Wow, that's pretty serious. Did Dave give you any idea what might have caused that?

any idea on what had caused that? i'm in the process of replacing head/head gasket in my car, and i would hate to find out that my beloved F54 is cracked....

He didn't have a exact answer. He said it was one of those chicken before the egg things. ... not sure weather the gasket got blown out causing the motor to overheat, then cracking the wall... or possibly bad gasket causing water to enter the cylinder and then causing a crack.

I ended up getting a stroked 3.0, which I SHOULD have gotten a long time ago

bummer....

but that's great you got the new block! i really hope mine isn't cracked; i can't afford a new block

I ended up getting a stroked 3.0, which I SHOULD have gotten a long time ago

Sweet! Did you buy a complete motor or just a short block? Care to share what that cost you? I'm considering buying one of his long blocks instead of building up the F54 I have. I figure it might be cheaper in the long run to go this route even though I'd miss out on the experience of building it myself.

re: 3.0, 278 HP, 260ftlbs TQ (at the crank)

Ended up costing $4150. I allready had the ported N42 head and 3 x Mikunis. That included doing some flow testing, and valve job. My head was not reworked, it flowed pretty well allready. Some of the numbers for labor seem a bit strange, but the cost in parts/dyno tune is a good reference anyway. BTW, he said I was gettting a "deal".

Breakdown:

1) parts: pistons, rings, LD28 crank, gasket, bearings, oil pump, timing kit, cam, arp bolts, rods, plugs, oil, gas for dyno testing. $1664

2) Labor:

dyno tune: $500

flow testing: $420

build stroker: $1000

clean/hone block, polish crank, rod work $410

waste fee + tax: $152.28

P.S the experience would have been great, but had to get the car working for the Motorsport Show.

Keep in mind, I had brought in my entire engine. He kept the block with the crack in it, giving me a different block. I had all the other parts not listed above.