Girdle?

[Budnicks]

Like I said bought it used and didn't even know it had aluminum caps. Didn't think it was a bad thing! Just making sure I'm not leaving something on the table for a few hundred bucks, call it cheap insurance, but like 68 Hemi said maybe need some machine work to do that and don't want to get into that.

I will be racing this car..

some info about girdles
It's talking about Hughes HUG7380K for B/RB's
from Mancini Racing in this link/pdf file

http://ep.yimg.com/ty/cdn/chucker54/HUG7380KN2.pdf

 

[68 HEMI GTS]

Previous owner said he didn't race it. He supposedly just messed around with it on the streets of staten Island. Whatever information I did get from him was wrong anyway. Not that I found anything bad in there just different than what he told me.

Does anyone know how Max Wedge rods compare to LY or Six pack rods?

They're a beefer rod than an ly, but rods have a life cycle. Say your mw rods were some new old stock units that you did the works too. No biggie, control the rpm and they will probably live a decent life for you. On the other hand you have a set of rods with no real history. Has someone or several someone's ran the **** out of them for the last 1/2 a century? Who knows. Are they even a match set ( or have we lost a few along the way) ? Are they original used mw race car rods or something that was over the counter parts that sat on a shelf for 30 years. A lot of variables. Even with all the tricks they're no where near a modern set of aftermarket rods. And that's just my opinion. You may go out and twist them 7grand for years, then again you may twist them 7 grand once. No definites when dealing with old used parts. In your case I may run them for a bit, but somewhere down the line an upgrade will be in order.

 

[dieseldazzle]

if I was going to change anything on that motor it would be the rods. And it's pretty easy to throw out suggestions from a keyboard whet it's not affecting anyones wallet but yours.. lol.

That's a pretty stout upper end and would surly support a bigger motor in the future. Run it as is for now and have some fun. I would limit the rpm's to a reasonable level though, with that upper end it's gonna want to rev higher than I would take them 53 year old rods.

I suggested you run it as is. I would.

Sure a nicer rod etc etc I was just thinking out loud about the aluminum caps since I have a set laying here I won't be using in my street car

 

[66Satellite47]

68 Hemi GTS makes a very good point about life cycle & fatigue. Seems that Max Wedge parts got run pretty hard & not many MW's just sat around. If it looks good, I'd still run it, keep RPM down & plan for a major overhaul.

 

[not so famous bob]

68 Hemi GTS makes a very good point about life cycle & fatigue. Seems that Max Wedge parts got run pretty hard & not many MW's just sat around. If it looks good, I'd still run it, keep RPM down & plan for a major overhaul.

have the rods resized and new 2000 bolts installed in them. did it have studs in the alum. caps ? I`d bet it did. a girdle will help strengthen the lower end, it and the alum. caps will be all u can do for the block. I did it w/o alum. caps. if ur main caps are flush, or less tall than the blocks pan rail , do it ! u may end up machining the part of the back of the girdle off, that hangs over the #5 main to help stop a main seal leak. that area is useless any way. anything u can do to dampen the pounding is worth it in my opinion. don`t twist it to 7000 either . "just my opinion"----bob-------sounds to me like u got a hell of a deal !!

 

[2quick]

have the rods resized and new 2000 bolts installed in them. did it have studs in the alum. caps ? I`d bet it did. a girdle will help strengthen the lower end, it and the alum. caps will be all u can do for the block. I did it w/o alum. caps. if ur main caps are flush, or less tall than the blocks pan rail , do it ! u may end up machining the part of the back of the girdle off, that hangs over the #5 main to help stop a main seal leak. that area is useless any way. anything u can do to dampen the pounding is worth it in my opinion. don`t twist it to 7000 either . "just my opinion"----bob-------sounds to me like u got a hell of a deal !!

From what I see the caps are .006 under the pan rail. There is a center threaded hole that I'm not sure why it's there. The Caps have ARP studs. The issue I see is with the stud length and the recessed nuts. Most caps i see are notched at the studs. How would the girdle mount? Most I see have a stud through the cap, then a nut, then another nut, the Girdle and the top nut..

Haven't read Budnicks link yet so I'm going to do that now..

 

[2quick]

The Mancini kit looks like it would work and they say I don't need to line hone the block if I already have studs.. Just pull one stud at time without disturbing the cap. Only problem I see is how do I get the studs out of recessed holes without pulling or disturbing the caps?

 

[68 HEMI GTS]

Disturbing the cap isn't gonna hurt anything. Loosen both studs and swap them out. The only one you have to worry about is the thrust, just reset it as your re-torquing the center main. The studs should not be loc tictited in, they should be finger tight. If the caps are below the pan rail the girdle should work as long as the provided spacers fit inside the holes in the cap. Once again the threaded hole in the top of the cap is for a slide hammer to make pulling the caps easier. If your going that far I would pull all the caps and inspect the main bearings (unless you did that already).

Again I don't think your block is what I would worry about at this point, but that's just me..

 

[2quick]

some info about girdles
It's talking about Hughes HUG7380K for B/RB's
from Mancini Racing in this link/pdf file

http://ep.yimg.com/ty/cdn/chucker54/HUG7380KN2.pdf

This looks like a viable option that wont break the bank and can be done in an afternoon. I think I'm going with this. It may not be the holy grail but in my mind for under 400 bucks its not going to hurt it either. I know it's all about the webbing but In my mind anything that will triangulate or box something in on all sides must inherently make for some advantage in strength. Thanks for all you guys help.

Need to talk about Ring End Gap soon but that's for a future thread.

 

[Mike Gaines]

440 Source has BRAND NEW LY rods for a decent price...chk it out....they have NOT been "up and down" a jillion times already.

 

[66Satellite47]

440 Source has BRAND NEW LY rods for a decent price...chk it out....they have NOT been "up and down" a jillion times already.

For

440 Source has BRAND NEW LY rods for a decent price...chk it out....they have NOT been "up and down" a jillion times already.

I wonder where those are made? Look nice.

 

[oldbee]

2quick- My last year of racing I got all my rods magnafluxed and put in new ARP bolts&nuts on my conn.rods.. My 440 never put out the HP yours will. Shifting at 6500 and 1 let loose,I was so sick I never tried to figure out what actually let loose. I wud say let her rip. All my mains were still there when I rolled to a stop.

 

[not so famous bob]

Disturbing the cap isn't gonna hurt anything. Loosen both studs and swap them out. The only one you have to worry about is the thrust, just reset it as your re-torquing the center main. The studs should not be loc tictited in, they should be finger tight. If the caps are below the pan rail the girdle should work as long as the provided spacers fit inside the holes in the cap. Once again the threaded hole in the top of the cap is for a slide hammer to make pulling the caps easier. If your going that far I would pull all the caps and inspect the main bearings (unless you did that already).

Again I don't think your block is what I would worry about at this point, but that's just me..

agree with the top part of this post. If you got the coin , a new set of h beam rods would give u a little piece of mind too. But you`d have to rebalance the rotating assembly. I came up w/ a way to dampen the maincap a little, which should dampen the webbing some. But have no real time on the motor to brag about it yet.

 

[IQ52]

440 Source has BRAND NEW LY rods for a decent price...chk it out....they have NOT been "up and down" a jillion times already.

I like 440 Source, they have very good customer service and have always treated me well. I recommend 440 Source, but not those rods. They are pretty, but crude. Spend the money for their H-beam rods if you are getting them from 440 Source.

 

[dieseldazzle]

I like 440 Source, they have very good customer service and have always treated me well. I recommend 440 Source, but not those rods. They are pretty, but crude. Spend the money for their H-beam rods if you are getting them from 440 Source.

He is correct. If you do buy them plan on putting rod bolts on and resizing. They come with 8740s but the sweat shop kids that make them round the heads off.
I have them in my six pack motor but had arp fasteners installed

 

[Roughbird72]

I like 440 Source, they have very good customer service and have always treated me well. I recommend 440 Source, but not those rods. They are pretty, but crude. Spend the money for their H-beam rods if you are getting them from 440 Source.

I've been running a set of 440 Source H-beams for a 10 years, but with any ootb part they need to be checked.
I resized the big ends because they were on the small side.

 

[2quick]

Ugh, wasn't really planning on getting into rods but now you guys got me second guessing myself. What is involved in balancing the rotating assembly when changing only rods?

If I'm doing them I'm not doing it on the cheap I'll spend the coin and get quality stuf. Just wasn't in the plans.

I was never planning on spinning this this thing over 6500.

 

[Roughbird72]

You'll have to balance the assemble with the rods you choose to use. Did you get a balance/bob weight card with this engine?
When I switched from LY to 440 Source H beams it didn't require much work to rebalance.

 

[2quick]

You'll have to balance the assemble with the rods you choose to use. Did you get a balance/bob weight card with this engine?
When I switched from LY to 440 Source H beams it didn't require much work to rebalance.

Not even a cam card let alone a bob weight card.

 

[66Satellite47]

If you go with the new rods, you want the whole assembly re-balanced IMO. I think the shop will have to check everything for balance to come up with the new bob weight to balance the crank.