Its not usual for a 302 block to break at the 400 mark. Actually, I have never heard of them breaking at 400...........but I'm a nobody. I have heard numerous stories at the 500 mark. I haven't heard of many in the 450 mark either. But people like to put a girdle on the mains and think it helps.....it may to the umpth degree...........but I seen the pics where they go like someone bowled a strike!!:eek:
I cant endorse a motorsport block either..............for standard strokes, they are fine, for strokers.............garbage!!! I was on the fence when I was deciding which block to go with........ford or Dart, I saw pics of the ford block. The cylinder castings are too short(meaning, they don't support the piston at the bottom of the cylinder)!! The larger stroke/short rod pulls the piston way down, and a lot is unsupported at the bottom of the travel. I think Mahle was the only one whose piston was ok because it was a very short piston. Mahle pistons don't come in the stroker kits, so...........
The Dart block has much deeper cylinder bores..........well worth the 100-200 bucks more...........and it made up my mind as to what block I was gonna go with. I have no idea why Ford didn't have deeper cylinders.........no reason for it. But if you aren't stroking the motor...........the ford block is still a good piece. But its like they half- a$$#d it!! and they didn't need to.
I like the 347/363 because it looks like a 302 in there.........no taller deck. Everything bolts up with no changes.........no special adapters and no special hoods either.
