[P@blo]

So the reason why we are sort of dancing around the hard facts is because of a fear of increasing demand and pricing for the "best" blocks ? This gets my panties in a bunch to say the least.

I don't see the point in answering 30% of a question on 20 different threads covering the same subject. We know the 500557 block is weak but what about the rest of the castings.

Dude: Would be easy to take this to the anal level. LOL. Basically there is a really weak casted block late 75 and newer, (reminds me of the 403 Olds units, LOL). Then a decent cast blocks between 71/early 75 and then 3 good cast other blocks 67/74 to choose from for higher hp builds.
But most any of the blocks from 71 thru early 75 will handel 80% of the customers builds.

Brian and Ken, it would be a great help if you would post the block numbers that you would only use for race applications (high HP builds) and the castings that should only be used for moderate power levels. Thanks for posting the 500557's limitations and hope you will be willing to share the rest of the goodies.

[Skip Fix]

But Brian thought this 500557 would be good for splayed caps initially. I think the differences are real subtle unless you know where to look, and even then can be fooled. That's why I think the more pictures the better. There probably are variations in the same casting number, kind of like some of the same 455 codes drill for only 2 bolts, others for 4 bolts.

[Brian Baker]

Originally Posted by P@blo

So the reason why we are sort of dancing around the hard facts is because of a fear of increasing demand and pricing for the "best" blocks ? This gets my panties in a bunch to say the least.

I don't see the point in answering 30% of a question on 20 different threads covering the same subject. We know the 500557 block is weak but what about the rest of the castings.



Brian and Ken, it would be a great help if you would post the block numbers that you would only use for race applications (high HP builds) and the castings that should only be used for moderate power levels. Thanks for posting the 500557's limitations and hope you will be willing to share the rest of the goodies.

I'm not a casting numbers geek. I only looked for what Ken advised me to look for when I found my block, and part of that was the extra ribs cast into the wide ribs that run in the lifter valley from the deck to the lifter bores. You want all of these "good" blocks to get scraped up by vendors and put out for sale for $1000 when they're only worth $400-$500, then we'll go ahead and post all of the pertinent info.