A lot of folks here are starting to stroke cranks. Has anybody looked into the "girdle support" technology that some companies like hughes offers for stroker small blocks? is that worth something (not moneywise, but adds to bottom end holding up better?)

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Juan Ignacio Caino

Please use e-mail button istead of PM'ing. I do log in sometimes but I'll be answering quicker thru e-mail.

griddle support : help making pancakes
girdle support: helping fat women look thin.....or addition to main bearing caps to prevent crank failure.

......never heard of this for a slant

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

sorry about the mistke, corrected. Hughes claims that their girdle thing is better than a windage tray thing on their 426 really torquey streeters small blocks (they run on pump gas too)

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Juan Ignacio Caino

Please use e-mail button istead of PM'ing. I do log in sometimes but I'll be answering quicker thru e-mail.

so a griddle make women need a girdle............

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

It cant hurt. The one Hughs offers for the Big Blocks is suppose to allow the BB to hold a 1000hp or even more. Have you ever seen the factory Girdle the Jeep 4.0 engines have. Something like this would be easy to make and would help with movment of the main supports in a back & forth movment. Without having a Slant apart right now I dont know what would be the weak part of the block. First you need to make enough power to even be worried about it but with the turbo thing going on that shouldnt be a problem. The possibility of 800hp /6 is becoming a real thing & the block will be somthing to be consirned about when these levels are reached. Billet cross bolt mains would also be something to look into. Although you wouldnt be able to go cross bolt like through the side of the block the way they do the BB engines. But it may be possible to slant a extra bolt with a cap made to fit the slanted part next to the main cap. This part of the block would have to be machined but no real problem there.

IMHO the crank is going to become the weak link before the block will though. Inline six blocks are just stronger than most V8 and then they only have leverage from one direction instead of two like a V engine. So they tend to hold up better. You can do a test to see how strong the block is by putting a pry bar againt the center main supports. Believe it or not the mains will move on some engine by doing this ( On a Jeep 4.0 I can move them 1/4 without much pressure at all in a back & forth motion). I dont know if the slant is weak enough to do this though. Even if the block is very strong in this area with only 4 main caps I feel the crank is going to be the worry in a high HP setup.

I will be looking into all this in the next two months to try get a idea of what I think it will take & what would help it take more. So far my guess would be a set of Billet mains with just two bolts, a simple girdle like the Jeep 4.0 and if need be a better forging of a crank should allow the engine to hold together with all the power that can be made. But simply straping the main caps with studs & a simply girdle would add a lot of support very cheap if you wanted to. A billet or Ductil Iron cap would also add a lot of support even in a two bolt design. But one thing I have not seen yet is cap walk in a slant six to show that it even needs it.

The Buick GN's can make around 800hp with heads that flow 200/160 & a 500 lift cam so the slant should be no differnt in the ability to make the power if the right turbo & manifolds are put on it. With a head that flows 230/180 the GN's can make over a 1000hp. The head is going to hold the /6 back & maybe far enough that the block will never need anything more than what I meantion above. Time will tell.


Jess