When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I just finished a 4.1 kit from 505, 60 over, 9 to 1 comp.
had a ton of issues with the rotating assembly, the pistons he sent me were used.
I chose to assmble myself, got all the bearing tolerances setup, finally got the correct set of pistons.
used his stage 3 cam, and melling high volume oil pump.
I put the engine together, I set everything up.
After priming the oil system, which took 15 min, It fired up on the first try with no noises or funny stuff, I dont even have it tuned yet and its running fine.
I did delete the egr by taping the port and threading a 16mm bolt in the hole.
I had everything balanced, the crank he sent checked out fine, rods were fine, full arp hardware with arp 2000 head studs.
i went through and ported the heads a lil bit better.
I have a 3.8 head that I cut with a band saw to get an idea of how much I could pull out.
I have also purchased a 4.1 stroker from 505. Here is a summary of how my experience went, I hope your experience turns out better.
I ordered one of the 505 stroker engines (complete intake to oil pan) from these guys, the only thing I they said I needed was the intake plenum from the original engine. It was on 6 weeks back order, no problem I was not in a hurry. The engine finally arrived close to 3 months later. While mating the transmission to the engine I discovered one of the oil galley plugs was not threaded far enough into the block and was left sticking out past the edge of the block which caused it to interfere with the block to bellhousing mating surface. The only way to get it to fit was to clearance the bellhousing. After going through the trouble to do the engine swap and begin the break-in process I discovered the bottom end had a knock. Apparently their installers do not check bearing clearance when building an engine, if they had, they would have discovered they used the incorrect bearings right off the bat. After quite a few iterations of testing with different weight motor oils, Zach concluded it must be incorrect bearings and sent me the info for return shipping on the engine, telling me he would replace it under warranty. Zach claimed they do a drill test to verify oil pressure, but do not run the engine up to operating temperature. Seems odd that a performance engine shop does not really test their engines before shipping them out.
He did as he said, but the new engine (which was supposed to be the same as the first) did not come as complete as the first one. Dipstick, coil pack, and harmonic dampener were among a list of about 7 or 8 missing items that were included on the first engine, as well as a bad oil pressure sensor. 505 did send a coil pack, but the rest I was left to source myself, even though I contacted them regarding the missing items. Once the engine was installed and broken-in it was only 3k miles until a valve dropped and destroyed the piston and damaged the cylinder wall and head.
Zach agreed to take the engine back under warranty, but did not provide any shipping info. I was unable to contact 505 again. No shipping info ever showed up, and all attempts at contacting him have failed.
Both engines had serious problems with the oil galley plugs leaking, and the second engine had to have the rear main seal replaced at 500 miles. My engine also arrived on a pallet, not in a crate. Shipping it this way resulted in damage to the header heat shield and dents in the oil pan. Given the other problems I had with 505, neither of these were really worth mentioning during my conversations with 505.
I have also purchased a 4.1 stroker from 505. Here is a summary of how my experience went, I hope your experience turns out better.
I ordered one of the 505 stroker engines (complete intake to oil pan) from these guys, the only thing I they said I needed was the intake plenum from the original engine. It was on 6 weeks back order, no problem I was not in a hurry. The engine finally arrived close to 3 months later. While mating the transmission to the engine I discovered one of the oil galley plugs was not threaded far enough into the block and was left sticking out past the edge of the block which caused it to interfere with the block to bellhousing mating surface. The only way to get it to fit was to clearance the bellhousing. After going through the trouble to do the engine swap and begin the break-in process I discovered the bottom end had a knock. Apparently their installers do not check bearing clearance when building an engine, if they had, they would have discovered they used the incorrect bearings right off the bat. After quite a few iterations of testing with different weight motor oils, Zach concluded it must be incorrect bearings and sent me the info for return shipping on the engine, telling me he would replace it under warranty. Zach claimed they do a drill test to verify oil pressure, but do not run the engine up to operating temperature. Seems odd that a performance engine shop does not really test their engines before shipping them out.
He did as he said, but the new engine (which was supposed to be the same as the first) did not come as complete as the first one. Dipstick, coil pack, and harmonic dampener were among a list of about 7 or 8 missing items that were included on the first engine, as well as a bad oil pressure sensor. 505 did send a coil pack, but the rest I was left to source myself, even though I contacted them regarding the missing items. Once the engine was installed and broken-in it was only 3k miles until a valve dropped and destroyed the piston and damaged the cylinder wall and head.
Zach agreed to take the engine back under warranty, but did not provide any shipping info. I was unable to contact 505 again. No shipping info ever showed up, and all attempts at contacting him have failed.
Both engines had serious problems with the oil galley plugs leaking, and the second engine had to have the rear main seal replaced at 500 miles. My engine also arrived on a pallet, not in a crate. Shipping it this way resulted in damage to the header heat shield and dents in the oil pan. Given the other problems I had with 505, neither of these were really worth mentioning during my conversations with 505.
So what are you doing about resolving this/getting your money back? You should contact your bank at the least. You could file a Civil Action lawsuit too...I would.
So the big difference is that I assembled my engune myself.
I have a very good machinist, who was thurough and took his time.
I did the final assembly and not Zach.
to date, Ive put about 3k miles on it, clean oil changes, (ive done 5 withing the first 3k miles) , nothing going on with bearings or clearances, I am running 5w30 mobil, Ive been dealing with some tuning, and such.
I did however develop a lifter tick, inly when the engine is warmed up, this started about 500 miles ago and I already replaced the lifter, the brand Zach uses is DNJ which is ehhhhh....hit and miss at best.
Every instance Ive seen with the 4.1 failures of his, are when he has assembled the engine.
Ive yet to hear of another person who built one themselves.
I wouldnt call mine a pleasant experience, It took a year because of Zachs sub par sercive and quality control, lil f#$%er actually had the balls to send me used pistons...but I got a new set directly from racetec through him...after 4 months of calling and waiting.
His rear main seal desig has a huge flaw, Its lazer cut, and thus why it leaks, as it doesnt center properly, I pulled tge seal out of the plate, found center, and positioned over a rubbing of the back of the block, made some tweaks to it, and I hasnt started leaking yet.
I have also purchased a 4.1 stroker from 505. Here is a summary of how my experience went, I hope your experience turns out better.
I ordered one of the 505 stroker engines (complete intake to oil pan) from these guys, the only thing I they said I needed was the intake plenum from the original engine. It was on 6 weeks back order, no problem I was not in a hurry. The engine finally arrived close to 3 months later. While mating the transmission to the engine I discovered one of the oil galley plugs was not threaded far enough into the block and was left sticking out past the edge of the block which caused it to interfere with the block to bellhousing mating surface. The only way to get it to fit was to clearance the bellhousing. After going through the trouble to do the engine swap and begin the break-in process I discovered the bottom end had a knock. Apparently their installers do not check bearing clearance when building an engine, if they had, they would have discovered they used the incorrect bearings right off the bat. After quite a few iterations of testing with different weight motor oils, Zach concluded it must be incorrect bearings and sent me the info for return shipping on the engine, telling me he would replace it under warranty. Zach claimed they do a drill test to verify oil pressure, but do not run the engine up to operating temperature. Seems odd that a performance engine shop does not really test their engines before shipping them out.
He did as he said, but the new engine (which was supposed to be the same as the first) did not come as complete as the first one. Dipstick, coil pack, and harmonic dampener were among a list of about 7 or 8 missing items that were included on the first engine, as well as a bad oil pressure sensor. 505 did send a coil pack, but the rest I was left to source myself, even though I contacted them regarding the missing items. Once the engine was installed and broken-in it was only 3k miles until a valve dropped and destroyed the piston and damaged the cylinder wall and head.
Zach agreed to take the engine back under warranty, but did not provide any shipping info. I was unable to contact 505 again. No shipping info ever showed up, and all attempts at contacting him have failed.
Both engines had serious problems with the oil galley plugs leaking, and the second engine had to have the rear main seal replaced at 500 miles. My engine also arrived on a pallet, not in a crate. Shipping it this way resulted in damage to the header heat shield and dents in the oil pan. Given the other problems I had with 505, neither of these were really worth mentioning during my conversations with 505.
You cant drill test the oil system on a 3.8 block, the oil pump is in the front cover, tgeres no way to prime except by using a proper oil priming tank, and hooking it up to where the oil pressure sending unit threads in.
Another area of oil pressure related concerns is the pressure regulator, the factory one is plastic, and falls apart, melling replacements are metal and If you purchase a new engine, the oil pressure regulator must be too.
so if you discover a plastic oil pressure regulator, ge obviously didnt care to change it.
The other point, on the front of the block, at the oil gallerys for the cam journal, the welch plugs must have a pin hole drilled in them to lubricate the timing chain, I recall a picture of a block he built and these holes were not present....
Thanks for the information. Ive heard a lot of people having problems with 505 performance. That is one company I can mark off my list for my rebuild kits and supplies.
Was looking into this as a possible rebuild I had bad experiences with engine exchanging I always go with a local engine shop to rebuild. Is 505 performance the only one out there who makes a stroker kit for these? Should be able to get custom pistons for these I have bought them for other engines. Probably not worth the hassle maybe just go with a stock rebuild.
Any reputable machine shoop should be able to do the offset grind of the crank to get the extra 300cc. But in reality I would keep it at 3.8, use higher compression flat top forged pistons or dished for volume to correct CR, a decent profile cam, Dodge Caravan 3.8 rods, lighten the crank a bit as the forged pistons are probably lighter to balance the assembly, quality roller lifters and a small head job with port cleanup. Do not chew material off the bottom of the ports on intake or exhaust. Delete EGR then next size up injectors and lots of tuning to match this all together. You should pick up a good 60-80ft lbs of torque at lower rpm and a good 50HP. The caravan rods allow the use of standard split bearing caps and bearing shells instead of the crap Jeep bearings and the piston change gets one back to a proper oil wiping ring instead of the, again, crap Jeep design. With the prooper cam and head flow you should see the engine want to rev really nice.
01-31-2018, 03:13 PM
