on eBay to any buyer with no couseling regarding application.
Corey's view: Depends upon how much it's driven on the street.
quote:(4) Assuming this stroker kit uses floating wrist pins, there's no mention of indexing the cylinders. Boring the cylinders while indexing the boring tool on the main bearing axis is referred to as "indexing the cylinders". It makes the cylinders perpendicular to the crankshaft both fore and aft and left to right. This is a necessary step before using floating wrist pins because cylinders that are canted fore and aft will cause the piston pins to hammer the locks out of the pistons and gouge the cylinder walls.
Corey's view: Check with an engine builder for the intended usage of the engine.
quote:(5) Pro Comp heads. Ignoring the dismal business ethics of the company, their Chinese made parts have the worst reputation in the aftermarket industry in regards to quality. On top of all that, they don't flow well and take a lot of work to fix. It appears the heads were purchased based on lowest price, but "fixing" them would end up costing more money than a better set of heads. The iron 4V heads are great heads, replacing them with Pro Comp heads is a down-grade.
Corey's view: Pro Comp heads are cheap knock-offs but not super, completely terrible. Don't go throw them away just because they aren't the best heads.
quote:(6) A solid lifter cam in a Pantera is not for the average person, and not justifiable for a street engine. Its difficult to adjust valve lash in a Pantera.
Corey's view: This isn't a hard thing to change if you don't want to mess with valve lash. Dennis Quella said that they're not that bad to adjust, and he prefers them over a hydraulic roller in a Cleveland.
quote:(7) The TCI damper has a very bad reputation amongst racers. For every good report I've read or heard about the ATI damper I've read or heard an equally bad one about the TCI damper. Folks claim the ATI prevents 351C block cracking, folks claim the TCI is responsible for crankshaft failure. Since the TCI damper is an expensive part, an ATI damper could have been purchased for about the same amount of money, that was a mis-informed purchasing decision.
Corey's view: The key here is "bad reputation amongst racers". Intended usage again.
quote:(8) 2V Edelbrock intake manifold mated to 3V Pro Comp heads. There is a significant port mis-alignment.
Corey's view: Yea, definite mismatch. You can leave it how it is, get a new intake, try to port-match the intake to the head, or get new Trick Flow, Austrailian 2V, or Edelbrock heads. Unless you have x-ray vision, you could take off the intake manifold and check it out.
quote:(9) Last I checked, Moroso doesn't make a race type Pantera oil pan, so at best this Moroso oil pan is just an OEM copy. A better pan would have been the factory Q code oil pan which has a built-in windage tray.
Corey's view: Stock cars didn't all get the Q-code oil pan. Yes, if you're racing the car around everywhere, you'll want the baffled oil pan. If you have a garage queen , then maybe it's fine. Not a durability item unless you're driving the car hard on the track street roads and need the oil control.
Yes, my views are different from George's. I don't see any of these issues causing a major problem for a street-driven car that might see a cruise here and there and not much track use.