In catching up with the slew of threads that were posted while I was galavanting at the Y-Block Shootout, I came across the girdle requests in Seppo’s roadster thread. Due to the interest that’s being generated, I’ll make a new post out of this.
Hollow Head 9/1/2011
Ted, do you happen to have any girdles to sell or is it possible to make more of those. You sure have the drawings and it might be even cheaper to buy from you than discover the wheel again and manufacture those here in Finland
aussiebill 9/1/2011
Ted, I’d be interested in 1 if anything comes of seppo’s inquirey. regards bill.
57FordPU 9/1/2011
Ted, I would also like to piggy back on these requests for a girdle. If we are going to step up the speed on these Y-Blocks (especially turbocharged), we need to do everything possible to hold them together for a WOT three mile ride.
Although I hadn’t given much thought up until now to making any additional girdles for Y engines other than what I need for the current crop of in-house builds, I’ll put it on the list for this winter when things slow down just a bit. The question comes up if the girdles (for those that are installing them yourselves) need to be pre-drilled and/or if studs/hardware needs to be supplied. I see no problem in supplying girdles in either a pre-drilled or a non-drilled (blank) format. Supplying the hardware gets more complicated but is expected to be doable if necessary. The last crop of girdles I fabricated were for conventional timing covers and not the shortened marine covers.
I’ll add that using studs at the rear main typically requires an oil pan modification. I’ve been both ways on the rear main attachment in regards to using studs through the girdle at that point versus using bolts under the girdle and not studding the girdle at that point. Your thoughts regarding predrilled girdles, hardware, or anything else are welcome. Another point is that the main cap tops around the bolt holes do require some milling in order to adjust the height of the girdle appropriately.
Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)