Me too on the main studs and aluminum main caps now that we can't buy the Mopar Ductile iron main caps anymore

iagree up Me too on the main studs and aluminum main caps now that we can't buy the Mopar Ductile iron main caps anymore whiney

Cab.......are you saying you prefer the iron over aluminum caps if available?

So... what brand & type of rod managed to blow a hole through your block?

I can't recall who posted this pic previously (ccdave?), but this is the same basic setup my next block has to work with: standard aluminum main caps + "budget" girdle

I think everyone agrees all of these approaches are simply Band-Aids with various degrees of benefit on an OEM block. I'd LOVE a BMP aluminum block, but that's not even on my radar.

I agree, and I pasted my answer for n another thread


Weighing in on the girdle thing with my experience.
In 2003 I dynoed a megablock 4.15 stroke 4.50 bore 528 cube motor. Made 847 hp injected on methanol . I noticed cap walk on a crossbolted megablock, Max rpm was 7400. Bob weight 2432. I put a girdle on it. Didn't take away the cap walk issue. During this time we found a minor cracking the crank by #6.
I bought a rather expensive center weighted crank from Crower and took the girdle off. The C. W. Crank eliminated about 90 percent of the cap walk. I finally needed a little cleanup and align hone in 2019.
So IMHO the girdle basically can force a large portion of any movement into a vertical motion, which may help a little. BUT THERE IS NO TRIANGULATION to stop that vertical stress completely. So end result? IMHO they may be of some benefit, but not enough for a lot of stressfully builds.
Properly done, an add on girdle would be 3 inch or more tall, or thick, if that is how you would view it. That would require a rather short oil pan, like a dragster 10 qt . The big deal about it being so tall is it would now be so rigid it could transfer stress to the pan rails in all directions, not just lateral.

Years ago I remember TRENDZ posting a picture of the modifications he did to a stock block. If I remember right he machined the tops of stock caps flat and then made tool steel straps that went over the top of the stock main caps. It looked super slick and if I remember right he was well over 1000 hp with a stock block.

If I end up having to redo the motor in my Fury but am too broke to buy an aftermarket block, I'll probably turn it into a 512 and use aluminum caps, not bothering with the girdle.

[quote=VernMotor

Mine did not Rod cut right though that girdle
[/quote]

What did you attribute the rod failure to?

Yes
Based on the ductile iron material expansion rate at difference operating temps being very near the block cast grey iron rate
I've used both with no failures yet
I'm sure my current S/P 400 block E85 bracket stroker motor will have a major failure first run next year I sincerely hope not

Ouch........don't say that that's the set up i'm running on the bottom end been there sense 06

I agree, unless you are running a class that rules say you must use a stock block why would you? If you are trying to make 800+ horses buy a good iron or alloy aftermarket block. All the stock stuff is at least 40yrs old.
They are going to fail. Factory stuff was good but not for ultra high horsepower. Plus you have to hack them all up to get a decent stroker crank and aluminum rods to clear. Block is the foundation for a reliable build. Not a place to save money IMO
Pops

$5200 for a new block is out of a lot of people's price range.

In much the same fashion people buy $250.00 LS motors, turbo them, and go get another block when that one $hits the bed, It's cheaper to gamble with a stock block.

I used the 3/8" girdle by chenoweth back in yr 2000 to 2006 for 250 runs with iron caps,arp studs 14# of boost.I feel it did a glod job of helping things.

Eagle H beam

What did you attribute the rod failure to? [/quote]

Rod did not fail until the cy-wall crack..I believe it was too thin.. did't get sonic tested .. they all do now !!

And I will add that is that last Engine I ran with motor mounts.. Got a motor plate after that..

The weakness in aftermarket girdles is lack of height. Newer motors have deep sidewalls to tie into, adding a huge amount of stability up and down.

Rod did not fail until the cy-wall crack..I believe it was too thin.. did't get sonic tested .. they all do now !!

And I will add that is that last Engine I ran with motor mounts.. Got a motor plate after that.. [/quote]


what kind of motor mounts ? solids ?
if solids were used, do you think a rubber mount on the passenger side, or both rubber mounts used with a limiter would have prevented the block cracking ?

That's why modern serious performance engines have bed plates instead of main caps.

Hey, it's only money, right?

what kind of motor mounts ? solids ?
if solids were used, do you think a rubber mount on the passenger side, or both rubber mounts used with a limiter would have prevented the block cracking ?


[/quote]

Solid motor mounts with a limiter. block I had in the car before this crack a cy wall. always #3 . so I did't take the chance anymore