I have no idea what specific forum that an engine girdle falls under. I talked to some guys at cartek and they told me i wouldn't need one for an engine close to 348 ci. Now i am looking to get a 370 iron block engine which will be forged and eventually have a turbo on it. I am not even sure what function a girdle serves. Also, what is the going price for an engine girdle? I saw one on a website for close to $1500. Not sure if thats a good price or not. Apprciate the help.

 

I dont think you need one until the 800-1000 hp range.

 

We don't normally use one until we expect to exceed 1250hp. Then it depends on intended use. We have ran steel main cap iron blocks over 1500hp with minor signs of fretting on the caps.
The new blocks should stop the need or push the hp higher before needed.

Kurt

 

alright. Fianlly something i don't NEED to have when doing this turbo engine build. Thats always good news, spending less money on another thing. I am looking to make close to 700-750 rwhp, maybe less. I am not to sure what that equals out to in terms of engine hp.

 

I wouldn't spend money on one.

 

Which blocks are you refering to? LS2?

 

there have been plenty of high hp aluminum blocks without girdles and with a steel block you can go even higher so i'd say it would be a waste of money anything shy of a max effort setup.

 

How "structural" is the oil pan. I'm running a canton road race pan, and there is no way that it provides any structural support. Then I saw the girdles...

 

I was thinking of the new aftermarket specialty blocks from Dart (billet Aluminum), GM (cast iron) or World (cast aluminum)

Kurt

 

The stock oil pan is considered an integral part of the Gen III/IV block.

 

I know it's structural, but I also thought that the cast oil pan was used for NVH reasons. You make is sound like the engine is a time bomb with out the stock pan?!

 

The pan design does appear to be based on noise issues, but a side benefit is the added structure in the bottom of the block. Without the stock pan its worse, but I would guess its only slightly better with the pan on.

Kurt