Thanks Roger. Yeah, a couple of machinists have said they could just rebore everything to 60 over and save this block, but we just want to start with a totally clean slate this time and put this one behind us. He will push the old engine into a corner and save it in case he needs it some day.

The other issue is that we have lost a little confidence in the machine shop that did the engine machining originally. I have used this guy for over 25 years and the talk around town is, if he personally does the work it is fine, but if his guys do it you don't get as good of a job. The galley plugs (2) that blew out of my 331 also came from that shop, and we used him to do machining for the marina I worked at. Twice we had valve jobs fail within 15 minutes running time when the ground valves mushroomed. He never takes responsibility for anything, always blaming it on "spikes in oil pressure" or other factors.

Now that I am learning more about machining, it occurs to me that he has never asked for any pistons when he bores out an engine. The new machinist insists on having them there to bore each cylinder specifically to fit that piston. Pan, Jerry, and the other guys on here seem to agree that is the only way you can do it properly.

So maybe it is wise not to trust the rest of the machining he did on the old block either. Plus, this will give us a chance to change a few parts and make this engine a little stronger than the last one.

Don