[Old Goat Racer]

You know what it is. 455 4-bolt main. I'm considering building it to about 400-450 hp tops. I plan to stud the mains and align bore. Question is, Do I need to stud the end of the main caps or just buy the 10 stud kit ?

[tom s]

I would just confirm the bore is good and call it a day!450HP for that 4 bolt block is a walk in the park.I just got done building 2 of them.Tom

[steve25]

For only that level of power why bother with running studs and having to aline hone the block.

I would just use the factory bolts if you have them if there good and then see how the main bore checks out

If it passes then run it and save yourself that money to use else where in the build like sinking that money into a good set of I beam rods .

[Dragncar]

I ran a 455 at over 500 HP for decades. No line bore, no decking. The last 10 years it had main studs and I did not align hone it. Just ran it and nothing bad happened.

[Tandyman]

I too had a 455 in my 69 firebird bracket car that I ran for 30 years and the last 20 were with main studs and was not not align honed. That motor has been refreshed 3 time since installing the studs and showed no signs of issues. The motor always ran 7.0 to 7 teens in the 1/8. It's been my backup motor for the last 10 years now and in April I dug it out and I took and had it Dynoed. It made 505 hp and 553 torque.

Glenn

[chuckies76ta]

I have that same XF block making 590 hp and 600 torque
And nothing special done except hard blocked. Been a beast.

[Skip Fix]

The pump gas 455 in my TA is around 550 HP and 2 bolt caps and factory bolts.

[Dragncar]

These 455, 450-550 HP engines with iron heads even, are Pontiac wheelhouse. You do not have to do much to them, Easy on parts, short shift them and let torque do the work and they last forever, almost.
Forged pistons, decent steel rods, a few oiling tricks and you have a winner.
All the guys at the track racing other brands doing low 11s, low 10s went through several engines during my engines time. While mine kept coming back. It was a reliable beast, still is.

[AG]

Agree with that. I ran a stock 2-bolt block that was a worn out 0.030" and hand honed with used TRW forged pistons , stock rods, stock 62 heads and an Ultradyne solid flat tappet and ran 11.5 in a 3600# car.

[steve25]

Yup same thing here.

Ran 10.8s with 270 cfm iron heads , cleaned up 2 bolt caps and bolts.

The 2 bolt caps are just plain iron where as all the 4 bolt factory caps where Armasteel.

So with his caps and what he’s looking to make I would not hesitate to run bolts.

[PunchT37]

Run what ya brung.

[Old Goat Racer]

Well I sent the block to the shop, told him to bore it .030, align bore and resurface the deck. Stock bolts.
Planning to buy Ross pistons and Scat rods and put them on a fresh 10-10 factory crank.
So do I need to balance the rotating assy. ?

Machine shop owner saw the 4-bolt mains and his eyes lit up. He said I could sell it for a pretty penny but they don't make pennies anymore.

[Half-Inch Stud]

Plea for reusing the old Factory Main Cap Bolts. Way stronger than the Threads.

[johnta1]

I'd have it balanced just to make sure it was good?


I used Dave Koehler in Urbana to do my last one. Probably too far for you though. But he does great work. (at least used to, not sure if he is still in business doing that)

[Gary H]

Absolutely have it balanced!

[johnta1]

Dave's web site:


Koehler Injection

[PontiacHO]

Align boring….then unwanted timing chain slop?

[NeighborsComplaint]

Main caps are doweled … never understood why align honing would be necessary w. a swap to studs or even a cap swap, they're not connecting rod caps aligned only by rod bolts …