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12K views 146 replies 34 participants last post by  ndmp40 
#1 ·
I’m being convinced by some outside forums that a 2 bolt main block with ARP studs and every girdle on the face of the earth is stronger then a standard 4 bolt main block.

I dont mean to beat this topic to a pulp, but its an interesting one and I like hearing the input, anyone have experience with higher RPM’s and stock 2-bolt main blocks?
 
#4 ·
There’s just a lot of back and forth of “well 2 bolt has more surface area” but “4 bolt holds everything together better” and Im not very experienced with what blocks hold up the longest and whether or not I should rev them up, I havent been doing stuff like that for 30+ years like some guys on here have, so if theres still somebody to this day rolling around revving their stock HO 302 to 7k since the 90’s, I want to know about it!
 
#8 ·
I read between the lines and I think I cracked the case, just kidding. Seeing as how there are no standard 4 bolt blocks other than the old boss302 block. I believe you are alluding to someone taking a roller block and putting 4 bolt main caps on it. Because there is no human comparing a stock 302 block to an aftermarket 4 bolt block.
 
#11 ·
Because there is no human comparing a stock 302 block to an aftermarket 4 bolt block.
Looks like there is a forum full of people doing just that....

I’m being convinced by some outside forums that a 2 bolt main block with ARP studs and every girdle on the face of the earth is stronger then a standard 4 bolt main block.
This is why the corral has the reputation it has. Too many experts with only keyboard experience.
 
#13 ·
ive run a 71 service block for a lotta years and know without a doubt that a dart or world or whatever would be better... but at the time it was built, it was a stock block class... and the boss is just superior.. i did trash a 69 boss block in spectacular fashion once.... could almost remove crankshaft without taking any bolts out.... broke all the way to the cam journals on every main.
 
#21 ·
A roller 302 block is about the same as a chevy block as a man is the same as a tractor tire. Whatever you read has ZERO relevance to a roller 302 block. I would strongly advise not.putting 2-3k dollars into a 50 dollar block that will **** itself all over the street based on what some guy with a 79 trans am is telling you.
 
#29 ·
Woody (strokeme) hasn't just been there and done that.... He's SBF royalty. What he says, take a picture, take notes, scribe it, or tattoo it. It's fact. We're lucky to have folks like him, Ed, and Mark posting up.
 
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#30 ·
Damn, yeah at least they have been ok this time. Royalty? Lucky? Ahh, no. Vendor & customer is both ways, regardless. And on here, typically... get used to being subjected to some completely unessacary bullshit commentary. SSC really? Show me your "O" face so I can flick those lips & plump them up man...
 
#34 ·
I’m pretty sure they’ve built waaaaay more engines than you have.
 
#36 ·
And my young children paw at them like a cat with a mouse or rat. Get it???

I‘ve run a .060 over 289 in a stock ‘66 289 block to 7,500 and fooling around 8,000 rpm.Factory 289 crank, factory 289 rods with some work, and heavy entry level forged pistons. Yeah, good intake exhaust and a solid roller cam.

But I’m only dealing with a 2.87” stroke. Piston speed is reasonable. 347??? Nope or not something to bank on. See how that works and can be misinterpreted? Dang I want to go political here. Lol

There is no money to be made business wise and no certainty doing it the old way. Power adders rule with drivers making 800hp. Well beyond a readily available stock/factory Ford 8.2 deck block of any kind.
 
#39 ·
I‘ve run a .060 over 289 in a stock ‘66 289 block to 7,500 and fooling around 8,000 rpm.Factory 289 crank, factory 289 rods with some work, and heavy entry level forged pistons. Yeah, good intake exhaust and a solid roller cam.

But I’m only dealing with a 2.87” stroke. Piston speed is reasonable. 347??? Nope or not something to bank on. See how that works and can be misinterpreted? Dang I want to go political here. Lol
Did you take the screws of of the crank first? :ROFLMAO:
 
#51 · (Edited)
somewhere on this site, at some point, I posted pics of a blowed up 351w block, which obviously is much stronger than a 302 block. However, when this engine let go it knocked the main webs out. In the pictures (which weren't great quality, I admit), you can clearly see how thin the main webs really are. Woody talked about how thin they are, and he's right. They are paper thin; and again that's a 351w block. I've knocked the mains out of a few 351w blocks, it's the weak point on those. We have to remember Ford designed them to be a lightweight casting and Henry's engineers designed them to put up with up to 300hp and what? 5500 RPM max? And we're trying to run them 7500+ with 700+hp. What do you think is going to happen at some point?

Then you compare a stock 351w block to a Dart, or even Boss block, or World block. There is no comparison, the only similarity is the pan rail location deck height and bore spacing; about everything else is better. Same goes for 8.2 based blocks. They are so vastly improved that there really is no comparison.

With that, the original question's answer. No two bolt block is going to be stronger than a production 4 bolt block because there was only one production 8.2 block (69-70 MY Boss 302 and any replacement/service blocks) and it was a different block in other ways (different alloy, etc)-so naturally it's stronger. On 9.5 deck stuff there was never a 4 bolt production 351w block, so you can't compare there either. Thus, the most common comparison is comparing an 8.2 or 9.5 deck production non-boss block to an aftermarket 4 bolt block, which as stated is no comparison.

So you're buddy who told you all this, is probably a chevy guy and you should do as woody suggested. Part ways with them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

And, from my own experience the only thing the girdles do is hold the parts together when the block blows the mains out. It still self-destructs. Sometimes (and that is a key word, sometimes) they keep the rods from going through the pan rails but if you have to concern yourself with that, you have other problems to worry about.

I just thought about something else. Some of the chevyboys will often search hard for a 454 2 bolt block or sometimes a 427 2 bolt block, so that they can convert them to splayed caps. Splayed 4 bolt caps are MUCH better than inline 4 bolt caps but they still dont address the shortcomings of the stock 427 (tall deck) or 454 blocks. Thus, if guys are planning on big power and 500hp isn't that, they are almost always going to look at better parts. Besides a 454 stock block will only go about 505" and it's done, there just ain't enough block there, however aftermarket stuff can go easily 620-640". But a 460 block? I have done a couple of 557's, little to NO clearancing, they work, they run, nice cavernous crankcase. I have "read" that they'll go over 600" with a longer arm which I think exactly nobody makes as a "off-the-shelf" item. But we ain't talking about big stuff, we're talking about SBF so these are not to be considered and irrevelant :) :)
 
#56 ·
….., from my own experience the only thing the girdles do is hold the parts together when the block blows the mains out. It still self-destructs.
Yep that was my assumption when I installed a girdle CRT carnage reduction tool when/if block DOES break. The last block (gridleless) took EverYtHinG with it. If funds allowed at the time a real block would be in my coupe instead of OEM. :-(
 
#55 ·
Brand loyalty is something I was taught at a young age in my family growing up on a huge farm. Both my grandfather's would only buy John Deere farm equipment and Ford trucks. My dad was a John Deere master technician for 45yrs and bought only Ford trucks and cars. My great grandfather bought a brand new 1920 Ford model TT truck for the farm right after he got home from WW1. So Ford vehicles was always a part of my life plus my uncle's had fast Ford muscle cars. Being southern raised on NASCAR in the late 70's and 80's here in NC ment you gotta have a favorite car and driver to pull for on Sunday. True story, around 85-86 when Bill Elliot was took out by Dale Earnhardt during a race, one of uncle's kicked the damn floor model TV screen in...lol. Got totally pissed off a Chevrolet took out his Ford driver.
 
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