Has anyone used CAT Billet Splayed 4 Bolt main caps in a buildup? I have seen their parts before but I have never heard of anyone using any of them. I was looking at their site and they have the main caps listed for a very reasonable price, well, nearly half of what Oliver, Callies, Pro Gram and others cost. That's what makes me wonder, it sounds too good to be true. I am getting parts together for my buildup and I want to use the best parts I can, but It's hard to pass up on the price if they are good quality Billet steel caps also? Again, any feedback of guys who have used CAT parts would be appreciated. Thanks.

http://www.catpep.com/catproducts/bl...etsteelmbc.asp

http://www.catpep.com/catproducts/pr...s/MB-350SS.asp

 

Since no one has said anything. Ill post my opinions.

I watched a cat SFI approved fluid style damper come apart last year on a car. It was NASTY.
I have also seen the damaged caused from their roller rockers(in a very mild setup). It was also NASTY.

On the other hand I have heard of folks running cat parts in extreme conditions with no problems but I have heard more NEG than POS comments.

The way I feel about it.... don't spend good money on a higher end assembly and keep it in place with sub standard import caps.

Im not saying all import parts are bad its just that some have better QC than others.

Good Luck with your build

 

Thanks for the response, I figured if the price was too good, something was up.

 

The CAT caps are real junk. We had a customer bring in a set to put on and the the splayed bolts holes on some caps were machined in so far you could not get a bolt in without grinding the cap next to the inside bolt. They got trashed.

 

Chinese CRAP! I am Chinese and I can say its CRAP! You get what you pay for especially when it comes to your engine its buyer beware!

 

Boy, I didn't realize they were that bad. I guess I will go with some Callies or Oliver's.

 

These are what I use:

http://www.pro-gram.com/index.jsp

Also Pro-Gram Engineering is the only one that produces a billet rear main cap for the one piece rear main seal blocks.

Check the caps out installed on a F body two bolt main block:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=991291

These caps are NOT cheap, but are of the HIGHEST AMERICAN Quality

 

Yeah, I have exchanged emails with Pro Gram and was about decided on them when I started checking into some others. I may end up going with them. Thanks for the pics and info.

 

Well they are the reason I will NEVER buy from Flatlander again! I BOUGHT Pro Gram caps and got the CAT POS!. They were NOT very willing to return them at all either. They did not come with bolt's and when I ask which ones I should use I was told if my machinist had a brain he would know. Well It was not really his job to know honestly. At least ARP was a Class act and found out for me!

On to the crap...I mean caps. ALL three were machined different and looked like Crap. It cost me an extra $200 in machine work to use them but as I stated I was freaking stuck with them.

At this point they are on the block but I am NO where near happy about them.

Here are some pics from when I Rocked the block. Go forward from HERE

BTW all the surface rust on the block came from the Muratic acid I used to clean the water jackets. It is all gone now

 

Well, I hope that they hold ok for you. That is a real crappy deal that Flatlander did with you. I have just been shoping around and talking to some of the companies because I have been told that some of the splayed main caps cause interference to where you can't use your dip stick, I'm just trying to avoid that.

 

It also turns out that these caps are also Eagle caps or at least made by the same place.....

Now if you have a surface grinder and a mill these caps can be used, it just takes a ton of work which in the end would cost more than the good caps like a real Pro Gram cap. I have to redo almost every surface on these caps along with fixing the bolt holes, it's rather a pain in the ***.

The other bad thing about these caps is the crap bolts that come with them for the outer bolts, they are junk.You also have to get a ARP bolts and ground flat washers to replace the bolts that come with the caps. ARP fasteners are a must on a bottom end, and if caps don't come with them they are not worth the money.

This is just one of the many parts I have on my list of deal breakers in motors.

I have used Pro Gram and Oliver Caps and I like both of them and they work really well.

Bret

 

The Pro Gram caps with a notch for the dipstick work the best for this.

Bret

 

On the engines I am working on. All I had to do was to shorten the dipstick tube so that its flush with the pan rail of the block, then the dipstick slips in bounces off the cap and it clears the crank counterweights.

 

I was in the same position with the dipstick tub. With the Milodon caps, I had to take a ziz wheel to the dipstick tube and cut it down. I just run a stub shaft in the tube while running the motor though. The idea of a thin flat piece of metal flapping around in the crankcase that close to the counterweights at 6000 rpm just gives me the *******! I can just see the thing getting wrapped around the crank and the carnage that would ensue. I just keep the dipstick (the real one) in the back of the car for when I need it.

If I had to do it over again, I would have gone with the pro-gram caps that are clearenced for the tube. No doubt..

Dave C.