Hodge Podge 340 help

[Chryco Psycho]

, yes the shaft is more stable but it also has no lift limitations , stud rockers need to have a longer slot to accommodate more lift , more to think about

[Surfmichaels]

Thanks for all the help, I have a call into 2 engine builders for some quotes.... Now the question is what to do with this block, is there a market for iffy 340 blocks? 

[Chryco Psycho]

You could sleeve it & it would be stronger than ever

[jimynick]

You could sleeve it & it would be stronger than ever

Yep, but it'd cost about a grand to do it. I put one in my 340 and it was about $75-100 labour and $25 for the sleeve, times 8. Yikes! If and when you find a good machine shop, ask if they are equipped to sonic check the thickness of the block. The old rule of thumb was that if you have .100", you're ok. There's lots of 340's running around 60 over and you don't hear of them commonly failing; so don't be afraid of it. But then it's your car and your dough.

[Surfmichaels]

I did leave that option open to the engine builders, I explained exactly what I had and asked for a design based on their experience, looking forward to seeing differences although stylistically I already think I like one better. 

[Chryco Psycho]

True .060 is not nessisarily an issue , but if the bore is already at .060 now & the bores are not perfect would you risk .070 over ?
 Generally  you need .125 thickness on the thrust side so the outer walls of all the cylinders .
 Other options include going to an R3 block but that would be a couple of thousand $$ .
 I bet a machine shop would work with the cost maybe doing all 8 sleeves for $800 & 340 blocks are not that easy to get anymore ,
 360 block is the simple solution you should be able to grab one for free - $100 they just have a slightly smaller bore than the 340 block

[Surfmichaels]

Makes total sense, with my non committal to a 340 and non numbers matching status means it most likely doesn't add up. Add up price difference between anything 340 vs 360 and it makes a compelling case for a 360 redo. Thanks for so much help in getting my bearings from this forum and members.

 I pitched my wife on turning the 340 block into the fire pit by adding gas lines into each cylinder (then fill with glass), it'd be quite a show...... But maybe I should sonic check to make sure it's not of any use to someone else first...

[Surfmichaels]

One more surprise as I was boxing up the parts, one lifter was a totally different design than the rest....

[Rob C]

If your going to rebuild the entire engine, then strip it all down to the bare block and bag it, toss it in the trunk and the machinist will let you know about possible over boring. You can go from there.