[90lxcoupe]

Originally Posted by blackened88lx

God people really don't listen.Stock Block, the BLOCK splits in half. NOT what's inside it.

I really dont know what is so hard to understand about this... that is 1000% truth in that post.

WITH A SAFE TUNEUP, EVEN HYPER PISTONS WILL OUT LAST A STOCK BLOCK.

you see, this little thing called detonation is what ruins pistions/rods. But when it comes to blocks, the combination of weak walls and puny main caps causes the actual mains to "walk" around, which is what makes a block split.

Im gonna go out on a limb here and i know people are gonna disagree but if you really think about it, if you make a stock block with over 450rwhp, your better off staying standard bore. Just reallllly think here ok. Stock block is already weak... then you bore it .030 over for your 306/331/347, and all you really did was make the weakest link even weaker. When you bore a motor it effectivly gives it(the bore that is) more chance to become distorted at higher HP levels

[89stang1]

my vision is blurry after reading this thread lol! talk about some great reading i knew it was gonna be a good one by the title. I think what it comes down to alot of people have different opinions on how to build this motor 302, 306, 331, 347, 408, hyper pistons forged pistons stock bottom or built bottom what supercharger or turbo and what will it take to split the famous weak stock block or not so weak stock block......................i guess what it boils down to is how much money u gonna spend and how lucky u are its all good

[millhouse]

Here is how I see it...

As long as the cyl walls don't have some major flaws in them, here is what I would do.

Take the block to a machine shop and have them hot-tank it and check the decks. If needs be, have them take a hair out to square things up, throw in some new cam bearings and do a quick hone on the cyl walls.....and that's it. Clean it off after you get it back and throw on some high temp rattle can blue or black paint.

Re-use the stock pistons regardless of being hyper or forged.

Re-use the stock rod's and bolts as any aftermarket rod bolt WILL require you to enlarge the rod holes for the larger studs. The stock bolts will hold up just fine.

If you feel the need to throw in some ARP main bolts....so be it. If you swap over to main studs....you WILL need an align hone of the mains. This is nothing but extra money you are pissing away on a stock block. The same goes with a main girdle.....it will do NOTHING to increase block strength or to prevent crank walking at the 6k and less rpm you are going to be running. The only thing that it "might" do is prevent the cheap stock internals from taking an exit stage left out the block when it splits. Of course....at the point do you really care about keeping the stock internals?

Throw in some quality bearings, a decent set of moly rings, some ARP head studs and some 9333 head gaskets and call it day.

A stock block is a stock block is a stock block. KISS

[bentley429isBAC]

Is it possible to make this thread a sticky? Its a pretty good one for newbies.

[2000xp8]

I had a whole bunch of crap typed out, but i shortened it down to almost nothing to keep it simple (even for me, i was almost confusing myself).

Bottom line, If you are using an SC on a stock block, invest the least amount in the shortblock as possible to make it run right. You can always compensate for not being a stroker by adding a couple pounds of boost.

Keep the stock pistons if you can, along with the rods and crank.
Add new rings, bearings, and have someone qualified balance and assemble it.
No point in blowing up an expensive rotating assembly.

For some reason people tend to think that better internals are important on a stock block 5.0, they really aren't considering they all outlast the stock block.
Maybe it's the forged 03 cobra setup that has screwed with peoples minds, just don't forget that block will put up with almost unlimited hp, so better internals in that situation can be considered an investment in your future.

[ddonaca351]

Originally Posted by blackened88lx

God people really don't listen. Here's how it works. Stock t-5, input shaft or 3rd gear grenades. Stock 8.8, the axles/diff grenade. Stock Block, the BLOCK splits in half. NOT what's inside it. Sure, if you rev a stock rotating assembly to 8k it might throw a rod. But other than that, under 6500rpm, it is a lot more durable than the block itself.

lol... yeah that's it kid, I'm the one who needs the lesson in how it works.


Guess you've never seen a broken wrist pin, broken rod cap, backsided ringlands, broken skirt, broken ring, dropped valve, crank snout sheared off, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc...

You i-net cowboys crack me up.

[blackened88lx]

Originally Posted by millhouse

Here is how I see it...

As long as the cyl walls don't have some major flaws in them, here is what I would do.

Take the block to a machine shop and have them hot-tank it and check the decks. If needs be, have them take a hair out to square things up, throw in some new cam bearings and do a quick hone on the cyl walls.....and that's it. Clean it off after you get it back and throw on some high temp rattle can blue or black paint.

Re-use the stock pistons regardless of being hyper or forged.

Re-use the stock rod's and bolts as any aftermarket rod bolt WILL require you to enlarge the rod holes for the larger studs. The stock bolts will hold up just fine.

If you feel the need to throw in some ARP main bolts....so be it. If you swap over to main studs....you WILL need an align hone of the mains. This is nothing but extra money you are pissing away on a stock block. The same goes with a main girdle.....it will do NOTHING to increase block strength or to prevent crank walking at the 6k and less rpm you are going to be running. The only thing that it "might" do is prevent the cheap stock internals from taking an exit stage left out the block when it splits. Of course....at the point do you really care about keeping the stock internals?

Throw in some quality bearings, a decent set of moly rings, some ARP head studs and some 9333 head gaskets and call it day.

A stock block is a stock block is a stock block. KISS

Thank you.

Originally Posted by 2000xp8

I had a whole bunch of crap typed out, but i shortened it down to almost nothing to keep it simple (even for me, i was almost confusing myself).

Bottom line, If you are using an SC on a stock block, invest the least amount in the shortblock as possible to make it run right. You can always compensate for not being a stroker by adding a couple pounds of boost.

Keep the stock pistons if you can, along with the rods and crank.
Add new rings, bearings, and have someone qualified balance and assemble it.
No point in blowing up an expensive rotating assembly.

For some reason people tend to think that better internals are important on a stock block 5.0, they really aren't considering they all outlast the stock block.
Maybe it's the forged 03 cobra setup that has screwed with peoples minds, just don't forget that block will put up with almost unlimited hp, so better internals in that situation can be considered an investment in your future.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by ddonaca351

lol... yeah that's it kid, I'm the one who needs the lesson in how it works.


Guess you've never seen a broken wrist pin, broken rod cap, backsided ringlands, broken skirt, broken ring, dropped valve, crank snout sheared off, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc...

You i-net cowboys crack me up.

Yes, because a $2k rotating assembly in a stock block will prevent all of those things from happening

So if I and these other gentlemen need a lesson on how it works... Please enlighten us on how a good rotating assembly will make a stock block 302 survive longer than a stock rotating assembly.

[65ShelbyClone]

I am once again reminded why I generally stay out of 5.0 Tech.

Personally, I wouldn't even bother taking the bottom end apart unless it has a lot of miles, low compression, burns oil, low oil pressure, etc. In that case I would consider new bearings and rings, but not much beyond that. Hypereutectic pistons will be fine if knock is avoided. The crank and rods will survive more than the block can.

[90lxcoupe]

FIRST OFF, LET ME SAY THIS, Here are the essentials for having FUN on stock stuff...

Good to decent H/C/I package, HEAD STUDS, 255 intakn pump, and a pusher pump, 42 lb injectors and a safe tune

did i mention a SAFE TUNE and HEAD STUDS?

Originally Posted by ddonaca351

lol... yeah that's it kid, I'm the one who needs the lesson in how it works.


Guess you've never seen a broken wrist pin, broken rod cap, backsided ringlands, broken skirt, broken ring, dropped valve, crank snout sheared off, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc...

You i-net cowboys crack me up.

Obviously you need a lesson if your talking about snapping the snout off of a crank, even my unborn child knows not to over tighten the blower belt, and that it need some slack. your not supposed to crank the $h%t outta them genius.

We arent talking about broken wristpins, rod caps, or muffler bearings here.. we are talking about STOCK BLOCKS BEING JUNK. There are plenty of guys going real fast on stock stuff, i know i sound like a broken record here, but 450rwhp, +/- 50 CAN be safe on a car with a GOOOOD TUUUNE-UP.

I had a stock bottom end on my old novi 2000 setup, it made 480 rwhp at 5600 RPM's, then blew a head gasket, the power was still climbing, and this was on a baseline pull, with barely any timing and on the rich side. I ran this exact setup for two years before i dropped a valve when i revved the motor to about 7500-8000 RPM's, which had to do with me not having an MSD box and the factory limiter being jacked up to 9000 rpms, ANY valve would have broken there, i could have had inconel, titanium, whatever. BUT, when i pulled the main caps off it was obvious when i read the bearing that the mains were walking all over the place, so the block was on borrowed time, NOT THE INTERNALS