I agree with both DontGivaRatz & NikwoaC. It's been proven with pics and tons of threads about the threshhold of a stock block. staying in the 500 crank hp range is the " safe zone" . I don't care what brace is used it isn't going to make it stronger just hold the pieces together longer. There are plenty of " on borrowed time " motors out there, and the owners went with the gamble. Me if I'm going invest money into building a motor that can make big power I'm starting with a good foundation..Dart or a world block or even 351 depending what the build is, not that a well built 500fwhp motor is anything to sneeze at either. decide what you are needs are. track only, street/ track, street/ some track and go from there so you don't over build and spend alot of cash for nothing.
Man, I'd be really disappointed if my block came apart at less than 400rwhp. It seems like something had to go wrong for that to happen. Bad tune? Too high RPMs? Bad balance job? Maybe the block was already cracked or was a bad casting...?
Anyway, I have heard horror stories of these blocks coming apart at "low" power numbers. It definitely does happen. It seems like though, for every block to come apart at 380 rwhp, there are 10 guys making 475-525 rwhp without issue.
Yeah... take your pick. We came up with several theories as to why this particualr block came apart but there was nothing that we could find that just highlighted the cause to say, "THIS IS IT".
We pretty much ruled out the tune as the thing split down the lifter valley like so many of the horror stories mention. It had to have more to do with the block twisting as anything else.
My WAG? (Wild Ass Guess) There was something wrong with the block integrity prior to the build.
The other option was that perhaps something in the rotating assy wasn't right.
Just guesses.
Was it an early block? I've heard that even though the early blocks had heavier castings, you were more likely to get one with some sort of a defect.
i want build my block in 10s so what you guys recommend me to do?
if you are looking for low 10's then plan on about 550ish rwhp and better block( fwhp will be over 600hp) either way you are close to the edge IMHO. also add in a good suspension took it up.