[Doug Hoven]

Well being that I just got off the phone with crower try and order a replacement connecting rod (more on that later), I figured I would go ahead and talk a little bit about the engine I put together for the car. I started with a complete 295hp stocker engine that had been sitting for quite some time. I pretty much ended up using the block, cylinder heads, and camshaft due to the crank being cracked, and my lack of trust in stock rods, and worn out .030 over trw pistons. I was originally going to send a stock crank to get cut and indexed, but after realizing I could by a brand new eagle crank from summit for $250, I figured it wasn't worth the effort(in the end I threw the crank in the garbage, spoiler alert.) Nonetheless, I was able to get a great deal on a set of good JE pistons, and some old, but in nice shape, crower rods. I took the cylinder heads to a fellow d1 racer in CT who did a great job with a stocker valve job, and was more than fair in pricing the work. Side note, ever wonder how many sets of sbc cylinder heads fit in the trunk of a 2010 camaro? Well I'm glad you asked because the answer is 4, with some room to spare. Anyway, I got a few replacement valves from Manley, and set up the heads myself with some leftover valve springs I had from the 6 cylinder. The machine work was done by B+B machine in LI, who did a really nice job with everything I had him do, and provided some very useful tips throughout this entire process. For rings, I sort of made up my own ring package. I can't afford the latest in Total seal rings, so I bought a basic set of Enginetech rings, and had a local friend back cut the top two rings for me. I was able to mix and match oil ring expanders to make my own low tension oil ring, and with some fish scale measurements, I was ready to go. I put it together almost all by myself, with some guidance from others in the process. Was able to dig up a set of NOS crane gold rockers, and some morosso valve covers(that leaked horribly), and I was ready for the dyno.