Quote:
Originally Posted by mgarblik
Please don't take my comments the wrong way. You clearly didn't start this process and ended up on the tail end of a mess. First of all, a block absolutely should never be bored without the caps installed and torqued to specs. So shame on any shop that got that far with it. There is a correct order of operation when rebuilding an engine. Clean, pressure test, or magnaflux, line hone, square decks, then BORE, hone, wash, trial assembly. In that order.
Now after that rant, back to your block. Is the shop sure they didn't mix or misplace your actual caps? Do you trust them? If you truly have a a completely mismatched set of 5 caps, IMO, unless it's a 455 SD, or possibly a 455 HO block, it is scrap. I don't mean to be harsh but to buy 5 billet caps, have them properly fitted, line bore all 5, then line hone the block, your looking at around $2000.00 around here to have that all done. Changing just the 3 center caps to billet or converting a 2 bolt to a 4 bolt block is a much easier operation than all 5 caps.
The reason is a boring attachment can be set up using the stock front and rear correct cap. The three center caps are bored based on the front and rear. If all 5 are missing, there is nothing to set up off of so the block needs to be bored in a dedicated line boring machine. The rear cap and #4 is really complicated. #4 has to have the thrust faces cut perfectly or the bearing will be wiped out. #5 has the weird shaped, complex seal groove, which will need to be machined exactly or you will have an oil leak. Using a rope seal gives you a little room for error. Overall, it's just a mess when caps get lost. I think I would tend to cut your losses if the original caps can not be found. Sorry to hear about this.
I should probably add that if someone does put 5 billet caps on the block, that's a big expense so you have to assume they are doing a high end build. By the time you do all that machining on the block to fit the caps and line bore and hone, all 8 cylinders will be out of round and out of spec. That's why we do things in order. So now the engine will need to go .040 over to straighten everything out again. Now if it's a street build, you could probably get away with it. But who would put 5 billet main caps on a street build? It gets complicated and the goal is always a really good finished engine.
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I bought the block already bored .030 over and just took it to a shop to verify everything checked out okay as far as piston to wall clearance, rotating assembly being balanced, etc. So it's possible that the previous shop (with the previous owner) mixed up the caps from another block.
But yes, the total cost to buy new caps and have that bored is far more than I'm willing to spend. I'm trying to now come across another 455 block that could possibly work. If I can't come across something reasonable then I'll just sell what I have and rebuild a 400 that I have.