arp main studs necessary?

LarryH

Registered User
Any thoughts on the benefits of the ARP main studs. I have read it argued that they are really not that essential vs. the oem bolts. Larry
 
It all depends on what the engine is intended for. (Sorry for the wishy washy answer.)

If you want to build a motor on the level of a Coy Miller Stage III then the extra strength of the ARP bolts (head and main) are probably needed. And a stud griddle as Larry said.

If you want to build a totally stock motor, then, (IMHO) they are not necessary.

If you want to add some bolt ons, say a larger MAF and TB along with some headers. (IMHO) Probably not.

If you are adding the MAF, TB, Headers, and a 10% blower OD. Then they may be worth the piece of mind.

It is a judgment call.

Acronyms defined:
IMHO= In My Humble Opinion
MAF= Mass Air Flow sensor
TB= Throttle body
OD= Overdrive
 
The studs are nice and they are stronger but I dont know of 1 single main bolt failure with the stock bolts, so there plenty strong enough.
 
Mike, I hear what you're saying. i guess my thought would be stretching caused by load of a hi perf build (400 HP) and the subsequenmt walking of the crank. The motor we're building looks like this:

Diamond pistons (8.5:1) and Eagle rods
38 # injectors
Ported heads and chevy valves
Dr Fred Stage 1 cam
MP plenum
5% pulley
ARP underdrive pulley set
raised top
75MM maf
70MM TB
Ported S Model blower
Headers
MN12 mandrel bent exhaust
Pedestal Mounted rocker rollers
Ported lower intake
Balanced
Fred Tuned
 
This basicaly a good stout street engine? Consider the girdle if you're gonna step up even more in the near future. Running real high boost and or NO2 and a steady diet of 1/4 mile runs I'd consider the girdle.
 
I can tell you that with my car making 245RWHP, after tearing the whole motor down at under 8k miles, the main caps had been walking and that was with ARP main studs. This is why I suggest the need for a girdle with applications like yours and why I will be adding one to mine. I venture to say that with stock bolts, considering the amount of walking, I may have broken one over time. Ill have to insect the stock core from my car tomorrow which had 98k on it and see how the main to block surface looks.

Paul
 
LarryH said:

Diamond pistons (8.5:1) and Eagle rods
38 # injectors
Ported heads and chevy valves
Dr Fred Stage 1 cam
MP plenum
5% pulley
ARP underdrive pulley set
raised top
75MM maf
70MM TB
Ported S Model blower
Headers
MN12 mandrel bent exhaust
Pedestal Mounted rocker rollers
Ported lower intake
Balanced
Fred Tuned

Larry, may I suggest getting 42# injectors instead of the 38#. It's cheap insurance against leaning out at high rpm.
 
If your doing all that work to your motor why not go all the way and add ARP main studs and a girdle ever little bite helps.
 
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