If you're wondering what the small tapped holes are on the girdle between the stud holes that seem to suddenly appear on the girdle; (See explanation below, and it gives away some of the assembly photos coming up, but such is life) :wink:
It was an attempt to add a full length windage tray that was scrapped at the last second due to fastening concerns.
Here is the initial attempt at the windage tray, which seemed like a good idea at the time, but in fact, had total interference with the rod bolts.
At that point I couldn't figure out how I was going to attach the windage tray, but it was going to hold up the build if I didn't make up my mind. So I drilled and tapped some 10-32 holes in the center of the girdle (Qty 10) and said I would deal with it later. I had the girdle plated, and it was ready for assembly.
At the time the rotating assembly was being put together, I decided the way to secure the girdle was to use some 10-32 stand-offs with a hex size of 3/8. The exact height was unknown, and once calculated, unavailable. So then I went through 2 sets of stand offs, and turned them down to where I thought they would work, and realized I was still way off when I put it on the assembly. As a last resort I mocked up the assembly, and used a 1/8 shim and a 0.102" shim to get a visual reference of where the tray should be, then turned the standoffs down to exactly where I needed them. (Extra info) This number was also driven by the fact that even though the tray ended up at the height I wanted, the screw heads still interfered with the oil pan and prevented it from being bolted on.
The LS engines run their trays at a minimum of 0.080" clearance from rod bolts. My "comfortable" clearance (determined visually) turned out to be 0.450". My final stand off location made the clearance just over 0.150".
At this point, many people were concerned about the method I was using to secure the tray, and I was persuaded to omit the tray. I'll have to find a way to use 1/4" bolts on some future project. Plus my oil pan shields the sump quite well from the spinning crank.
It was an attempt to add a full length windage tray that was scrapped at the last second due to fastening concerns.
Here is the initial attempt at the windage tray, which seemed like a good idea at the time, but in fact, had total interference with the rod bolts.
At that point I couldn't figure out how I was going to attach the windage tray, but it was going to hold up the build if I didn't make up my mind. So I drilled and tapped some 10-32 holes in the center of the girdle (Qty 10) and said I would deal with it later. I had the girdle plated, and it was ready for assembly.
At the time the rotating assembly was being put together, I decided the way to secure the girdle was to use some 10-32 stand-offs with a hex size of 3/8. The exact height was unknown, and once calculated, unavailable. So then I went through 2 sets of stand offs, and turned them down to where I thought they would work, and realized I was still way off when I put it on the assembly. As a last resort I mocked up the assembly, and used a 1/8 shim and a 0.102" shim to get a visual reference of where the tray should be, then turned the standoffs down to exactly where I needed them. (Extra info) This number was also driven by the fact that even though the tray ended up at the height I wanted, the screw heads still interfered with the oil pan and prevented it from being bolted on.
The LS engines run their trays at a minimum of 0.080" clearance from rod bolts. My "comfortable" clearance (determined visually) turned out to be 0.450". My final stand off location made the clearance just over 0.150".
At this point, many people were concerned about the method I was using to secure the tray, and I was persuaded to omit the tray. I'll have to find a way to use 1/4" bolts on some future project. Plus my oil pan shields the sump quite well from the spinning crank.
