KCS

iTrader: (20)

Ditto. I've heard of some guys gaining power by opening them up some more too.

FCar2000TA

iTrader: (7)

for huge cubes, I think square is the way to go. Since I would have to use income tax plus a little for the shortblock, I would have to stick with stock LS1 heads for a year to use income tax for heads, 102mm intake, and 102mm throttle body.

D9HP

Steve at RED can drill the bay to bay breather holes.

My ERL block does not have them.

I would have gone with Steve but ERL was easier as I was looking for a block bored, honed, and matched to a set of pistons.

Either will impress. Steve was extremely helpful in the process though.

FCar2000TA

iTrader: (7)

who is Steve?

Know It All

He runs a shop in Cali that sleeves aluminum blocks.

Oh and he holds the patent on the Darton MID sleeves.

FCar2000TA

iTrader: (7)

are his sleeved LS2 blocks better than ERL?

Know It All

I don't think either would be better, they both put out good blocks. I think ERL's advantage is that they're big company with big money and can have shelf parts to get a shortblock turned around quickly. Steve/RED is a smaller operation but he REALLY knows what he is doing.

FCar2000TA

iTrader: (7)

So the two best places to get an LS2 resleeved shortblock are Race Engine Development and ERL Performance (or that is what it seems).

What is the difference in dry sleeve, wet sleeve, and MID sleeve?

Tuskyz28

http://www.raceenginedevelopment.com/services/sleeve-design-and-installation/

that link explains the differences between them..

Jeffemac

iTrader: (1)

I recent went with an ERL six bolt Superdeck I 447. The sleeves in the Superdeck are good to 4.2" bore. Mine is 4.155 bore with a 4.125 stroke. I elected to go with the 4.155 bore to give me room to clean up the bore on future rebuilds. I would rather have that flexibility than a few extra cubes. Just something to consider as you go through the process.

I also paid less than $250 shipping round trip to Texas. If you use a commercial address the return shipping from ERL is much less. I used a small "Mom n' Pop" shipped place down the street that use to ship parts. They received it for me and saved me around $125 if I remember correctly.

ERL has been great to work with.

KCS

iTrader: (20)

Yeah, pretty much.

FCar2000TA

iTrader: (7)

nice link, thanks! That makes me feel like R.E.D. is the best, especially for Darton sleeves. If I was building a race motor, R.E.D would be my choice with Darton MID sleeves.

Tuskyz28

Steve is nice and keeps it real!! For a motor that's go see a ton of street miles the dry sleeve would be the best route with a breathing hole if you using the 5.3 block.

FCar2000TA

iTrader: (7)

I think I would go with an LS2 block. I agree that dry sleeve is the way to go on a street car. I'll race it, but most likely 3-4 times a year at the drag strip, just for fun.

FCar2000TA

iTrader: (7)

What benefit would Billet Main Caps and ERL Main Girdle be?

Tuskyz28

It'll make the block more rigid/beefy so to speak.... those guys going over 1000 rwhp really good for them.......

FCar2000TA

iTrader: (7)

So, for an NA motor on pump gas ... there is no benefit to getting them?

Tuskyz28

For a all motor setup I wouldn't use the money there.... After sleeving the blocks are already pretty damn stout. It's a personal preference so to speak.
In my opinion if I was go spray a 350 shot or run twin turbos it would be mandatory for me.

Jeffemac

iTrader: (1)

Others have answered what the benefit is. I went with both those options in addition to the six bolt set up. While it is overkill for my current NA build, I wanted to have the ability to throw anything at it down the road. In addition, if I ever decided to sell the motor they all would be well sought after by those that would want to push the shortblock to it's limits. IIRC, combined they only added about a 10% to the cost of the shortblock. However, I am willing to bet that I would see significantly more than that on renturn from the secondary market if I ever decide to sell it.

Just some food for thought.

EMpowerd3

OP this is a great thread with a lot of good info and even more good opinions. I wanted to give a little more info on the ERL blocks, as stated there area few different types of sleeved blocks that are sold and set up for different applications. Street application on stock sleeve packages to our dry sleeve then superdeck blocks that we rate to 1500hp packages! The web site offers the best info on packages and prices but; I wanted to give my opinion on the "race build" set ups and why we promote the 6 Bolt Superdeck. Again this is just my opinion at this point : the superdeck process (4 or 6 bolts) retains more of the factory casting than others out there. The addition of the weld in trusses to reduce the torsional side load created by "big power" will keep the block from distorting and in turn moving. With the additional 6 Bolt option to aid in the clampimg force and overall sealing I am bias to the ERL blocks being one of the best options out there for making power. As stated the tolerances and strict manufacturing processes on our in house products allow for the type of results we see. Somewhere in this section is a awesome write up on our shop tour with some great pictures of that. For the last time this is just my opinion on this and I am only putting that out there as such. I know there are many out there! My other opinion is you look into our M7 package.