93LSivic

This was an email sent to me by one of the techs at ERL Performance, our supplier of sleeved blocks and more. This is great tech info for all that have sleeved blocks or who plan on using one in the future. This is not a sales thread in any way, just something to help you make the right decision on who it is you choose to send your block to.
"The Billet CNC ERL Performance Girdle will fit under a GSR (B18c) factory
pan or the Moroso aftermarket. Use the GSR oil pick-up. This eliminates the
header, ground, etc. clearance issues by lowering the whole pan with a
plate. The girdle is a truss design (ie. bridge, ceiling truss,etc.) which
is many times the strength of a flat plate design. Just as you box a frame
to increase it's strength, The girdle boxes the main bearing caps to
strengthen and reduce bearing movement (Honda did this on the newer F23 and
went to a full split case on the K and F20 motors). We have discovered by
inspecting hundreds of blocks and wear patterns on the bearings that they
shift as they stress relieve (and if you notice Honda opened up the #3
clearance over time). Another troubling discovery is finding stress cracks
particulary on the #1 journal on previosly boosted motors. The cast in
sleeve is a major structural member in the block design and when you remove
them, the block is weakened. This is why we always align hone every block we
do. Benefits; It reduces the movement of the main journals and elimenates
cap walk. Cap walk occurs when you over power the retaining ability of the
main bolts (and more importantly the aluminum threads)and the cap is forced
off it seat(the block) by high cylinder pressures, clutches,etc.. The girdle
with its truss design uses the surrounding main bolts to aid the bolts of
the cylinder under pressure (one fires at a time). Another benefit of
maintaining the main bearing alignment is that as the crank rotates the oil
feed holes in the mains for the rods maintains an even flow, rather than the
bearing working as a wiper at the area of small clearance caused by
mis-alignment. This gives more uniform oil flow to the rods. It requires a
special ARP stud kit and instructions with the proper proceedure for seating
studs in an aluminum block. It also comes with 10 hollow dowels for the
girdle. ALWAYS ALIGN HONE AFTER INSTALLATION OF ANY GIRDLE OR EVEN GOING TO
MAIN STUDS!! "
The ERL block girdle.

quickda6

Heh, thats a pretty dam informative post over there sizzlechest ERL knows their ****, and it shows


Modified by quickda6 at 5:44 PM 10/22/2004

DIRep972

iTrader: (1)

Nice. I am doing an align hone on my block.

earl

Nice looking girdle

turbo*s2k

Nice write-up. Thanks for sharing!

Turbo E

damn that looks beefy!

wHOAlly

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 93LSivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> ALWAYS ALIGN HONE AFTER INSTALLATION OF ANY GIRDLE OR EVEN GOING TO
MAIN STUDS!! "</TD></TR></TABLE>

i dunno if i agree with that statement, i should be more like...

ALWAYS have your MAINS checked by a REPUTABLE MACHINE shop AFTER SLEEVES and STUDS.

i had my mains checked with the aebs studs installed after i had my block GE sleeved, mine were A OK!

93LSivic

If your having a girdle installed you should have the align bore done. Studs also. This would almost hold the same truth that if you were to switch cranks the factory bearings will need to be changed, unless of course the crank had the same codes for them.
When sleeving a block its possible for mains to move, they must be checked.......but not every shop will check them afterwards and MOST of the time an align hone/bore is needed. Sometimes the block wont need them, you are right in what you say.

wHOAlly

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 93LSivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If your having a girdle installed you should have the align bore done.</TD></TR></TABLE>

ahh yes, u are referencing NON oem girdles. no doubt for sure get the mains checked if u gonna do that

quickda6

Bump, this is some good info regarding a common misconception when installing a girdle.

Arturbo

Ive seen blocks (b18c) that were pulled from an engine bay in factory trim that had mis-alinged mains. So this tells me that even a factory car has problems after abuse or stress over time. So align hone is ALWAYS a good thing to do. At least check it.

art

B_Something

The more homework I do on my future LS turbo build I do, the more fire *** knowledge like this I run across. People that are willing to tell you every step of the process and hide nothing, will use the best equipment, parts, and people to make my car everything I want it to be. I will certainly look into the folks at ERL!

non-VTEC

good info here

BTW: i have a brand new Endyn crank girdle for sale if anyone is interested. click link in sig

USDM 4G VTEC

this is one of the few reasons that D series engines have that i like

when i was building my motor my friend who has build engines and raced for over 22 years told me thats one feature he likes the D series have over the B...
the crank bridge girdle

93LSivic

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by USDM 4G VTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">this is one of the few reasons that D series engines have that i like

when i was building my motor my friend who has build engines and raced for over 22 years told me that's one feature he likes the D series have over the B...
the crank bridge girdle

</TD></TR></TABLE>

You are correct sir!! Out of all the OEM blocks that ERL performed their R&D on the D series vtec block fared the best results when it came to the main bore alignment. They still move around a bit and can benefit from the align hone, but they have an edge over their big brothers.