I'm about to order a stock bottom end rebuild kit and I was wondering if it's better to order from howell automotive or put my own kit together through parts dinosaur. I've heard stories about how howell takes forever with shipping and since I'm already ordering stuff through partsdinosaur I get more of a discount. Any difference in quality though between the two? They're about the same price either way. Thanks

Partsdinosaur has great parts, I dont think he carried rods though. Depending on how you are building your engine, whether equivilant to stock or what. I built mine through parts dinosaur and had all my machining done by a great machine shop near me. It's not hard to do, just take your time and you will learn a lot.

Well, the howell one doesnt come with rods either. I guess i'm just reusing my rods then? Is that normally how a stock rebuild works? I'm not lookin for like forged internals and all that for turbo, just a stock rebuild.

well you CAN reuse your rods and pistons, but it is best to replace them. partsdino has a great sale on pistons, actually someone on here was selling a brand new set for like 40 bucks or something a few weeks ago. And you can buy new rods for fairly cheap. Nothing has to be forged, just stock. If you are rebuilding the whole engine to stock and you dont want to have to worry about anything messing up. Then yes buy new everything. It would suck to buy new piston rings, use the old rods/pistons. Get everything built, start it up and a couple of hundred or even a thousand miles later drive and bam! broken rod b/c it was bent eventhough it didnt look like it. Think that is impossible? Think again, it happened to me, I bought 4 used rods, they looked fine to me and to the guy who sold them to me, and he was an honest guy. But one was bent slightly and it caused me to have to totally rebuild my engine again, 2 times in one year isnt fun. That is why my car is just now running after 15 months, cuz a rebuild isnt cheap, even if you are doing it yourself. G'luck

Do you know of any good places to buy new rods?

I bought new stock pistons from partsdinosaur, they look great and fast shipping. As fas as the rods go, I just reused them. I had the machine shop check them out and they can recondition them if need be. I would recommend partsdinosaur.

you could always go to a dodge dealership, hell of a lot cheaper than satan

Do I need to do anything with my head when I rebuild the bottom end? Is it worth it to replace lifters, rockers, valve job, etc.?

if you have the money while the motor is out of the car, by all means do the head work. It is ALOT easier to do the timing on our cars while the engine is outside of the car. If you don't have the money, i wouldn't worry about it too much. You might want to replace the valve stem seals either way though. Good luck with the rebuild.

For a stock rebuild, there really is no reason to get new rods, unless you did some engine damage. YOu can have the rods checked at a machine shop as well, which is a lot cheaper than new rods. You will have to get the piston pins pressed in/out for the new pistons to go onto the rods though, but thats only a minimal charge from a machine shop.

Alright, thanks for all the help guys

I got one more question... I don't want to have the downtime with shipping if I take out the engine and measure things first and then order. I know for sure im getting .020 over pistons. But as far as the rod bearings and main bearings go, if I never blew the engine or anything would they just be standard size? Or would I have to just take it out and measure everything first?

if your crank hasnt ever been turned then you have to have stock rod bearings and main bearings..., but before putting them in, definately either have the machine shop check the clearances for you or just use plastigauge and do it yourself. And as far as what XtremeRS, he is correct. I thought you were rebuilding b/c of a spun bearing or damage elsewhere, but nonetheless the minimum I would do is have the rods checked. And before you have your block bored, I'd give the shop the new oversized pistons and rings and your rods so they can use that to work from. I would definately replace your valve stem seals at the very least, if you are gonna replace the lifters, springs, etc, that's fine as long as you havent heard a ticking from a bent valve or anything. You dont have to replace them, but I'd definately replace the valve stem seals, which are included in an upper gasket kit from advance auto or anywhere. I just finished my rebuild so any part numbers you need I have. G'luck... oh and seriously, any bolt you take out, put it in a ziplock baggy and label them. I.E. intake mani bolts/nuts lable them intake mani and that is all you put in there.. it makes it atleast 8 billion times easier when you are putting it all back together.

Yeah you use standard size main/rod bearings, providing the crank jornals are in good condition, and no gouges or anthing like that. You should always have the crank journals "polished" when doing a rebuild and using new bearings. This puts a new finish on the journals, without taking any metal away from the journals.