Mild-Mannered 440 Mauler - Part 3, Main Stud Girdle

The main-cap fasteners need to be replaced with the studs from the CRE kit. These studs are custom ARP pieces designed to work with the main girdle. If the engine has already been assembled, CRE recommends pulling the fasteners without removing or disturbing the main cap.

Allen-style drive ends are a nice feature of the studs in the kit, making it easy to wind in the new studs. Just screw the studs in until snuggly seated. The coarse threads going into the block are just lightly lubed with oil.

ARP's torque specs are based upon their proprietary moly lube on the threads. Apply a smear of ARP lube at the base of the stud, just above the main cap, but leave the upper end of the stud clean. The upper end of the stud will receive the girdle and another nut. Keep the lube away from this area because Locktite is recommended there.

Shims and spacers are added above the main-cap nut to get the height at the cap even with the pan rail. Here, start with the .125-inch spacer and measure with a dial caliper or feeler gauges the distance from the spacer to a straightedge across the pan rails. The CRE kit comes with shims to get the height where it is needed.

We took a shortcut with the measuring step by adding some shims until the washers wouldn't spin freely under the straightedge, indicating the height was just slightly above the pan rail. Our main caps were deeper than what is usually found, requiring the addition of an extra set of .0125-inch washers that we pirated from the stud kit that was originally in this block.

With all the main studs torqued and in place, we trial fit the girdle. We checked the bolt alignment at the main studs and the oil pan rail's fastener holes. make sure of the clearance at the crank's counterweights. The girdle should not be forced over the studs, and there needs to be equal clearance to the counterweights, front and back. The fit needs to be exact.

There is some production-tolerance difference within the block, and not every block is exactly the same. We massaged a few of the boltholes by only a few thousandths of an inch to get an exact fit to our block. A cylindrical carbide burr took care of the issues quickly.

With the fit of the girdle double- and triple-checked, it was ready for installation. The girdle seals to the block with silicone sealer. We prefer Permatex Ultra-blue for sealing oil, and a nice even layer spread on the girdle.

The pan rails need to be perfectly clean of oil film for the silicone to seal. We wiped the rail thoroughly with brake cleaner, added an extra dab of silicone at the parting line of the timing cover and rear seal-retainer, and dropped the girdle in place. The pan rail studs were then wound into place and locked in with Locktite. All of the studs should align and thread in, as confirmed during the previous trial fit.