^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^This is the way I see it as well. I had a slightly different take on it though and tried to incorporate the best of both aluminum (shock absorbing) and steel for(strength). As many have mentioned a light bob weight and a center counter weighted Bryant or Winberg crank will go a long way. Hardblock it halfway but start with a block that sonics well. I have found that the cylinder strength is a problem and have split cylinders at around the 800 hp range if you get into detonation.

Not sure what cylinder head you are using but valve position sucks so bad in most of the inline valve OEM config'd offerings it wont be all that easy to make 900hp. If you could share the rules it would make helping easier. J.Rob

I like that set up. What did you do at the rear?
My mods didn't involve a girdle, but used tool steel straps across all 5 main caps. I had seen caps crack apart, and figured the straps would hold it together if they failed. I had to make a reverse lip oil pan at the rear because of the studs/bolts. Held 1100hp (turbo).
I agree with you on cylinder walls. Although mine never cracked, they were a bit barrel shaped(no block filler).

Any chance for a production run of those?

think ramm and trendz are on to something here,trendz,whats that hole in the rear of block,is that for convertor bolts or cooling

The hole is likely just weight, as it surely sacrifices nothing in that area for strength. My "race" blocks, I used to do the same thing as well as grinding off motor mount ears and anything else I could. Can save quite a few pounds but it's a lot of work. I have even seen blocks with that total corner cut off. How many bellhousing bolts do you really need? Where is the trans going? And how many guys have those holes stripped in their trans anyway? They don't do anything. Cut em off

The hole was for converter bolts, weight was just a side benefit. Because the pan was made with a reverse lip, and was a rear sump, and was very wide, I had no room to get at the converter bolts in the normal sense. Very much an after thought on my part. I didn't realize the issue until it was in the car. Had I realized the issue, I would have built the pan different. Live and learn

My thinking on any main support girdle for BB Mopars or other blocks like ours(FE Ford) that doesn't have a press on interference fit girdle onto all of the fasteners, shouldered main studs and shouldered oil pan studs, isn't holding the main caps in place other than front to rear movement. They're not adding strength up in the main webbing where it is needed on the stock RB blocks
They may look good and make some users fell happy but are they really helping the bottoms of the blocks to become stronger and reduce or stop main webbing cracking and cap walk
I do buy and use stronger after market main caps(usually Ductile iron, not steel ) and main studs to help prevent main cap breakage for any motor I build that will exceed 600 HP now
I really wish there was a real fix for the main webbing in the stock blocks, all years of the RB as well as the non cold weather 400 blocks

Admittedly, I have no experience building a motor for a land speed application, but using really light weight internals isn't how I think I'd go about it.

The parts need to be durable enough for an extended period of time under heavy load.
IMO, this is more similar to a marine application than a drag motor.
The acceleration rate is very low, so heavier parts should have almost zero affect on the speed of the vehicle.

I understand the concerns about the mains, but if a rod or wrist pin fails because they arent HD enough, it's all over.

There is going to need to be a balance found between the strength needed for the application vs how light the parts can be.

Ive been well over a 1000 for a couple years now. Its a 230 block partial fill. steel caps. 3/8" thick girdle, Studs everywhere the girdle. I have also had good results using 3m weatherstrip adhesive on the girdle to block rail. I apply it liberally install the girdle and then bolt it down for a few days to dry before installing the pan. I get zero leaks and no shifting from the girdle. Only sucks at refresh time.. My motor is also boosted so I only spin it to 6800.

That was always my question on the functionality of girdles. How solid can they be when sandwiched in between gaskets? I always felt that a girdle should be "glued" to the rail, but fastened directly with flush mount tapered locating bolts in an alternate pattern of the pan gasket, so that the girdle isn't dependent on being held in place by a compressible gasket/ hardware.

my girdle is glued to the rail on one side & only has a gasket on the pan side. the cap studs are doing all the work holding it together, the pan bolts do nothing but hold the pan on

Look at a KB double bolted block for an idea of what I think would help a stock block live. The double bolt , both top and side, main caps would have to be very large, because the only way to build it would be to build it all below the pan rail. that would create quite a massive add on structure, but if money is not an issue, well, thats' what racers do to win.
The idea is to make the whole deal, main caps and what they are bolted to, so massive that any load put on a single bearing is also transferred to the adjacent two and beyond. That would greatly reduce the stress on the main web area of the cap at the center of the load.

If I used a girdle it would be sealed with anaerobic sealer. For those who don't know its designed the seal two machined halfs. Looks and smells like Locktite. Comes loose very easy when the parts are tapped loose in side shear. Very thin and drys hard between the parts. Drys as soon as there is no air.
Doug

there is no gasket between the girdle and the block on my BCR kit, I used a very light coat of grey silicon between the girdle and pan rail, all the perimeter bolts are studs and the nut's are counter sunk into the girdle, then there is the pan gasket and pan over top of those nut's and that is held in place by another set of nut's on the exsisting pan rail stud's, you can drop the pan and never disturb the girdle, nice well thought out system in my opinion.

Something my Dad created.

Ok. Pretty much what I was thinking on how it should be. Never used one myself.

As for dad's setup there, Pretty dang nice. SKILZ!

he must be a machinist by trade?? look's pretty nice, kind of like the way the small blocks are, cap's are tied together but not to the block/panrail, I used a Hughes on my 408 and they just tie the caps together like that.

Since this is a land speed deal and weights probably not a huge issue (maybe a benefit) I'd make a one piece girdle (or bedplate) with the mains intergrated right into them that bolts to the pan rail. Make it maybe 2" above and beyoned the pan rail (probably approximately 4" above the mains)? Cost effective for a normal application? Absolutely not. For a class that requires a stock block but 900+hp to win and you want it to stay together, absolutely. It would also act as a shield as well and keeps parts contained should something fly apart.

Making it from one piece would be best (but $$$), but I guess you could also weld some steel main caps (440source has them) to a thick plate of steel as well and do it that way.

That look interesting. Was this ever run?

He is a machinist and it is tied to pan rails. He has done a couple of them. This one has not run yet as for he bought a KB block for the Mercedes this go around. He does not like the girdles that tie in with the oil pan bolts so this was his creation. He did not want to cut into the webbing in the block for program caps either.