What is engine bluprinting?
What are the benefits of engine blueprinting?
My block is getting machined now and the machinist wants an extra $100 to blueprint it, but I don't know if I need that, or if it will benefit me. The motor will have the following in it...
-3.75 crank to make it a 383
-hooker super comps
-hyd roller cam .555/.576 and 236/242@.05
-performer rpm air gap
-speed demon 750
-AFR 195's street CNC ported heads

 

to my noleage, blueprinting is having the engine apart, and mesuring every part cylinder bores, mains ..(with dial guage, vernier caliper ..), then taking a book with the original specs, you make sure every # is identical.

Benifits .. you know your parts are in correct shape and form ..

In auto mechanics school, we had to take an engine apart, blueprint it and put it back together ..

what pistons & rods are you using ?

If you mix & match parts, like in a rotation assembly, you get it balanced.

 

Blue printing for a $100. dollars? That sounds kind of cheap to me.
If the shop will TRULY blueprint the engine for a $100.00 that is
the way to go.

 

-speed pro hyper eutetic pistons flat topped .030 over
-forged 4340 aircraft steel I-beam connecting rods.

I don't think blueprinting refers to the measurments though,...that should be done anyway.

The machinist is a reletive, so the $100 may be a discounted price for me.

 

Blueprinting is just verifying that all the major engine parts meet the original manufacturing spec's.

 

Blue printing is very time consuming. But in the end you will have a better engine. You could see 5-10 hp over an engine that isnt blue printed. I would spend the extra $100. Give me the adress and I will ship my engine to have it blue printed.

 

see post by tpi383

 

"End tapping" sounds a lot more like chasing the threads, which should be done regardless. The same goes for torque-plate boring/honing. Neither of those are really part of what could be described as "blueprinting".

 

Easy way to sum up below. If you can get it doen for $100 go for it. Its ecaxtally like it sounds.

They spec everything to manufacture spec's and make sure they are as close as can be.


Ivd done a few small blocks myself. and Tons of aircraft motors at work...

I have a few books you would be interested in reading. I'll dig em out and get the names of who wrote then...

 

tpi383, thank you. I will edit my post.

 

True blueprinting has nothing to do with the factory specs. It is done to ENSURE that you PICK the appropriate parts for your build and to make sure those NEW parts meet the clearance tolerances you will need depending on your applications.. Forged pistons will require a greater piston to wall clearance due to expansion rates of a forged piston. you want a certian amount of clearance between your crank and the bearings all dependent on what bearings you use, crank you use, and oil pressure you will be running. Same with rings, etc.. It's a VERY complex and VERY VERY time consuming task, but you will have a VEEERY high quality engine when you are done. Things like making sure all your combustion chambers have the same volume, all your pistons, rods, pins, etc are all the same weight, the entire rotating assembly is balanced, etc.. if you ahve a block at a machine shop and he's going to charge you $100 to "blueprint" it, all he will be doing is making sure all the bores are spot on with each other, there will be a specific distance from the crank centerline to the deck, etc.. all this informatoin will be given to you so that you can appropriately buy the right parts for your engine. Blueprinting generally involves alot of high dollar custom parts.

If you're doing a basic rebuild, blueprinting the block really doesn't have much benefit to you and would be money best spent elsewhere like a good 3 angle valve job.

There's aloot of books out there on blueprinting an engine. go to Barnes&Nobles and grab a few of those books. Very good reading.

Good luck on your engine!