With some shims in place you can use a metal straightedge across the shims and measure how far above the oil pan rail you are. We were looking for .003" to .005" maximum. We ended up between .003 and .004. It takes some time to do it but your patience are rewarded by accuracy on a critical part.
Once the main caps are torqued to 90 ft. lbs. it is time to make sure the girdle fits across the tops of the main caps perfectly. The girdle kit comes with a large selection of different thickness precision shims that go on the top of the ARP main cap nuts.
We started with a .062” spacer on top of the main cap nuts and by using a steel straightedge we were still a little bit lower than the pan rail. You are trying to get .002 (minimum) to .005 (maximum) above the pan rail. It takes a while but using feeler gauges and some patience we felt good about the results. We felt we were in the .003 to .004
range on all of them by shuffling around shims.
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A think coat of silicone between the pan rail and the Chenoweth girdle and could install the girdle retaining nuts that bolt to the main studs. We used 70 ft. lbs. on those fasteners and they called for Loctite rather than ARP Assembly Lube.
Next month we will deal with getting the oil system installed, degreeing the cam and checking final piston to valve clearance (I know it should have been done before but this story has to continue every month.
The main thing is to check piston to valve BEFORE you run the engine.) We should have the fuel system ready to go and hopefully be ready to start the engine for the July issue of MoparMax.com. Then it’s time to se how it runs at the track!!! Can’t wait.
Check out the “Back-2-Basics III” progress this month too. The S&W Race Cars chassis is starting to get the detail work done. From wiring, initial plumbing and so on.
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