Quote:

Thought they were splayed to spread the forces from the bolts out over a greater area of the block?



I'll guess partially but not completely. The transfer of all the crank forces are not in one direction. One bank is going to send pulsations a different direction than the opposing bank.

Just like "cap walk" isn't just horizontally. It's more like the caps are bouncing within the elasticity of the bolts (or studs) and as the the crank transfers forces the caps walk/bounce accordingly absorbing pulsations within its limits until they break.

Or so I would guess.

R.I.P.- Gary "Coop" Davis 02/09/68-05/13/04