Girdle Oil Pan Studs

U

Underboost

Mr. Dull
Joined
Oct 4, 2005
Has anyone ever noticed a problem with their girdle oil pan studs? While pulling the pan just to check the bearings I found 3 studs cracked inside the block? :eek: I took the pan off and was taking the studs out and noticed three came out with the twist of my fingers. They where cracked from block stress "I guess" :confused: That's all I could think of. Everything was torqued to spec. :confused: ARP doesn't make that small of a thread count and size stud. :frown:

Anyone???
 
I heard of this happening but never to me. I usually put some blue loctite on the end that goes into the block.

Did you try calling ARP for the studs? They have alot of bulk items that are not listed in their catalog. I usually deal with Kammy, she knows her fasteners.

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com
 
Underboost said:
Has anyone ever noticed a problem with their girdle oil pan studs? While pulling the pan just to check the bearings I found 3 studs cracked inside the block? :eek: I took the pan off and was taking the studs out and noticed three came out with the twist of my fingers. They where cracked from block stress "I guess" :confused: That's all I could think of. Everything was torqued to spec. :confused: ARP doesn't make that small of a thread count and size stud. :frown:

Anyone???
Click to expand...
I have built lots of girdle motors and all the guys running trans brakes seem to have this problem . ARP has studs but they still pull from the pan rail .Shawn
 
Are you saying the studs cracked and broke, or pieces cracked out of the pan rail, or did the threads strip out of the pan rail? Just trying to understand as I've never heard of this before.
 
ijames said:
Are you saying the studs cracked and broke, or pieces cracked out of the pan rail, or did the threads strip out of the pan rail? Just trying to understand as I've never heard of this before.
Click to expand...


90% of the time the studs are broken i would say 2 or 3 broken studs is common on a hard run motor with a trans brake , have seen the threads pulled from the pan rails on a few . Shawn
 
Check your machine work. I've had two shortblocks machined by different shops and one would break pil pan studs and the other would not. There is something to say about a good machine shop.
 
ijames said:
Are you saying the studs cracked and broke, or pieces cracked out of the pan rail, or did the threads strip out of the pan rail? Just trying to understand as I've never heard of this before.
Click to expand...

The stud broke inside the block but there was still enough threads to unscrew the stud out of the block. Does that make any sense? Basically the amount of threads that went into the block crack at the half way point. The block was not affected at all.
 
V6RACER said:
Check your machine work. I've had two shortblocks machined by different shops and one would break pil pan studs and the other would not. There is something to say about a good machine shop.
Click to expand...

Did one of you're motors have steal mains and the other did not? I was running stock mains I am know going with steal after seeing that. I really don't think it will do much but it's peace of mind. The car will be going much faster now that I'm putting Alum heads and a bigger cam in.

The whole reason why I found this problem was I had the Iron heads off changing Head Gaskets "again" and was swapping with Alum Heads then said screw it! I'll just pull the motor out and check everything. Good thing I did ;)
 
I have about 70+ 10 second runs on my motor that is girdled with stock mains and I use a transbrake...no problems...had the pan off last year for inspection and studs were all OK...I agree with the statement about getting good machine work... the clearance between the girdle and pan rail when the mains are torqued down is critical...excess clearance can put strain on those pan rail studs...JMO
 
MSDGN said:
I have about 70+ 10 second runs on my motor that is girdled with stock mains and I use a transbrake...no problems...had the pan off last year for inspection and studs were all OK...I agree with the statement about getting good machine work... the clearance between the girdle and pan rail when the mains are torqued down is critical...excess clearance can put strain on those pan rail studs...JMO
Click to expand...


Let me ask you this. Are you guys machining the caps down to fit the spacers/shims or are you guys going flush with the caps against the girdle? :)
 
Thanks for the info. I've never heard of this and have been considering doing a girdle - one more thing to keep an eye on.
 
Underboost said:
Yep, I launch off the trans brake every time. :redface: 13 to 16psi
Click to expand...
Wow i launch harder off the foot brake whats you 60s with a 13 psi trans brake launch. should be around low 1.40s to high 1.30s my car got 1.46 60s off the foot brake
 
boostjunkie said:
Wow i launch harder off the foot brake whats you 60s with a 13 psi trans brake launch. should be around low 1.40s to high 1.30s my car got 1.46 60s off the foot brake
Click to expand...

My best 60 so far is a 1.45 with 1.5 on the pinion angle. Changing that to 3.5 - 4 before my next track visit.

I would love to launch off the foot brake but I have stock drums an wheel cylinders. :redface: I tell you what if I launched off the foot brake I would put my 200 back in. Less torch er on the trans & crank ;)
 
Underboost said:
Did one of you're motors have steal mains and the other did not? I was running stock mains I am know going with steal after seeing that. I really don't think it will do much but it's peace of mind. The car will be going much faster now that I'm putting Alum heads and a bigger cam in.

The whole reason why I found this problem was I had the Iron heads off changing Head Gaskets "again" and was swapping with Alum Heads then said screw it! I'll just pull the motor out and check everything. Good thing I did ;)
Click to expand...


The engine that had steel mains is the one that would break the oil pan studs. The engine in my car now has stock caps and both times I pulled the motor to fix the dented oil pan the studs were good.
 
V6RACER said:
The engine that had steel mains is the one that would break the oil pan studs. The engine in my car now has stock caps and both times I pulled the motor to fix the dented oil pan the studs were good.
Click to expand...

How was the oil pan getting dented?
 
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