Take a file to it...
OEM trays are fine, as long as you make it fit well. Dont expect it to fit well on its own the way GM made it, you need to massage it. I normally shim mine with hardened washers to assure the tray does not contact anything...
Every tray I have ever had was stress cracked when it was manufactured. All you have to do is open up the inside radius of all the stamped openings. Open them far enough to remove the stressed metal, and then burnish it smooth...
I would not be surprised if the new ones show evidence of stressed metal too, any sheet metal part getting stamped during the manufacturing process is getting stretched (stressed). However the extra thickness of the new sheet metal trays will provide added strength to resist cracking...
Most importantly with a factory stamped tray, you have to ensure it fits well, without bending (stressing) it as it gets tightened down. I don’t care how thick the sheet metal is, if you stress sheet metal and expose it to vibrations, its going to crack…
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1969 Firebird, Tx3-455/468 machined by CVMS
E-heads by Dave Wilcox/Comp Cams 300B-6 flat solid
850DP on E-85 by Eric Niefert/T2 1" plastic spacer
T-400/PTC 4000/390's/30x9 Hoosier radial slicks,#3400
1.38 60' 6.32 @ 108 MPH at Northeast Dragway NC 5/23/15 (9th pass on new engine)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ePCu2v...ature=youtu.be
1.37 60' 6.26 @ 109 half track, 9.86 @ 136 1/4 mile, #3350 11/26/16 at Richmond Dragway (125th pass on new engine)
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