Bought a Performer RPM intake off of forum member Ididntdoit and it was in better shape than he described. Practically like new. Boxed excellent and shipped promptly, I received it quickly with no issues. A great deal and I wouldn't hesitate do deal with him again. Thanks, Mike!

I finally had a chance to go pick up my block Saturday. The 2hr 45min drive to Survival Motorsports was well worth it to meet Barry and Willie. But it wasn't just a pleasure trip, I had some stuff to drop off.....about 900lbs worth 

I'll let you guys analyze the pictures. I'll just make a couple comments based on my impressions.

The weight on my scales, which are pretty accurate, was 262lbs. Easily, 10 of that could be lost if you were scrupulous in removing the cross ribs, boring, did a lot of edge breaking etc etc. Obviously significantly more than a stock block, but you can't expect a stronger block and the same weight.











This is about the only flashing I saw that needed to be removed. Overall, a very nice clean casting. But like any fresh casting, it has razor blade edges and should have a complete edge breaking/chamfering of all machined surfaces.







The siamesed cylinders.









Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the block and very happy with it. It will be a good strong foundation for a high HP engine.

There is one issue that I don't like, It's the oil port from the pump to the filter adapter. There wasn't enough material cast on the back side (inside) of the block and the port broke through. A sleeve is installed, and that will probably work fine. I just don't like how it is a smaller port than the rest of the system to that point and beyond, so I'll probably enlarge it more. I'm sure it will probably be rectified in the next run....provided there is one.  To me, it's not major and can be fixed. Actually it already has been by the original casters, but I may do what I consider to be a better fix. I actually doubt it's even a problem, but I'm a little anal about things. It in no way affects integrity of the block or any alignment problems.
I love the block and can't wait to get started on my next serious build.

I'm getting ready to start gathering parts for my next engine. I've always used factory rod/crank ratios with stock throw diameters, so I have no experience with the chevy rod combo. However, I have a good factory steel crank that I would like to use in my next build, but the problem is that it has been machined wider at the rod journals. I'm getting .026 side clearance measurements. Seems this is the number Ford recommended in their performance catalogs if I'm not mistaken. I think that's excessive.

 I want to put this in a street/strip build for a '55 Ford. My question is two-fold I guess. First, would you run that much clearance? It seems to me that it would throw too much oil on the cylinder walls, overpowering the rings ability to do their job. What do you guys think? I know why Ford did it, but practices and materials have come a long way and I don't see anybody running that much clearance even in drag engines.

Second, I know chevy rods have a reduced journal diameter so they require turning the journals down...which has the benefit of reducing bearing speed. A big plus, not to mention the fact that you can get bearings that actually fill the entire width of the rod (for the life of me, I can never understand why FE bearings only cover about 3/4 of the rod width. I mean really...why?)

But are they wider? Can I close up my side clearance some using a chevy rod? Or am I stuck with a perfectly good steel crank that has too much side clearance? The crank is std/std and magged good, so I hate to consider it unuseable.

What do you guys think?

I am currently doing  some work to my '09 Mustang GTs 4.6. I will be putting an Edelbrock E-Force supercharger on it next winter after I build a stouter shortblock for it, but in the meantime I have put a  Steeda CAI on it. As you're probably aware, most all cold air intakes use a version of the K&N filter media.

My question is....is there a filter media that I can wrap over the main filter that will give better particulate filtration without restricting airflow? With computer tunes, if I restrict the air too much it will throw readings off and end up throwing a code. I would like to avoid that, but the filter used is rather course as I'm sure you're aware of. Learning a thing or two from you over the years about filters, I don't want to wear cylinder walls out any sooner than is necessary. The E-Force only uses 5psi so I think I can easily get high mileage out of the engine if it's cared for. I don't drive it in the winter and would like it to last as long as possible.