[Steve C.]

Pontiac Dudes comment below confirms what my engine builder did, he also filled to the bottom of the freeze plugs.

"I have filled all my blocks I use for street use. Karen's car is a 455 .060 and filled to the bottom of the outer freeze plug holes. Runs 160 and after a pass 185.
I have driven radical street engines with fill. About 10/15 degrees cooler with fill. Never had an issue with oil. Oils today never break down."

"Most builders suggest filling the block to the bottom of large freeze plug holes in the side for maximum durability in applications producing at least 600 hp."

http://www.pontiacdiy.com/how-to-imp...e-block-guide/


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[Steve C.]

Also noteworthy are comments here from Bulter that tend to contradict other statements he made regarding filling "street" applications.
Remember always take these comments with a grain of salt when you 'Google' material......


Pouring high-resin filler into the water jacket of a stock Pontiac block is a popular racer’s trick that can increase bottom-end rigidity. It can, however, have adverse side effects on the street. “Our recommendation when filling a block is very application dependent. We tend to recommend it only when horsepower approaches 750. It helps reduce the amount of cylinder wall distortion we see in long-stroke applications, and we feel it’s especially important when stepping up to an aftermarket crankshaft with 4.5-inch stroke. We have been using longer-than-stock rods to reduce side loading to help eliminate the need for block filling in many applications. While our testing has shown no real issue with coolant temperature, the lack of coolant around the lower water jacket can cause oil temperature to climb during extended street use, and that can lead to premature oil breakdown from the heat.”

Source: http://www.hotrod.com/articles/picki...rformance-use/


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[rohrt]

Originally Posted by Steve C.

http://www.pontiacdiy.com/how-to-imp...e-block-guide/


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who authored this site? Love it.

[Steve C.]

Some of the information here came from:

How to Build Max Performance Pontiac V-8s
Author: Rocky Rotella

In a round about way it's sort of a 'second edition' of Jim Hand's Pontiac book with updated information. As I understand it the publishers asked Jim for a second edition and he declined so Rocky who wrote many articles for High Performance Magazine did this book.


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[gtofreek]

Filling a block will shrink the cylinder a thou or so. I wonder if the people having cooling issues have them because they did not re-hone the cylinders with a hard hone to get them back to where they needed to be. If they were just lightly honed for new rings, then they were probably seriously out of round which caused a bunch more friction. I have filled many blocks and have yet to see one run hot because of it.

[DevoBuzz]

My stroker 400 block is filled. Runs 185-190 on the street with 180 tstat. Aluminum radiator clutch fan.

[ta man]

Originally Posted by DevoBuzz

My stroker 400 block is filled. Runs 185-190 on the street with 180 tstat. Aluminum radiator clutch fan.

What is the oil temp?

[ta man]

Originally Posted by gtofreek

Filling a block will shrink the cylinder a thou or so. I wonder if the people having cooling issues have them because they did not re-hone the cylinders with a hard hone to get them back to where they needed to be. If they were just lightly honed for new rings, then they were probably seriously out of round which caused a bunch more friction. I have filled many blocks and have yet to see one run hot because of it.

You would think most would hard block first,then start the machining process.I know mine was done that way...

[DevoBuzz]

Originally Posted by ta man

What is the oil temp?

Unfortunately that I dont know. I do have one of those infrared temp guns. I will check oil pan when I get a chance. Not sure hiw accurate it will be.

[tom s]

My 366 short deck RA V engine was short filled.Ran super cool water temps,never checked the oil temps,always ran Moble 1.Drove it for years on the street sometimes more than 100 miles each way.Sold it and still running with no issue.FWIW,Tom

[PAUL K]

Originally Posted by gtofreek

Filling a block will shrink the cylinder a thou or so. I wonder if the people having cooling issues have them because they did not re-hone the cylinders with a hard hone to get them back to where they needed to be. If they were just lightly honed for new rings, then they were probably seriously out of round which caused a bunch more friction. I have filled many blocks and have yet to see one run hot because of it.

You beat me to it. I was thinking the same thing. Also wondering if they allowed any additional skirt clearance.

[gtofreek]

Originally Posted by ta man

You would think most would hard block first,then start the machining process.I know mine was done that way...

Very true! Full machining needs to be done after filling has completely hardened. The one case here that had issues with oil temps and cooling temps, stated that he did a fill on a freshen up build. That sounds to me like they just filled it, gave it a quick hone to break the glaze, and re-ringed it. I could be wrong about that, but if that is in fact what happened, that would explain why he had issues with it. The cylinders shrank up, and distorted, and were no longer round, causing a bunch of extra friction.

The only issues I have seen is when the correct stuff is not used. Years ago there was some concrete patch stuff that people were using, but I have seen that stuff start crumbling and falling apart after antifreeze has been on it for a while. Hardblok is the best stuff, and has iron filings in it for heat dispersal, but costs a lot more than others.

[gtofreek]

Originally Posted by PAUL K

You beat me to it. I was thinking the same thing. Also wondering if they allowed any additional skirt clearance.

Exactly! Filled blocks require about an extra thousandth clearance to make up for the lack of cylinder expansion on a filled block.