RB: ARP studs with factory main caps, or go studs with billet steel mains?

[Grec]

440 Six Pack.

Current build should have me somewhere between 450-500hp. But I'm building the bottom end with an eye towards potentially going with more radical heads/cam in the future.

I guess the question I'm asking is what do I need to do to ensure that the bottom end can handle... hmmmm... 600+ hp?

Are the factory mains a weak point? Does a girdle come into play?

I really have no idea what a stock RB setup can take... and I'd hate to leave a weak link. Then again, I'm not trying to replace every single part if it's not really necessary.

[1 Wild R/T]

Street car? Occasional trip to the track?  Lots of racing?  600 HP with 440 cubes or 500+?  Most street guys are fine with properly installed studs & a line hone... If you plan to spin it past 6K regularly you might wanna look at aluminum caps but finding a shop that can properly install them is the biggest challenge.. The thing about aluminum is it dampens the hammering that the mains take... Past 600 HP either the BRC girdle system or an aftermarket block...

[Grec]

"Street car? Occasional trip to the track?  Lots of racing?  600 HP with 440 cubes or 500+?"

Uhh... yeah. Those are good questions. Lol.

For the time being, this is definitely a street car. Stoplight racing at most. I don't plan on punishing her often, but when I DO get into it occasionally, I want things to hold up.

At this point, I don't have any plans on going past 440 ci... (well, aside from the 30 over I just did)

[1 Wild R/T]

I would do the ARP studs, keep the stock caps, drill the main cap bolt holes oversize to 33/64 this allows the caps to be located by the saddle rather than have the stud locate the ap... then have the block line honed...   You could use aftermarket caps but for your application it's likely overkill..

[brads70]

I just used ARP studs with the stock caps.(451 Stoker)  I'd say you will be fine with that too?

[Chryco Psycho]

600 hp is Ok with stock bottom end , the 400 blocks will take more , but overkill never hurts either

[Grec]

Got it.

Thanks for the responses, guys.