Need engine builder recommendations

[birdie2000]

Sounds pretty similar to what he charged me many years back.

[JoeliusZ28]

Thanks Matt. Im debating a rebuild of my engine with the stock crank and sending the heads out to AI. That seems reasonable for work i actually trust.

[MRose]

Thanks Matt. Im debating a rebuild of my engine with the stock crank and sending the heads out to AI. That seems reasonable for work i actually trust.

For what it's worth, I ended up sending the heads & intake out to Lloyd Elliot. Lloyd's service was a lot better- he responded to my emails right away and even chatted with me on the phone about my build. AI's correspondence was lackluster.

Can't comment on the quality yet as I haven't got the parts back from Lloyd, but I feel pretty confident they'll turn out great.

[DanDalessandro]

Good to see you went with Mr. Lloyd. You will be very happy. Did you go with LE2 or LE3?

[MRose]

Good to see you went with Mr. Lloyd. You will be very happy. Did you go with LE2 or LE3?

There are no such packages for LT4 heads.

They're being fully ported and I'm reusing the stock LT4 valves, which are quite good to begin with. They have hollow intake and sodium filled exhaust valves stock.

[DanDalessandro]

Oh that's right, a LT4. My bad

[JoeliusZ28]

For what it's worth, I ended up sending the heads & intake out to Lloyd Elliot. Lloyd's service was a lot better- he responded to my emails right away and even chatted with me on the phone about my build. AI's correspondence was lackluster.

Can't comment on the quality yet as I haven't got the parts back from Lloyd, but I feel pretty confident they'll turn out great.

Ive worked with AI in the past and they were awesome for me. i also thought they did good business telling me to expect between 340 and 360 rwhp with their cam kit and i ended up with 373. I have no problem with Lloyd he makes a great product too and the LE1 is at a great price point for entry level. But i do think you get your moneys worth with AI.

[MRose]

The AI work for LT4 heads is about $1,400. Lloyds work will be about $1,000, so the price difference is not that much (and you get better Manley Nextek springs w/ the AI package vs Lloyd's Lunati setup). Lloyd's intake porting was $200; I think AI's is $400. Both companies offer cams for the same price.

In the end, I don't think a person can go wrong either way.

[MRose]

Lloyd called me today and spec'd the custom cam. Due to my 12.3:1 static compression ratio (flat top pistons, 56cc chambers) we had to go with a large duration cam to get the dynamic compression ratio down to 9.1:1. It's 239/247 duration, .580"/.600" lift on a 111LSA.

[JoeliusZ28]

Thats a pretty big cam to be honest i think you could get away with more DCR than that especially since we have 93 octane in this area. i believe i talked to someone that was running close to 10 dcr. I havent heard of many cases of people going "too big" with compression in an LTx, its one of the strong points of the platform, having all 3 of EFI, aluminum heads, and reverse cooling.

Just my .02 dont take my advice over Lloyds though.

[MRose]

Dropped the block & parts off at Dave's today, thanks for recommendations.

Unfortunately he noticed some scoring on the #4 main so it'll also need a line hone. Hey, it's just money, right?

[JoeliusZ28]

Awesome. Im gonna have to stop by check it out when you get this beast back.

[MRose]

It's back from Dave Harmon