Main girdle spacers

[SilverXJ]

Its the flat part of the girdle that hits the front part of the pan in front of the sump.

The oil pan clearance issue is a problem I am working on. I am making a form to use in a press to clearance the pan for the girdle. I am going to stretch the pan about 3/16" so there will not be any chance for rubbing.
Some of the mystery noises people get in engines could be parts just contacting sheetmetal (oil pans or valve covers)
I will post pics when I get the pan done .
I also know that a "BFH" works for clearance issues, but I wanted to try something a bit more civilized.
Paul

I used a BFH... a piece of advice for anyone that does the same.. wear hearing protection. A form would have been nice.. never liked the look of my beat to crap oil pan.

[SIXPAK]

I also know that a "BFH" works for clearance issues, but I wanted to try something a bit more civilized.
Paul

Ha, never claimed to be civilized! It's just how we roll sometimes! Lol

[03GC]

I used to go caveman and beat the sh-t out stuff like this. Maybe I am turning into an old man (or just feel like one).
Did a test in the press with an old pan. Looks good so I will be finishing up the jig in the next couple days. Sometimes my "side jobs" at work take longer than they should.
Paul

[SIXPAK]

I used to go caveman and beat the sh-t out stuff like this. Maybe I am turning into an old man (or just feel like one).
Did a test in the press with an old pan. Looks good so I will be finishing up the jig in the next couple days. Sometimes my "side jobs" at work take longer than they should.
Paul

I too have gone back and redone things on the race car that worked great for years. Just getting old and thought it would like it if it were a bit nicer looking. Funny thing is I called those redo projects my old man lists!

[03GC]

Gave up on the press form.Wrecked one pan and almost wrecked a second one. I couldn't get the front of the pan by main 1 to stretch far enough without distorting the front of the pan all to sh-t.
Ended up cutting a section out where the girdle hits and welding in a raised portion.
GOT LOTS OF CLEARANCE NOW!!!!!!
Paul

[pma4x4]

Can anyone provide pics to show the exact area of the pan that needs the persuasion?

[gonridnu]

I used one ARP main bolt washer out of a main bolt kit under each main bolt to space the girdle up. They measured about .110" and I was about .075" from my closest rod. If you choose to do this be sure you use the washers with a chamfer and face the chamfer towards the underhead radius of the main bolt. I gave up about 1.5 threads of main bolt engagement. I know someone's bound to rail me for it but still had about .680" of engagement and I'm pretty sure I'll be OK.

ARP also sells 3/8 washers without a chamfer that are the same thickness if you want to just space the girdle up on the top side.

The part of the pan that was the biggest culprit for me was right at the beginning of the front radius and it was the very front of the girdle that was hitting it. Besides slightly massaging the girdle, I put the pan on without a gasket and heated it red hot while snugging the bolts up. After installing a gasket it does not hit anywhere.

You can see pics in my stroker build in the projects section....

[live24wheel]

I talked to my machinist today and he told me he can take enough off the bottom of the rods i wont need to worry about clearance issues with the girdle. Is there a reason more people don`t just ask for a little extra to be taken off before balancing?

[gonridnu]

I talked to my machinist today and he told me he can take enough off the bottom of the rods i wont need to worry about clearance issues with the girdle. Is there a reason more people don`t just ask for a little extra to be taken off before balancing?

I don't see why not. As I mentioned in my build I thought of it after I had the bottom end assembled. The spacers I used were .114" thick and I had about .075" clearance to my closest rod so I'm thinking you will need to take about .100" off the balance pad.

The only thing I really didn't look closely at is whether that would put the pad lower than the rod nuts. If that were the case the nuts might become the issue rather than the balance pad. My recollection was that they cleared without spacers but I have no idea by how much.

How nice would it be to have no oil pan clearance issues?

[lafrad]

I had the balance pads ground down to "minimum size" (basically, had them weight match the entire set by grinding as much as possible off the lightest, then matching the rest)

The balance pads had no problem, but the rod nuts were then the issue... ended up with a set of hardened washer spacers anyway.

[Missourian]

Let's revive an old thread...


How many threads are you getting on the nuts when the girdle is in place and torqued down?

What is the clearance that is required for the rods to clear the girdle?

The OEM nuts are not cleared by the studs when the washers are in place on my main studs. Did you replace them with jam nuts, loc-tite them in place or what?

What is the conclusion on clearancing the pan, my machinist is not comfortable with a BFH. I read you can use a 4.2L pan to gain clearance but loose oil capacity... and there is a CJ8 Scrambler pan with greater oil capacity... Any detail on this?

[SilverXJ]

I had none. About 1/8" spacer. I used loctite.

I used some heat while the pan was on the block and torqued down the bolts to stretch it. And some BFH.

[gonridnu]

I used a single hardened washer out of an ARP main or head stud kit I had laying around,but they can be purchased separately. I believe they measure right at .100"

If memory serves me correctly, there is a little squarish tang on the crankshaft throw that is the culprit. It is my recollection that had I machined that off before balancing the crank it was not even necessary to run spacers on the girdle which makes all this spacing and oil pan conversation moot.

[SilverXJ]

The balancing pad on the big end of the rod will also make contact. On mine the rods were the lowest points.

[Missourian]

It is the balancing pads on the end of the rods that are making contact with the girdle without spacing. The mechanist is wanting to assemble without the girdle and I am wanting it in place as it strenglthens the block.

Is the girdle an integrial part of the blocks strength or was it added to reduce harshness and vibration?