After the bearings are installed, Katech installs the main caps and uses the Air Gage tool again to measure the main bores. | 
The main bore specs needed to fall between 2.5605 and 2.5615 inches; and our project short-block's specs fell within the range, with most measuring 2.5611 or 2.5613 inches. | 
At last, the crankshaft is laid in the block. Katech uses a Cola 4340 forged steel crank to deliver the 427's 4.000-inch stroke. |
The Value Short-Block comes with a 24-tooth crank trigger wheel; a 58X wheel is optional. | 
Enthusiasts who have never built an LS engine may not be aware that because of the torque-to-yield fastener design, the bolts must be final-torqued to a specified angle. In many cases, such as the main cap bolts seen here, the process involves two or three steps. Here, the caps are final-torqued to 80 degrees. (Note the reading on the torque wrench.) | 
As part of the blueprinting and product tracking steps, the builder records all of the specifications and procedures performed on the Value Short-Block assemblies. |
Crankshaft endplay is also measured during the assembly process, and it's done with a standard dial gage. The acceptable spec range is 0.0016 inch to 0.0079 inch, and ours came in at 0.0050 inch. | 
With the crankshaft installed and all its corresponding measurements within acceptable specs, attention turns to the rod-and-piston assemblies. | 
Forged aluminum pistons are used and, depending on the cylinder head chamber size, will deliver approximately 10.5:1 to 11.0:1 compression. The dished design also delivers a -12cc dome volume, which helps keep compression in the pump-gas-friendly range. Compression height is 1.140 inch. |