Bearing girdle or not???

[Pat D]

Building a stroker with aim of about 600hp, maybe more. Would a girdle be recommended?

I'm guessing that the face of the block where the oil pan meets up would have to be prefectly straight in order not to influence any twisting forces when the girdle is torqued up and itself possibly alter any clearances in bearings, or would the block be way too stiff for that to happen and I'm just paranoid? .

I've never installed one and so not familar with the process of installing one.

Any thoughts?

[driftin jo]

I wouldn't say it's necessary for 600hp but your motor will last longer between rebuilds for sure.
If you going to do it you will have to machine the backs of the bearing
caps and thus you will also require a skim of the face of the caps so an
align bore can be done to bring it all true with it all fully assembled with the girdle and the caps all torqued up together.

[Thuppu]

According to Repo, no need for a girdle under 1000hp levels.

[MrVain]

I agree with Repo

[Jamo]

Overkill on a stroker

[Pat D]

Might go without then as I won't be racing the car when it's done. Thanks for the input everyone

[Thuppu]

Well, if you have the money and place for linehoning, machining the bearing caps and making the shimms, go for it. It's a nice high end engine detail, and surely have some benefits on high power levels, but it's mostly a question about the price you wan't to spend... your engine is great also without it, especially if you don't target to monster big power levels.

[JariP]

I'd say it's more about high rpm levels than power. If you are going to rev it continuously up to 9000-10000 rpm or more, then a girdle might be useful, otherwise forget it.

[urs4guy]

After spinning our local dyno to the tune of 755hp, we took a very close look at things and discovered some interesting damage. We had actually twisted the block and destroyed the passenger side motorsport spec motor mount. As a result we've torn everything down and launched a multi-pronged effort to cure these issues.

First is a girdle and a heftier set of ARP studs. Another area that demanded attention was the minimal damage to the head from the head moving about the head studs that elongated their bores in the head. The remedy here is a heftier ARP stud with a bored out stud bore that will be lined with a steel liner. The girdle itself is a custom unit machined locally.

Next is the triple set of motor mounts that attach at 3 points going forward from mid of the transmission to the rear of the block, via a mid-plate, and at the front of the motor. These will lock that motor in place. In order to beef up the chassis to hold things together we had to go with a custom sub-frame and main frame reinforcement or it just wouldn't work. The results will speak for themselves but for now, I just have to wait to get everything back from vendors doing bits of work. The only really new mod for the engine is the custom billet crank that does take a long time. Also out is the CRB transmission which is getting a preventative refresh with Quaife limited slip for the front axles which will match up with the same for the rear diff.

Anyway sorry for the long answer but yes, I think a girdle is merited.

Hap, wit dakine girdle not from Evahboost, Maguire

[urs4guy]

I'd say it's more about high rpm levels than power. If you are going to rev it continuously up to 9000-10000 rpm or more, then a girdle might be useful, otherwise forget it.

As you can read above, the damage was from the power of the motor. I have never taken it above 7600 rpm. Our theoretical redline is 8200 rpm.

Hap, wiit dakine redlines not from Evahboost, Maguire

[terrybullwon]

If your going to do it, this is the best way.

Credit to Jp

[Thuppu]

This is even more extreme, full cromo bearing caps.

[Jamo]

After spinning our local dyno to the tune of 755hp, we took a very close look at things and discovered some interesting damage. We had actually twisted the block and destroyed the passenger side motorsport spec motor mount. As a result we've torn everything down and launched a multi-pronged effort to cure these issues.

First is a girdle and a heftier set of ARP studs. Another area that demanded attention was the minimal damage to the head from the head moving about the head studs that elongated their bores in the head. The remedy here is a heftier ARP stud with a bored out stud bore that will be lined with a steel liner. The girdle itself is a custom unit machined locally.

Next is the triple set of motor mounts that attach at 3 points going forward from mid of the transmission to the rear of the block, via a mid-plate, and at the front of the motor. These will lock that motor in place. In order to beef up the chassis to hold things together we had to go with a custom sub-frame and main frame reinforcement or it just wouldn't work. The results will speak for themselves but for now, I just have to wait to get everything back from vendors doing bits of work. The only really new mod for the engine is the custom billet crank that does take a long time. Also out is the CRB transmission which is getting a preventative refresh with Quaife limited slip for the front axles which will match up with the same for the rear diff.

Anyway sorry for the long answer but yes, I think a girdle is merited.

Hap, wit dakine girdle not from Evahboost, Maguire

interesting hap but you were using the 220mm block, the 236mm diesel block is beefier and takes more punishment to the point if your below 700 bhp you shouldn't really need it

[Mcstiff]

interesting hap but you were using the 220mm block, the 236mm diesel block is beefier and takes more punishment to the point if your below 700 bhp you shouldn't really need it

Hank Iroz in UT has commented on how much beefier the "tall deck" block is. Wish we had more in the US (we only got them in the 10v vans).

[andy10v]

Hank Iroz in UT has commented on how much beefier the "tall deck" block is. Wish we had more in the US (we only got them in the 10v vans).

Did he not manage to twist an earlier 10v block without the reinforcing webbing on the side?