Cheap stoker kit any opinions?

[ng8264723]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FE-39...QQcmdZViewItem

[767Jockey]

I was looking at one of these kits for my Cleveland build up, and the guys over on the Cleveland forum all have bad things to say about them. I was told to stay away, stay with Scat, Eagle, etc.

[tcrist]

You get what you pay for.

[Coupe Devil]

Friend of mine is running one of TMD's 545 stroker kits in his big block car. He did have it balanced after he got it here. Car goes 6.70's all motor 6.40's on a little sauce no problems yet.

[ng8264723]

You get what you pay for.
Obviously an opinion and that's what i asked for but any real world experience. We have the one guy running it without problems any others? Any known failures?

[RICK LAKE]

ng8264723 If the crank is a 4340 and you have the whole assembly balanced, I see no problem. Call and ask who makes the crank. It might be a knockoff of Eagle, or Scat. Probility it is made over seas. Stay within the limits of a stroker rpm and have agood machinist go through the crank, I see no problems. If you have a good crank kit, go to Barry R. It's a good price for a stroker kit, the machining is on spec. Everything was polished nice. If you have a problem Barry is there to help. Rick L.

[Barry_R]

That's the sme RPM steel crank everybody - including me - gets. We take the extra effort to straighten and regrind them so that they are round and straight.

The prices they have are nothing special - they specify that they require balancing for an extra $200 - apparently they are unaware that every one of these will require two slugs of mallory to balance internal at 50-75 bucks a slug. At the end of the day you'll be spending the same money as one of mine - or Keith's - or Tom's - or Doug's kits and be getting non-branded rods.

This is not the place for a commercial - and I apologize in advance for that - but I and the others can all do a .030 over 390/445 stroker kit with Scat and Probe components fully balanced for under 2 grand.

[eschaider]

I have used a number of engine parts from these folks and had good experiences with all.

Like Rick said if you have a good machinist look at the pieces before you use them you will add a prudent layer of care and safety. There generally are no such things as bolt on (or in) items when you get to engine parts. After the manufacturer sells them to you, you are in fact the final inspection prior to service. Take care of your end of the build process and you'll be quite happy.

I have had nothing but good experiences with that particular vendor.

Ed

[tcrist]

Originally Posted by ng8264723

You get what you pay for.
Obviously an opinion and that's what i asked for but any real world experience. We have the one guy running it without problems any others? Any known failures?

Real world experience with these people, No. Real world experience buying cheep parts, Yes. I have built motors for other people and they say, "i'll bring the parts", trying to get off cheep. I did that a couple of times and when they broke they tried to blame me. I am wise enough to get in writing that I am not responsible for supplied parts. Even though that is a given it still could be bad for a reputation. Any work that I did while i was still working on other peoples cars, I supply the parts or I do not touch it. I quit working on other peoples cars a long time ago. I don't even like working on my own cars any more.

Terry

[HI Cobra]

I have to go with Terry - you get what you pay for. I'd rather pay more up
front for better stuff (this goes for anything, not just cars) and do it right
once. Once in a while there are decent cheap deals but I have never been a
gambler, and don't regret it. Vegas never made any money on me!

[WildBill3]

I paid a bit more than that for my crank alone.How much $ can you put in for a nice Rotating assembly ??It may hurt a little now but later you will be very satisfied with the long lasting results of INVESTMENTparts heres a #of our guys at K@M in KC they build alot of great stuff, they are Crower Dealers Karen can give you a quote, im in no way on ther pay role just great people doing great work 816 353 4422 K@M Machine...

[RICK LAKE]

ng8264723 There is one thing I left out on the question, YOUR MACHINIST. He can take cheaper parts, do a super job of installing them in a motor with blueprint specs and the motor runs great for years. You can buy top of the line parts and the machinist doesn't know alot about FE motors, so he setups up the specs to Chevy numbers and the motor blows up after 500 miles. 50% is on the parts 50% in the assemblier. The abuse you are going to do with the motor is the bottom line. Drive easy, small cam, granny shifting, 5000 rpm limit. Cast stuff works. Now lets get real, a motor in a cobra, any cobra is going to see a little hard abuse at some time. Better bolts and studs like ARP help save the motor, not banging the rpm's off the MSD limiter is also a big help. I ran a case crank in my 452 motor and limit to 6,000 rpm. I put a stroker kit in the same motor to 484 with a bigger cam and still limit the motor to 6,000 rpm. For my application, I want 600 ft of torque and couldnot care less about 600HP. I am going with a 498 stroker in my other motor and will limit it to 6,400 rpm. Most guys like big bore, short stroke. I am not one of them and have lived with long stroke motors and small bore for along time. I don't call a 4.25" bore small with a set of 2.25 intake valves and 1.75 exhaust. @ of the EMC builders 2 won with long stroke motors. It's all about putting the right parts together. I have built both motors on Dynosim and Dyno 2000. I do this even before a started getting the parts for my motors. Rick L. This is IMO