[455Grandville]

Originally Posted by hurryinhoosier62

I've been following this post for awhile. Some of you REALLY need to do some research!!
I'm a retired ASE Master Engine Machinist. I've machined THOUSANDS of engine blocks and components. Here is an emuteable fact: THEY ALL BUILD JUNK!! GM has some of the worst machine work I've ever seen. Cranks that are .025 out of stroke from the factory(Brad, you left that one out!!) aren't a good thing. Big Hammer, do YOU know what the BIGGEST problem with the Duramax is? They spit out head gasket with annoying regularity. Ford had many years of headaches with the modular V-8(Romeos and Windsors). Personally, I would NEVER own one. Oil drain back problems(Fords have always had this problem), weak connecting rods(powdered metal) and one of the weirdest torque patterns on earth are just some of its weaknesses, yet you never see a cracked block. So, you're going to bore a 283 to 350 cylinder size? You ARE going to sonic test, aren't you? I've never seen a 50yr old engine block that STILL had cylinder wall thickness any where near their original thickness. They (the cylinder walls) are reduced by errosion and corrosion. I grow weary of people "badmouthing" Ford for the spark plug bosses on the 4.6/5.4 without mentioning the headbolts and mains on the GM 4100 series engines. It's called galvanic corrosion. It happens ANY TIME you mix dissimiliar metals. A dime's worth of anti-seize can eliminate the problem. I put 147,000
miles on an Escort with zero problems related to spark plugs because I ALWAYS used anti-seize. MY experience tells me that MOST of the problems associated with any automobile are owner induced. ANY QUESTIONS???

I don't understand why with modern tooling, modern gaskets, modern quality control, and computer programs that can simulate durability why we still have engines with these kind of troubles.

Look at some of the most reliable engines : Ford 300, Chrysler 225 Slant Six, Buick Nailhead, etc. all designed before we had that technology and none really had any weaknesses. Just good strong designs.

Worst engine thread : http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=681616

What make is the most mentioned on here ?