Main cap girdles re-discussed
I'm sure that the most ideal situation would be a single piece of material which incorporates all 5 main caps with all the webbing to connect them, and is positively located and fastened to the bearing saddles as well as the oil pan rail. All mounted with studs.
The engineering principles in the attached picture seem like an ideal (aside from the fact that it's an antiquated 3 main cap engine).
however, a block of billet large enough for this is going to be ****-off expensive, and a cast piece is probably going to have insufficient strength. Plus the machining tolerances are also extremely fine and would require pretty complicated fixtures.
The next best thing, and much more practical would to try to replicate this in multiple pieces fastened together.
So 5 separate main caps with level flat machined surfaces on top, a fabricated skirt for the block and then just add the required intermediate pieces needed to fasten the main caps to the skirt.
With enough r&d something like that could be developed. But there's always potential for unintended consequences and you can pretty much forget about them being comercially viable. It would be pure mad-scientist stuff for the joy of hot-rodding.
As far as making a girdle which utilises the factory main caps, I'd say there is a limitation which only really allows the "steel ring" type like those sold by Hughes etc.
Whether they actually work. I don't think anybody seems to know for certain. Not even the people who sell them.
Was thinking about this today.
I'm sure that the most ideal situation would be a single piece of material which incorporates all 5 main caps with all the webbing to connect them, and is positively located and fastened to the bearing saddles as well as the oil pan rail. All mounted with studs.
The engineering principles in the attached picture seem like an ideal (aside from the fact that it's an antiquated 3 main cap engine).
however, a block of billet large enough for this is going to be ****-off expensive, and a cast piece is probably going to have insufficient strength. Plus the machining tolerances are also extremely fine and would require pretty complicated fixtures.
The next best thing, and much more practical would to try to replicate this in multiple pieces fastened together.
So 5 separate main caps with level flat machined surfaces on top, a fabricated skirt for the block and then just add the required intermediate pieces needed to fasten the main caps to the skirt.
With enough r&d something like that could be developed. But there's always potential for unintended consequences and you can pretty much forget about them being comercially viable. It would be pure mad-scientist stuff for the joy of hot-rodding.
As far as making a girdle which utilises the factory main caps, I'd say there is a limitation which only really allows the "steel ring" type like those sold by Hughes etc.
Whether they actually work. I don't think anybody seems to know for certain. Not even the people who sell them.