Steve,

Good post, yep that's why a front cap is better on a blown motor.

As for the Pro Gram and Oliver caps, two completely different animals. If you made that post while I was at the shop I would have taken a pick of them for you and e-mailed it over. Oliver makes their own caps, I mean hey they make Billet con rods all day long. The look of the caps is completely different.

Bret

 

I wonder who's billet mains I have?
There from "Diamond" and I assumed they made them. >wonders<

they are 4blt stright, 2bolt register. Koffels preferred these over recutting the block register, I do belive it was $325 for the fitment and line hone. Not a hand drill and rasp file task for sure

 

Anybody have a wager on how much one single two bolt front cap would run me?

 

Per Pro Grams site:

SB350F - Also fits 327 large journal blocks. $66.00
SB350F4B - 4 bolt stepped cap (Not a Replacement) $80.00
SB350F4B - 4 bolt replacement $80.00


Fronts arn't too bad... it's the rear ones that break ya:

SB350RWS - Rear Cap (wet sump) $291.00
SB350RDS - Rear Cap (dry sump) $207.00
SB350RWSL - Rear Cap (wet sump with late style block and offset bolt holes) $254.00
SB350RDSL - Rear Cap (dry sump with late style block and offset bolt holes) $182.00

You'll need one the bottom two for the LT1... yet another reason a dry-sump is looking more attractive. (think of the money you'd save on caps alone! )

 

hmmm...

SB350CFS4 - Direct replacement for the stock 4 bolt center caps $199.50
SB350F4B - Front Cap 4-bolt replacement $80.00
SB350RWSL - Rear Cap (wet sump with late style block and offset bolt holes) $254.00
------------------------------------
$535 for a LT1 4-bolt set



Any one know what this thing is for: http://www.pro-gram.com/catalog/cata...=program.setup

Is this a poor-man's 4-bolt cap? Sorta like a girdle, but only uses the bolts on the same cap?

hmmm...

 

Good to know. I heard they looked the same., but I guess the photos I saw weren't exactly quality pics.

Looking at Oliver's website it seems they have a full range of caps available as well (2-bolt, 4-bolt straight, 4-bolt splayed, either register, 2 or 4 bolt front caps, 1 or 2 piece rear seal, etc...)

 

Nope Diamond makes them. Actually with a CNC mill they are not that hard to make.


Yeah I really like the Oliver parts but the Pro Gram stuff is more than enough for most LT1 motors out there. When you are on the limit of the block strength, basically anything where spinning a main bearing is possible due to cap walk then you should look to upgrade. I don't want to get into some diatribe about freaking LT1 block strength. It's not strong enough for my tastes and at a point it's going to kill a big dollar budget since a quality block is the foundation to a long running high HP motor.

Bret

 

Yeah, I was looking at an aluminum Rocket-block with direct main oiling, oversized and raised cam bores, raised deck height, 4.200" bores, and dedicated dry-sump design....

Unfortunately I was unable to find one with an optispark and I REALLY want to keep that in place. <j/k>

(in all honesty, a $200 LT1 block and $20 in hardblock give me just as much peace of mind for my power levels... but we can all dream of exotic trick parts can;t we? )