Heard horror stories with their GM stuff..

 

Blueprint engine

Years ago I acquired one still in the crate with a mustang that I purchased. It was a 347 long block and it had E7 heads and a flat tappet cam in it. I changed the cam and heads and fired it up and 2 pistons (Hyper) lost their top ring lands due to not enough piston ring clearance.

 

I had a Jasper engine in my old Ranger. That thing ran incredibly strong for what it was. Drove it for years, never had an issue.

Now, that stupid auto transmission on the other hand...

 

Local guy has one of their 347s in a fox convertible. Runs like a dying dog. Its slower than most stock foxbodies at the track lmfao

He paid $5k for a motor with "house brand" heads, (which are most likely pro comps with "blue print" stamped on the ends), a puss cam that's too mild for a 302 (216/222* or something like that) and hyper pistons. They told him it makes 500hp after he upgrades to an msd ignition,and he believes them. Lmfao

I highly doubt a 306 with pro comps makes 390hp lol

I see summit and jegs peddles their junk now

http://m.summitracing.com/parts/mll-bp3060ct

 

That's not even funny ......it's just sad.

 

not so sure about that last statement(306 not making 390hp)its really not that hard.its capable of a little more of that really.you just have to mate the correct parts to achieve it.

 

He said a 306 "with procomps" wouldn't make 390 hp. Procomps would not be "the correct parts".

 

Exactly. My 302 makes over 390hp..but... It does not have Chinese junk heads.

Regardless..you can do a lot better for the $3500 they want for a 306 with a $500 set of aluminum heads on it....

 

There is a guy on another forum I frequent who is an engineer at Blue Print. According to him Blue Print now designs and builds their own heads due to issues they had with outside suppliers.

EDIT- A copy/paste of his comments:

"Just saw this post, was offline the last few days.

I could get someone here to talk more about our heads if you like, but the short version of the story is that we started making our own parts because of a variety of issues from suppliers - meeting order quantities, quality control, etc. BP puts a big warranty on their engines, so they can't have heads falling apart. Smithberg has worked with some of our castings now, testing CNC ports, he's had good things to say about the quality. Not being a cylinder head guy I can't really speak in great detail. But if you're asking if BP cares about their parts, the answer is an obvious yes because of the warranties they commit to, 50,000mi in some cases. They also work in other non-performance areas at what I'd consider an OEM level. I often wonder if some of these other budget manufacturers have an entire Quality department like Blueprint, they don't even allow parts out of quarrantine until they've passed a number of inspections, and they have people on the ground where parts are manufactured whether it's on our shores or not. From my vantage point it seems the right way to do business in today's economy."

 

Regardless, from what I've seen, their 347 is a HUGE underachiever. Maybe it's cuz they're house brand heads don't get the job done? Or they put a little baby cam in a stroker? Or both..or more..

Maybe with a good set of heads and an appropriate cam, it would run like a 347 is supposed to, but there's no way on earth I would pay the $5k sticker price for what they're putting out...warranty or not..that car is SLOW. lol

 

Not taking up for Blue Print, but maybe the 347 you witnessed had the crappy "outside" heads. Maybe with their own heads they run better now.

I just read somewhere within the past week about a dyno test done on a Chevy 350, don't know all of the particulars of the build. They tested with the stock iron heads and then immediately tested with a pair of Pro Comps. The Pro Comps lost 25 hp compared to the stock irons. LOL

 

thanks for you input bmcdaniel. much appreciated. seems to be o lot of haters of blue print motors on here lol. i guess one bad seed spreads word. but with any product theres always gonna be some disappointed people. problem is not all of us have the time to build an engine or have the cash to build it exactly the way you want it, that being said a crate motor is a better option and one with a good warranty goes a long way.and for me its not about having a 500 hp motor as it is having a new motor that will run without having to constantly work on it all the time. some of us are daily drivers who just want it to look and sound good.

 

Your comments sound more like you just want justification for buying a cheap engine and are not looking for real world opinions.

With proven engine shops already on this forum (CHP/Ford Strokers/AD Performance) why even bring up this topic?

Like I said, it's seems to be more to build up your confidence to buy a cheap engine.

:salute:

 

Maybe it did..maybe it didnt..either way, that one in particular runs like poop, and the guy paid $5k for an engine that has inferior heads, a mismatched cam, and hyper pistons. I sure as hell wouldn't buy something like that for that kind of cash.. But to each his own I guess

 

I thought they had a killer cnc port coming out designed by a good head porter in an import casting. I remember hearing about it at sema but it might not have been blueprint might have been another similar company

 

They sell their190 cc stud or pedestal heads with Zero CNC machining on their website for $1,358 a set..who is gonna be the first to test them out? Lol
They come with some sweet 1.43" springs good for .575" lift with a whopping 115-125 lbs on the seat. Those should handle most Alphabet cams, with or without 1.72 rockers. Sounds like a good deal considering a set of Twisted Wedges is $108 cheaper..

 

blah blah blah ..not all of us are building a race car and we don't all have thousands to spend . like i already said. you didn't have an input on this topic so what does it matter to you.i do believe every company is gonna have good and bad reviews at one point,i was asking about peoples experience with there motors, maybe 4k is cheap to you but not others. FRPP has has reviews as well but i find it had to believe they put out cheap crap and have stayed in business doing so.to each there own is all i'm saying

 

Look at Procomp they make cheap Chinese crap but yet they are still in business because there will always be a market of suckers that will buy the stuff thinking they can go fast without spending the money it takes. Yes there will always be good and bad reviews but when the majority of the reviews are bad it should tell you something about the product.

Ed said it best your just looking for justification. If you don't want a high horsepower motor go and buy a reman long block from Autozone or Oreilly. It will have all the warranty you want and be cheaper than this blueprint. No ones telling you not to buy it just that you cant expect that kind of horsepower out of it with the parts they use and that you can do a lot better for the money.

 

No ones telling you not to buy it just that you cant expect that kind of horsepower out of it with the parts they use and that you can do a lot better for the money.

This.

I wonder if they have any flow data or other info on their heads? You would think if they were a good flowing, well built head, that Blueprint would be screaming from a mountain top saying "look at this..buy me" and pushing their parts hard to make sales...but since there's very little info out there (until this thread, I never even knew they made their own heads) one can only assume the head's performance is nothing to write home about. Or worse. Like I said, that dudes 347 is slower than a 1980s camaro...lol

 

agreed

 

how bout this one..as i was only asking questions about certain engines and not trying to justify buying a certain one rather JUST WANTING peoples experiences with them , has anyone used one of these ...ATK crate engines?its one of those research before you commit to buying debates

 

Look's like you are local, why don't you come check us out and see for yourself :evilgrin: Everything we do is built in house, balanced and blue printed by 1 builder, not an assembly line. We use name brand quality parts and offer dyno services as well. With you being local, you can even stop in and watch your personal engine dyno tested in person.

Let me know if anyone has any questions.

Brandon-ATK.
866-721-2315

 

You know what would be nice? If some of you experts (not the pros, they got work to do) would create a nice spreadsheet of the various block options--including their pros, cons, and prices. That way, this same conversation doesn't have to happen every time someone asks about aftermarket blocks. Then it could be sorted by budget, size, material, hp goal, etc.

 

Would be nice to have but he was asking about these specific stock block crate motors. Kind of a different topic.

 

Talk to woody at fordstrokers, if you want reliable get a reman explorer Motor, I wouldn't spend 350on anything with procomp,gt40, or off brand heads jmo

 

ford strokers would be ok,,,,once again IF I WAS LOOKING TO SPEND 5K OR MORE!...not in my price range. and i don't want a stroker. want to stick to a 302 or 306. not building a race car here.this is a daily driver not looking for a cammed out harsh ride

 

Okay then get a reman explorer gt40 motor....

 

That's not a bad idea..it would come with the exploder cam tho, so you'd need to jam your HO stick in there, unless you want peak power at like 4k rpms lol

Put some 1.7 rockers on, the usual bolt ons, and you'd have a 250+ rwhp ride

 

I looked into the Blueprint stuff, and found way to many unhappy customers . I say the Ford 306 with GT40x heads sounds like a good choice for you.

 

yeah the more i read about blue print it seems like all the reviews are bad.actually haven't found a good review yet lol

 

Hello Metalhead79

Thank you for your interest in BluePrint Engines.

The cylinder heads we build for sale and for use on our crate engines were designed by our in house design team. They are not rebadged ones built by someone else. We back up every engine we sell with a 30 month/50,000 mile warranty and stand behind our products. Otherwise, Summit Racing, Jeg's and Speedway Motors would not sell our products.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Scott Liggett
BluePrint Engines
Product Specialist
1(800)483-4263

 

If they're so great Scott, send me one bare and one assembled cylinder casting and I'll let you know what I think.

 

Not holding my breath on that one, Ed. You'll see those heads in about 100 years, maybe.

 

I'd get the economy short-block, Mustang 5.0L 302 Economy Short Block Accepts Roller Cam (79-95) - LatemodelRestoration.com, and the top end kit, Trick Flow Mustang Top End Engine Kit, w/ Track Heat Intake Black (87-93) 5.0L - LatemodelRestoration.com, and if you already have an existing motor, you can just swap the nickel and dime stuff over, and it would probably run pretty strong for quite a while.

 

I'd get the economy short-block, Mustang 5.0L 302 Economy Short Block Accepts Roller Cam (79-95) - LatemodelRestoration.com,

From the description, "bored .040-.060 over". :shakehead

 

^^ I'd take the man up on the offer.
My brother in law bought a ATK engine and uses it in a dirt track car. Has held up for almost a full season and still going.

It's a Chebby 350 tho.