Holden 355 stroker

Hey all,

Im going to be rebuilding my 304 and stroking it out to a 355 to put in my vs Ute.

ive been quoted around 20k for the engine (will post the quote).

im in two minds about going ahead and having an engine builder build it or have a crack myself. Got nothing to do with price which the quote I think is reasonable but more just experience and been able to say I did it.

iv never built an engine at all but id say i know my way around an engine and have changed various parts over the years from head gaskets, water pumps, new gear boxes etc. from memory and have currently pulled the engine out and stripped it myself.

my question is, with the advice and help from the videos on HPA and the forums, is it still a risky move to do it on my own?

any advice would be appreciated.

If you have a GOOD machinist, and you have the tools and are able to do the checking, scrupulous cleaning, etc, in a clean area, it may be a bit of a stretch but should be possible. A decent engine stand is almost a must have, if you haven't got one.

I assume you're sourcing the parts from a company that is experienced with the conversion, as I'm not sure what carry-over, if any, there is between the earlier engines and this one, so one will need to know what one was doing with the custom parts selection. The main problem may be if there's some 'trick', or process that needs to be done that you're unaware of, that might have been missed and you don't know enough to catch?