360 Bottom End?

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1969Swinger

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How Much HP/TQ is safe on a 360 bottom? I have a Forged stroker crank and H-Beam rods but I was thinking more about the stock main caps, bolts etc.. I know I gotta be close to pushin the limits. Just wondering what other peoples experiences have been?
 
If thats the power of the engine in the graph of the sig. I would say not much more.
 
Yeah thats the chassic dyno graph from that engine.
What are the most effective things to do to strengthen up the mains?
 
I would put Program's steel 2 bolt caps (#1-#4) on it, stud the whole thing, and leave it at that. 4 bolt caps ina stock LA block are a waste of effort IMO. Not enough meat to really make much of a difference. With light parts, and good machining, they will live at 550-600hp pretty easy. Beyond that, buy a better block and start from there. Your biggest issue now should be crank flex from the blower belt/drive. That should make for some interesting bearing reads on the rest. If you see signs of flexing in the bearings, you know the caps are being stressed. Look for signs of detonation on the bearing backsides, and the cap parting lines, or signs of cap walk. It would be just like this one. 540 N/A hp, 416, Shady Dell Speed shop Edelbrock heads, Comps solid roller cam, pump gas.

Bob2.jpg
 
Ya, what he said. Theres a girdle opn the market. Just recently came out. I have no idea on how effective it is. But, again, like he said.
 
its almost x or r block time....

i agree with moper, 4 bolts are a waste of time on a production block...

stud it and see how far she'll go!
 
hey,...Everybody thought I had some exotic stuff in the bottom end but....my old W2 engine used a Mopar perf H.D. cast crank,stock rods,2 bolt mains, and made 560+ on the dyno.(I forget the torque) Made probably 30 runs at the track,street time,this was 6+ years ago... and its still together! (with a 4600 conv)
Rods had beams ground,polished,arp bolts,crank was polished and well balanced,all put togehter by ...Barton.

so, I wouldn't worry about it too much!!
Mopar to ya!
 
Thanks for the suggestions. Sounds like I should keep the boost where its at and not push things any harder than I already am. I was just on the chassis dyno on the 15th and figuring about 17% drivetrain loss puts the HP at about 615 and the Torque over 700 at the flywheel. The graph from my Sig is from a little over a year ago. Its went a few thousand hard miles and made probably about 15 passes at the track so far since I put this combination together about 1.5yrs ago. If she comes apart I'll probably be looking for a stronger block/mains with more boost :p
 
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