Anyone Had an Engine Built by Kauffman
 

They sell great heads but what about their engines?

A good Pontiac engine builder in Florida is Charlie Kababby

My father used their head and custom cam package (we assembled the short block here with what we preferred)

Essentially a 463 with Eagle rods, zero decked with SRP small ring pack pistons, 10:1 etc... Your basic pump gas build with Kauffman's spec'd custom hydraulic roller and 330cfm heads. According to him it's his 600 HP and TQ recipe.

On a stingy DTS dyno it only made 500 HP, WAY short of Kauffman's prediction. It did however make just a hair over 600 ft lbs. with a very nice flat torque curve, so it was fun on the street. Ran easy mid 11's in the heat in a 3900+ weight GTO in street trim. Would have went quicker with better air and more tuning. This was several years back before he came out with his D-port heads. Eddy round ports was all he was doing at that time.

Performance was okay, no complaints, but I think his numbers are a little happy. Just based from what I've seen and done.

I just picked up my 461 from them, GREAT guys!!! Everything and more than expected. Can't wait to drop it in the car!

Got a shortblock from them. I put a deposit down and it was done in a reasonable amount of time and was everything I expected it would be. We went over the details and it was specd out and built with parts I wanted to use. There was never any attempt to try to upsell me on something I didn't need or want.
I found Jeff very easy to deal with and quick to respond to any questions, even after it was delivered. Speaking of delivery he had someone bring it up to me for a small fee. No complaints here.

There will always be some lurking that will not speak out over fear !

This case involving a rather mundane dispute over an MR-1 Pontiac engine block.....

http://lawyersusaonline.com/benchmar...amation-suits/


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[QUOTE=Steve C.;5779383]There will always be some lurking that will not speak out over fear !

This case involving a rather mundane dispute over an MR-1 Pontiac engine block.....

[url]http://lawyersusaonline.com/benchmarks/2010/06/11/court-kicks-open-door-for-internet-defamation-suits/[/url

Old news. I knew all about that before I did any business with them. Just relating some first hand experience I had with them personally.

Personally I will only buy a Block from Bob and Frank as they have a great product, outstanding service with making upgrades to make the blocks and other components even more durable, and for the investment they put into the block manufacture the blocks are basically a break even deal for them many times. Engineering and upgrades cost money. Last but not least, they are very pleasant people to deal with. I have purchased 5 blocks from them over the years.

Tom V.

TCSGTO, so there is no misunderstanding my pertinent comment was not directed at you personally. There are new visitors to the board and again those lurking with experience that will not comment.


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No worries,I didn't take it that way

I believe both the MR1 and IA2 blocks had problems early on but have been corrected since.

" I believe both the MR1 and IA2 blocks had problems early on but have been corrected since."

I've purchased three aftermarket blocks, two from one vendor and one form another .... guess which one I got screwed on.
And then guess which company offered full support when a few small issues were encountered.

Oh, and by the way it's more than about a block ! Set that aside, again there are those lurking who will still not speak out.

Onward thru the fog.


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Cliff has experience with them, maybe he will chime in tomorrow a.m.

The early IA-2 blocks did have a couple of issues. Both were CNC Machinine issues if I remember correctly.

Bob and Frank decided to give us more strength in the main web/skirt area so they cast the block up with a 1/4 taller skirt vs the crank centerline. So now the Oil Pump Pad was now 1/4" farther away from the original location and needed a 1/4" deep 'pocket' to get it back in the right spot. Same deal for the starter pad.
A second issue I remember was one run of a few blocks did not have the dowels to help locate the caps as the block now had "registered mains".
It was found that adding the dowels and having the registered mains was a double benefit. Those guys are always trying to make the blocks better and better.

Lots and lots of improvements over the factory block: Bore Size, registered mains, oiling for the turbo or supercharger, splayed caps, dry deck blocks, steel caps, etc, etc, etc...

So many things that you would have to add to a factory say 1967 GOOD (non drilled for 4 bolt mains) 2-bolt main block.

Tom V.

No info I wish to share on the PY Board for the other guys.

Well since I am lurking dodging bands of rain from Harvey still I'll chime in my first hand.

Had KRE hand port a set of heads before they had CNC flowed good but tubed the head bolt hole and pushrod bulge -had epoxy or sealer coming out form the pushrod bulge I had to mess that was flopping around in the port Did not use any spring locators just shims. But performed well. Hopefully not having support he head bolt won't collapse it any.Pistons I got from them at the same time had the CH too low-down in the hole 0.020 and were a heavier blank than most folks used-as heavy as a TRW just for a 455 nothing exotic.

Had them CNC and assemble another set of E heads so they were ready to bolt on. Opened the box and CNC shavings poured out of every coolant hole and was told" sorry guess we should have taped off the holes". had to be disassembled and cleaned and reassembled on my time and nickle. Do flow good and are on my pump gas 455 in the 78,Had an MR1 Block from then that I replaced with a IA2.

Customer service was not there on any of the issues I had with them.

Yes, I just had one built in Nov. 2016. This is my second dealing with Jeff... I bought heads, cam, and lots of other parts in 2014 for my other engine. Always professional and honest. Anytime I call, if he don't answer, I leave a message and always get a return call. That alone is why I've spent a lot with KRE.
That's my unbiased honest assessment of my interaction.

When my father built his recent engine, it was fate that brought him to the MR-1 block. The stock block that let go wasn't usable. And since he was going to build a 4.5" stroker with it, he decided to go aftermarket block.

That's where the MR-1 came into the picture. Tony Bischoff has a ton of building experience with both the MR-1 and IA2 blocks. In his opinion he favored the MR-1 for a few reasons. Didn't matter to dad either way, Tony was the man building it, so he was left making the decisions for the parts and pieces used. We had 100% confidence any issue that arose, Tony could deal with.
The only issue that came about was not having enough oil relief on the rear main, forcing a leak. Was an easy fix once that was found to be the issue. I don't know if this is something that Kauffman has corrected since or not. This was over 2 years ago. No other problems on the block. Nice piece.

"On a stingy DTS dyno it only made 500 HP, WAY short of Kauffman's prediction."

That engine wasn't getting it done for sure. Right on kre's dyno (which is also a bit conservative) we made 505hp/551tq with a 455 engine build using out of the box 87cc Edelbrock heads and Crower 60919 (ram air IV clone) cam. That engine went into a 3900lb Firebird and ran 11.50's at 118mph in full street trim only adding slicks at the track.

Anyhow, 330cfm head flow and any decent attempt at a well chosen hr cam should have netted quite a bit more power....omho.

We use kre for all of our machine work, and they are excellent. I do all of my own assembly here, and we've had next to zero issues with anything they have done for us.

NOT so with other Pontiac specific vendors, including the one that just retired or went out of business, or a little of both.

We also have one of their first Mr1 complete engine packages in use, and for quite a few years now with no issues. It was purchased as a complete "package" with high port heads, Star Galaxy forged crank, forged rods/pistons, high port heads, etc. It was dubbed a "750hp" set-up.

It did come up a little short on power first time we ran it on the dyno, so they opted for a bigger solid roller cam and some CNC head porting and the numbers came in as expected......Cliff

This engine also ran mid 11's but at 114 mph. Which coincides perfectly with the HP and TQ it made on the dyno (500/600) Meaning it had a ton of grunt and moved the car well, 1.5 60's and carried the front wheels, just didn't have as much MPH out the back door. Not complaining about the performance, just stating it didn't quite do what Kauffman said it would.
Tried 3 different intakes on the dyno as well as 2 different spacers. In the end it liked the RPM air gap with a 1" open spacer, it made the best HP and TQ numbers. Everything else tried just killed power.
There were 2 things with that engine that were the cause of it. One was the camshaft. Kauffman spec'd a custom hydraulic roller with a tight 110 lsa and recommended an ICL of 106. Engine was done making power at 5600 on the dyno. The other was something I suspected and confirmed when these same heads were used on the new engine build. They didn't quite flow 330 cfm when Tony checked them so he reworked them to flow close to 360 cfm. In the end though, dad was happy with that little engine. The torque curve was flat, came in quick and stayed there. Total fun on the street.

I have the utmost respect for Pontiac vendors but anyone can make a mistake or two. I have been burned twice by SD Performance in recent years with heads, one KRE set and one iron set for different reasons. I now run a set of KRE heads from Kauffman who delivered a quality product quickly and with no issues. Remember, nobody is perfect.