[goquick]

Unless a block is very close, and I've only had 2 that were, I square deck the block first. Then bore, hone etc. so the rotating assembly can be put in, only without the rings. I check the hieght of the rod and piston combo at the 4 corners first, then in the middle cylinders. Alittle extra work, sure, but how are you going to know otherwise. After checking the distances, then I know how much has to come off for where we want the deck height on that application. What if the crank grinder didn't index properly? This way will catch it too. Or if you have a rod/piston that is off, you find it now.

[machine shop tom]

Originally Posted by Raven Blayde

Tom- Since I'm on a budget and can't afford to throw thousands of dollars around like some people, that makes me more trouble than I'm worth and should be "Weeded Out"? Sorry, but you ask for that one.

I had that coming. Forgive my indelicateness.


However, if you came to my shop and asked me to deck your block for 75 bucks, I'd have to direct you to another shop. Most of my builds are for the average hot-rodder who understands that I am just like them and like to have more than just mustard and ketchup on my hot dogs. I don't charge any more than I have to, but I can't cut my own throat just to be popular. I learned that the hard way.

The low-ball shops are either guys who don't have a clue as how to charge a fair price for all involved or are guys who don't have real-world expenses.

Which brings us to the decking question. While many engines can be and are built with out being decked, zero or otherwise, they probably are not making horsepower up to their potential. By zero decking, the quench clearance is made optimal so the most is made of the combination, AS LONG AS THE TUNE IS CORRECT. I see a lot of 500 HP engines making 350 HP 'cause they aren't tuned properly.

If you can afford to have your engine properly and professionaly decked, all the better. If you can't, you can still build a respectable engine. It just won't probably run quite as good as one that has been.

tom

[Raven Blayde]

Thanks for the many replies everyone! I've learned quite a bit from this thread. Honestly, I had no idea what "Zero Decking" would cost before I even made my trip to the shop. By the time I figure the "Cost vs Performance", it sounds like "Zero Decking" is probably worth the cost. More potential for performance is there, lower temperatures and being able to run a bit higher compression are also a big plus. By NOT zero decking, I'd probably have to have my pistons dished, but might not have to after zero decking (Guess it depends on the "True" cc's of my heads which I will be finding out soon) so the cost of dishing the pistons may be saved from doing this. I'm gonna go with it.