304 Machining costs ?

[Jaso74]

Just had a quote from a machinist for prepping a 304 block for me to fit 355 kit.
Honestly I was a little surprised but the last time I paid for a block prep and balance job on a 308 was a long time ago .
Anyway , does anyone have any idea of current pricing or has had same things done recently ?
Things I've asked to be done are -
-Cylinder rebore to suit new pistons including honing to a finished cylinder surface
-clean and crack test
- remove old cam bearings and install new ones
-skim/cut deck to clean up surface
-balance rotating assembly with my supplied balancer and flex plate to new stroker crank etc .
From what I can tell without a written quote , just a phone convo and call back with cost overall , It's approx $1400 in machining cost for above , not sure if it includes welch plugs or not or anything else . He did say it's hand back to me ready to assemble.
Sound good /bad ?
I'm thinking it's not to bad but like I said , it's been a long time since built a holden v8 and had to do the machine shop thing so no real idea of current costing in 2024 ?
cheers

 

[07GTS]

seems fine, also as far as im aware they dont clean the block after the machining as they take no responsibility for it so the builder has to also clean the block properly, also can be best to just get the rotating assembly balanced, if u get the balancer and flex plate with it then if u have to replace those its then possibly out of balance, flexplate should be balanced alone if need be and balancer should be fine

 

[Immortality]

You will probably need to clearance the block for the stroker assembly.

 

[Jaso74]

You will probably need to clearance the block for the stroker assembly.

It is one of the VR blocks cast with stroker relief already . Machinist did mention that it may need some more work for clearance but I'm ok to do some small extra relief work if required. I have it stripped down and cleaned roughly and plan to drop it off tomorrow to him with any luck.

 

[Deuce]

It is one of the VR blocks cast with stroker relief already . Machinist did mention that it may need some more work for clearance but I'm ok to do some small extra relief work if required. I have it stripped down and cleaned roughly and plan to drop it off tomorrow to him with any luck.

H-beam's require more clearance. Some I-beam rods will require more clearancing depending on rod bolts.

 

[Immortality]

It is one of the VR blocks cast with stroker relief already . Machinist did mention that it may need some more work for clearance but I'm ok to do some small extra relief work if required. I have it stripped down and cleaned roughly and plan to drop it off tomorrow to him with any luck.

Do you already have the stroker kit?

I'd want to grind the block before the shop instals the new cam bearings.

 

[Jaso74]

Do you already have the stroker kit?

I'd want to grind the block before the shop instals the new cam bearings.

Nah she dropped off now. Yeah have a plan for if I need to do more clearance work, will just slide a cam in bearings then all good , crap can't get into bearings/oil galleries .

 

[Jaso74]

Do you already have the stroker kit?

I'd want to grind the block before the shop instals the new cam bearings.

And I forgot, yeah getting kit from machine shop. Sorted final details today for pistons etc . Still not sure on a cam. He has good Ooollllddd 286 cams there and has a bit of a soft spot for them I think . He wasn't fussed at all if I wanted one or went on my way searching for what I wanted but I just asked what he thought and normally suggested for 355's that he builds.
Can't be too surprised really, not like 304 / 355 is the flavour of the month and constantly being developed and played with on a big scale if you get what I mean hehe.

 

[Immortality]

There has been quite a bit of development over the years. There was a huge amount of info on the old AV8 forum that isn't around any more.

Although the old 286 was a good cam it's really old school now (very old school lobe profiles).

There was a whole lot of newer grinds from CamTech who went bust but had really good newer grinds to suit the Holden engine but I'm led to believe Crow bought out their catalogue. There is also quite a good catalogue of roller cam profiles available but it's not a cheap as using an old school FT hydraulic cam.

 

[Jaso74]

There has been quite a bit of development over the years. There was a huge amount of info on the old AV8 forum that isn't around any more.

Although the old 286 was a good cam it's really old school now (very old school lobe profiles).

There was a whole lot of newer grinds from CamTech who went bust but had really good newer grinds to suit the Holden engine but I'm led to believe Crow bought out their catalogue. There is also quite a good catalogue of roller cam profiles available but it's not a cheap as using an old school FT hydraulic cam.

Yeah I've read quite a bit of discussion on here about newer camshafts compared to the older grinds and to be honest I'm really none the wiser. I have a fear of going too small , ie sounds too tame but also really don't want to over do it and loose performance/drivability because of it.

A long long time ago I bought a Heatseeker stage 3 cam for a 253 in a kingswood and it sounded fantastic and went about as good as anyone could expect in that poor little thing that got the crap flogged out of it over and over again . I know that's a useless piece of info but it was honestly the best cam I put in any V8 of mine or others back then.

Back on topic , if Crow got the camtech stuff, any ideas on what numbers/ models ?
Also what is the cost for a roller cam setup ?