xlr8or,
Thank you for your kind words! I hope lightning doesn't strike this block! Damage can be re-plated quite easily. I don't think scratches will be a problem to repair. The coating is 0.005 thick/side and I know it can be coated thicker than that if needed.
I imagine you could sleeve the block if someone wanted to. But I don't see any advantages to it.
Steve,
The rear main seal leaking problems are usually because the block was not clean on assembly or the cap doesn't line up. I haven't had a rear main seal leak in quite some time. Now, I have seen lots of intake manifolds and valve covers leak. But by and large I think that is mostly a case of the engines not being put together carefully. We are paying very careful attention to the machining of the block to make sure it is right, straight, and square.
That said, some of them do leak despite everyone's best efforts. I guess they are just marking their territory...No Ferrari's allowed!
Ernie,
I am going to pay very close attention to the drain back hole. Good idea!
Commander,
I will treat the ribs in the valley in a later post. I have to run right now and I wanted to reply before the list got too unmanageable. But, it is something we have looked into for a lot of years.
olddog,
I got the idea for aluminum main bearing caps from the Rolls Royce Merlin. Now that is an engine that takes an incredible amount of abuse and HAS to keep running. I figured if they would work in a Merlin, then they could work for us as well. Not to mention, modern engines (including F1 motors) now have aluminum main caps. I have always wondered about the different coefficients of thermal expansion and how that has to play havoc on bearing clearances. That may not be such a problem in a drag motor as the race if over with a few revoloutions of the motor. A street/race motor has time to heat soak and cause problems. Admittedly, I don't know much about drag motors as that isn't our bag. Very few of our customers drag race and those that do obviously don't do it seriously so it is not a priority for us.
Ibr8k4vetts,
My mistake. Originally we were going to drill the
oil galley up the head bolt like the original blocks but that caused many problems with the water jackets. We are still trying to get around that problem, but I think we will just stick with the push rod oiling system--ie, no capability for solids for now.
HighPlainesDrifter,
Thank you for your kind words. Currently, we are going to be very happy with 700-800 hp for a street motor.
Aussie Mike,
You are right. We looked extensively into plating and longgevity and we came to the conclusion there wasn't a problem. Now, we just need to prove that on the dyno.
Rick Parker,
If we can make something as nice as Porsche, we will be happy!
Commander,
I will address the rib question shortly (gotta run). But as for your question of different block heights, I am sorry I missed that. It was not intentional. We will not be offering different deck heights. Even though is it CNC and milled from a billet and in theory we could change anything we wanted...
There are over a MILLION pieces of code to make this block. It has over 10,000 different surfaces. For the small market of those who want a taller deck height it is not worth it to us to do the changes.
Thank you all for your comments. It helps us to make a better product!
I will answer more questions when I return,
David
