5.0

[Steeevooo]

how much horsepower do you think the block can handle before it cracks? I havent fired it up yet but we estimated around 550-575 at the crank...all forged internals of course 331 stoker kit from mahle to be exact

[JLM]

At that power level, you're right at about the normally accepted limit of that block.

Any girdles or hard block in it?

[Steeevooo]

neither =/

[Steeevooo]

do you think the block will be able to sustain that amount of power? It's pretty much gunna be a weekend warrior

[Bryce]

it may at the limit now. But i added something called a valley girdle. Its going into my race SBF. 319 stroker with a .650 lift cam. I am at your power levels. I also have a main girdle and the block is fully studded. With ARP fasteners everywhere.

[CarlC]

Agreed. Anything more than 525RWHP and the block is on borrowed time. I've seen three broken in half after that power level. For reliability the power should be kept lower.

[Steeevooo]

lol man I'd really hate to disassemble it again but I'm gunna pick up the girdle you're talking about and have it installed...I really dont feel like buying another block if this one decides it wants to kicks the bucket....appreciate the info guys! lemme know how you make out with your motor I wanna know how it works out

[Bryce]

Good idea. Better safe than sorry. Its cheap insurance. My motor will be going together shortly. I have all the parts.

[Steeevooo]

Is there any difference between girdles? any certain brands I should go with?

[Bryce]

the valley girdle is from

http://www.horsepowersales.net/catalog.htm

I order mine from JEGS.

The main girdle can depends on what windage tray if any you are running. I bought a moroso main girdle. And ARP studs of course.

[Steeevooo]

yea I'm looking now, dss looks a bit cheaper but hps looks alot more sturdier

[Randy67]

There is a good thread on Corner Carvers on this:
http://www.corner-carvers.com/forums...t=block+girdle

Here is one comment that stands out (post 11)
Stud girdles for the main caps won't do much. The 302 block cracks from the center of the main cap stud upwards. The stud girdle may stop the flexing of the main cap in the lengthwise direction of the engine, but this isn't the direction that the blocks crack in.

The lifter valley girdle is even more worthless.

Just some reading I had done, hope it helps some.

[Steeevooo]

lol yea man that helps alot...im thinkin about switching to a 5.4 lightning block that was wrecked

[Bryce]

actually i have to disagree with the thought that the valley girdle doesnt help.

The intake manifold fasteners are verical, therefore the forces on the block are trying to split the block down the middle. Chevy has fasteners that are perpendicular to the mounting surface. a much better design.

After looking at many SBF failures you can see that the block splits down the middle and it pulls the cam journals out the bottom. The valley girdle helps hold the block together.

If you look at the world and dart blocks they have a valley girdle built into their castings. This is a much better design. But the standard SBF weighs in at 100lbs less than a world products 8.2 deck. The mexican blocks are heavier than the standard SBF by about 25lbs.


The main girlde really just helps in stabilizing the main caps at higher RPm just like a rocker arm girdle.

But the 5.4 would be cool too. What susepension do you plan on running? please no MII. go griggs or something that will be good for handling. and is that a cast iron block in the 5.4? If so that will be a really heavy front end.

[Steeevooo]

I havent even thought of suspension yet lol...but I have no idea on the 5.4 yet I would assume it would be iron, I want to get one out of a lightning if possible and I'm not sure if its iron or aluminum that the lightning comes with, but the mustang weighs in at 1728lbs no motor or trans

[Steeevooo]

What do you guys think about a 460? I've been seeing them pretty cheap and they can make a lot of hp with a lot less money, they are just on the really heavy side, but I was pondering a bit and wanted to do something along the lines of a corvette set up with the transmission being placed near the rear to distribute weight proportionately.

[Blowngt92]

The stock 5.0 block will be fine as long as you don't run lean. I made over 600 rwhp with a blown 5.0 stock block. Ran it fat and it was happy.

[Bryce]

what kind of racing?

Drag and autoX are a lot different strain on the block than road racing.

[Steeevooo]

For the most part the track but we have a few nice roads down here that we close off to street race every now and then

[vintageracer]

I purchased a new Ford 302 roller block from Ford 6 years ago for the Shelby road race car. I did not have a good old Mexican 302 block and needed to build an engine. The roller block was a new production type of block that Ford was selling at that time.

Engine was built for road racing with a Probe brand parts, ARP bolts and all the other top brand parts with a 7K chip in the ignition box. The block split right down the middle of the lifter gallery shifting from 3rd to 4th gear at about 130 MPH just after the Oak Tree turn after turning onto the back straight at VIR (Virginia International Raceway). Blew starter completely off the car causing the car to come off the ground on the right side of the car when the rear tire ran over the damn starter! Everything blew down to the oil pan on top the steering linkage. Was not able to turn the steering wheel in either direction. Crank broke in 4 pieces. All main bearing caps still bolted together either on the block or the crankshaft pieces where they broke away from the block. All in all a real big mess!

Engine setup and dynoed before installation at 427 HP and 410 Lbs/Ft torque. Nothing different over other engines I built and ran but the block. Same combo used in the old Mexican blocks with no trouble and actually not that powerful an engine compared to the other guys we ran with than turned 8K-9K RPM.

Road racing and track time is a LOT different than drag racing. 3500 RPM to 7000 RPM and back to 3500 RPM over and over again is hard on an engine block. Plus up and down through the gears.

DO NOT USE a late model production roller 302 block for road racing. AFTER this incident lots of other guys finally decided to tell me that they had seen this happen before or had the same thing happen to them!

Find a good old Mexican 302 block or better yet just go ahead and get a good 302 SVO block and do it right the first time!

Funny how you have to learn these little tidbits of information the hard way!!!!