[taff2]

I wish I had gone for the splayed caps on my turbo '59 combo (I'd be out racing by now),but truth be told,I wasn't confident that any machine shop over here would have fitted them correctly,all the shops being Chebby orientated.

[BruceWilkie]

Originally Posted by taff2

I wish I had gone for the splayed caps on my turbo '59 combo (I'd be out racing by now),but truth be told,I wasn't confident that any machine shop over here would have fitted them correctly,all the shops being Chebby orientated.

Stock 59 caps sure are beefier than 400 caps. Plus you reinforced yours (iirc)so I think you are just as well off. Keeping twist out of the block is the key to long life IMO. Controlling cap wave from thrust loads cant hurt either. I recently realized 59 front cap same height as #2 vs 400/455 blocks. Wonder when that actually changed? My stock front/rear caps are stayin for sure, but still debating if Splayed steel caps are really going to help much. Those 59 2 bolt caps are pretty tough and certainly beefier than 400 caps.

I tested a Ford cap for fit but bolt holes are just a tid off. Milodons ductile iron caps are still straight bolt for Pontiac but splayed for 460 Ford and thought maybe just mill the step off the Milodon Ford cap might be better alternative to steel caps. You would have to fill and redrill, then mill cap and then align bore to use those caps. Probably not worth the cost at that point. Wish Milodon would revise the Pontiac caps to Splayed! The ductile iron cap on an iron block just seems logical vs steel to iron. Outer bolts on straight 4 bolt Pontiac go into under cut area of bulkhead which IMO creates a weaker package than running straight 2 bolt.