I have a 2bolt 355 with pro-gram splayed caps. I want to send my s400 back and made into an s480 with the new gen 2 race cover. I have 4340 egale rotating assembly with l19 rod bolts and JE pistons. Will my block hold. I have searched and have gotten a mixed response. I feel it should handle it. I figure if turbo355 can make 730 whp with a totally stock motor I should be ok for 800-900whp on a splayed cap 2 bolt???

 

I am not realy going to be much help. I just realy read from time to time on this site. also i have my own turbo camaro project i am building up.

Well i would like to know what trans do you plan on running? 900rwhp is a very tall order for a stock block.

so you want the block to be able to live under 1150-1200hp .

 

900 motor hp is all we recommend witha fill and caps.
How much do you trust a 30-40 year old piece of factory iron?

 

So to answer your question yes the block will take it, but how long thats the bigger question.

 

The car has a glide and has been 9.71 @ 144

The reason I think the block will be ok is because I have seen many stock ford blocks on this site handle 800+ to the tires and those are fords....YUCK.

No one thought the "grenade" wouldn't blow up but it didn't. So I guess we can start this thread as the Grenade part 3. Stock block with splayed caps....Can it handle a s400 with a race cover????? Will just have to see!

 

Don't forget Ford has mod motors......

 

There is a local guy making big power on a stock block 351 and on this forum the pumkin stang with the s400 has gone 5.40's with a 351 stock block and I think stock crank!

Why is there no faith in the 350sbc I've never seen a block rip off the mains, a 400sbc yes.

 

I don't know of any builder that would accept the liablity of tell anyone they could make over a 1000 hp of a 30-40 year piece of Iron.

 

I have a 355 sbc 010 block with splayed billet mains, Cola crank, eagle 4340 H beams, L19 bolts, etc. etc. It pushed a 3000 lb car into the 8's with twin 66s for a couple of seasons....and lived!
There is no doubt in my mind that with a good block, you can make more than enough power to meet your goals.
There was evidence of cap walk on the mains, but that is to be expected. While it would be better to use a Dart block, I say run what you got and see how far you can push it!!!
Just don't get too greedy and keep the tune safe....that's the key in my opinion.
Good luck!

 

My junk 2 bolt block showed cap walk once it got up around 630 whp but they were also torqued the factory 75 ft. lbs. I torqued them to 85 ft. lbs even though im sure it put the main line out of whack and it solved the problem. I mean how round are the main bores anyways from the factory? I figured .003 bearing clearance would accomodate a little out of round. Obviously any engine builder cant recommend a stock block at the 1000+ HP mark since their reputation is on the line but us weirdos screwing stuff together in our garage can give it a whirl!
A splayed cap HAS GOT TO make it a lot better off with cap stability and clamping force without having 2 more holes straight down thru the webbing. Hell it wasnt like the GRENADE even had the deck stabilized and head gasket life was fine unless i pinged it. They were also cheapo Corteco generic rebuilder head gaskets too.

Im running the much dreaded mexico block now so we will see how it holds up too. My ass-o-meter says 1150 HP at the crank now and its doing good so far!

 

I understand completely what you are saying. I built the motor and the machine work was done by a very well known racer. If someone else built the motor and there was warrenty on it that would be adifferent story...but because I put it together in the garage I'm willing to take the chance. We have a very short race season and the best of summers I'll get 20 runs. This year I only made 4 passes! I'm sure if I was a competative heads up racer the block would not last long but because of the minimal racing I do I think it will stay around for a while.

 

That's the key, I've seen engines take waaay more than they should in theory be able to take - for short periods.
My old junk 388 cube holden donk was a prime example, not turbo, just an NA street motor - holdens are renowed for cap walk, even a stock stroke (3") engine will walk the caps at 600rpm with stock bolts, I ran a 3.75" stroke on 100% stock, not even line honed mains for a couple of years of street use, revving to 6500rpm & making just shy of 500hp with stock 350 rods (inc 30 year old rod bolts.....) & cheap cast pistons.
When I pulled that motor down to rob parts for my turbo donk the main cap walk was pretty obvious - the the main brgs were still fine, it never missed a beat & got hammered pretty often.
Another example is a mates little toyota motor - 4k engine (1300cc), stock re-ring bottom end, small cam, a bit of porting & a T3 turbo pumping 19psi boost - it makes 225hp atw on pump fuel & has held together for a while now (christ knows how...), it's probably making around 300 at the flywheel from 1.3 litres of tiny little engine.

 

i'm running a 1996 1 peice rear main block, factory 4 bolt caps, with stock main bolts, no fill. I've never dyno'd it, but it has been 139 in the 1/4 at 3622 lbs. this is with a regular S480 and 16.5 psi. over 50 passes and lots of street driving no problems yet..... Knock on wood of course.

 

Blue monte.....when does that thing start spooling with a s480??

 

Proper clearance is a big thing.
We had a stock block dyno at 1117+. Then we tuned it up at the track another 100+hp.
We pulled the rear main cap, broke a few other and pulled a chunk of the crankshaft out of
the motor 5 passes later. It didn't have cap walk, more of a dance!

 

lol @ dance comment
i agree, the stock block is a time bomb at those hp ratings
i had a 355 cube sbc 010 block, 4 bolt cast caps , arp studs , grout filled to bottom of water pump holes , max rpm was 6600
and twin 61 mm turbonetics, last pass in the engine i turned up the boost 35+ psi ( never broke , but probaly should of...)
the engine was disassembled , the fretting on the main caps was about .100 ' high
the mains looked a bit dodgy too...

if the rpm is kept down, the engine "may" last
it's not if it will break... rather when

cheers

 

About 42 to 4400.

 

Sorry to bring back this old thread...I havn't been on here in a while. I just wanted to point out that I ran astock block with nodular splayed caps. I made 870rwhp and made over 60 passes in the 5's shifting at 7500rpm without failure off the block. The block never failed BUT was showing signs off being wornout at the last teardown. My motor was used as a round track motor before, so it was already well used. The biggest problem is cap walk. I wouldn't push a stock block further than this.

I think you will be fine with the s480 for atleast a full season or 2 based on my experiences. I ran my block for 3+ years.

 

WOW a blast from the past. Rotoryota the vid of your car with the HT60 was the main reason I put a turbo on my car! HAHAHA

I think it will last for at least one year which is what I plan to do. Then I will go with an after market block and a air to water intercooler. Right now I have no cooler.

Whats up with you DO DO BROWN do you still have the car, whats new haven't seen you on here in a year or maybe more!

 

Would a main girdle help any on the cap walk?