Where do I go from here (IMS)

[Smallblock454]

Hi,

not shure about this decision. If you need a new clutch you need a clutch. And in my opinion that is the time when you should decide to do other things like IMS, chain rails, tensioners and so on.

Also if you have to do the chain rails as a workshop job to than afterwards do the ISMB, that totally burnt money, because you have to do some same things twice and so you buy some labour time twice.

The Durametric not always shows 100% right values on camshaft deviation. Just do it several times and you'll get several results. It's more like an indicator. If you want precise results on camshaft deviation you should measure the deviation right at the camshafts – which is possible.

A good running replacement engines costs less than 5K. While it's out of the engine you can do all repair and maintenance stuff easily.

So the question to me is would i spend lets say 9k in a car that is worth 10-12k if it's still running without problems? My opinion: no. Also keep in mind that there are a lot of other parts that wear and can fail besides the engine.

If the engine fails it fails. Maybe the situation will change if used engines raise in price. But at the moment i would go for a good used replacement engine that will be updated with a new IMSB, chain rails, chain tensioners, coil packs and so on.

Just my 2 cents

Regards, Markus