Billet main caps or aluminum for 440 eng

[moparjohnny]

i am going to have to buy a set for hi po street.block does not have any caps.

 

[Meep-Meep]

Why? Are you building a twin turbo monster?

 

[BeastlyBirdie]

No, he got a block minus caps. Unless you are building something radical, like Meep said, stock caps are fine. Just have them fitted. If you are having problems finding a set, post on here, I'm sure someone has a set.

 

[lewtot184]

from experience i don't have much faith in the stock cast iron caps. they will break and won't take the power people think they will. i think steel caps are a better option. they're stronger and don't seem to transfer metal like cast caps when the mains start walking around. a steel cap with a 190,000psi fastener will give some future building room. cross bolted center caps really up the power potential.

 

[moparjohnny]

mancini has billet caps for a few dollars more than their factory caps.

 

[Cranky]

How much power are you planning on making? If you plan on 500+ hp, then go for an aftermarket cap. Aluminum caps help absorb some of the shock load but so do aluminum rods. IMO, both are for racing so you might consider steel billet vs aluminum. For less than 500 hp, stock caps are fine but I still like to use studs instead of the stock bolts. I've never broke a stock cap but they will 'walk' and transfer metal but better cap bolts will help with that. After 300 passes on a 440 in a 10.60 car, there was some evidence of cap walk but it also was using stock cap bolts with Hemi rods....shifting at 6800 and crossing the stripe at 7300.

 

[Meep-Meep]

Getting a set of OEM caps from another block is far less expensive to fit. The reason is they can usually be align honed to fit, but putting a set of aftermarket caps requires some major material removal by way of boring. If you are just building a street motor that's not too radial just find a set or OEM caps.

 

[Cranky]

PM me if you need a set of stock caps....I have one set left.

 

[Budnicks]

It's probably not necessary... But not knowing exactly what your combo actually is... I've had engines with well over 750hp with stock caps & a block girdle & ARP studs, line honed & checked regularly, after each racing season when I would tear the motor down, I never ever broke any, but it was also a very light car too... That's not saying they can't or won't break, or even walk a little, but also even a 4 bolt cap can walk a little, with allot of compression or boost... But also any Billet main cap Steel or Aluminum will need to be Professionally Machined/fitted & bored, by someone who is familiar with that type upgrade, then they will need to be line honed & aftermarket stud type hardware will probably need/recommended to be used... IMHFO a Block girdle kit like the Hughes or MRE Kit like the ones from Mancini Racing shown below & a good High Quality oil pan & Quality High Volume Oil pump & Quality H-Beam rods with quality rod bolts & good bearing & a good Forged steel crank & a good set of forged pistons... IMHFO is probably a way better investment, on most all performance builds... Unless your planning on a blower or turbos or heavy N20 usage or over the 550-650hp ranges & High RPM's with heavy stock type rodsor allot of compression... The Low-Deck B-400 & 383 have stronger main webs, mainly because of the smaller bore in the main caps... A 4 bolt main cap is kind of a pricey upgrade, but if you need it, it's well worth it too... Don't forget the cylinder heads on a BB wedge, they are the biggest choke point & power robbers...

 

[67 coronet]

awful lot of race talk for a guy who asked about a street motor on this thread.run the stock if you can get them easy.run the billets if you think you may try to build more power later or you just have the cash to burn.going past 500 hp on the street is for what?smoking the tires harder.we all know you aint gonna hook that kinda power on the street,so the motor will never see any stress.unless you plan on running it above 5000 rpms on a regular basis.then you better build a race motor anyhow.

 

[moparjohnny]

after further research and information here i decided to use the standard factory caps,save me money and they are pretty durable i will not be racing the car anyway. thanks to everyone for their opinions and experience with dealing with these parts.