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6.2L stud girdle

M

madcow75

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Location
Ontario, Canada
Looking to freshen up my 89 6.2L diesel while I have it out I want to put a stud girdle in Are there any others available besides the DSG girdle? Are there any better ones available. I found the DIY girdle in the library section but thats it. I do not have a CNC to build one. I was looking to purchase one from someone. Any sugestions would be greatly apprecited. I am putting a 93 6.5td top end on it. I have no cracks in the mains right now but I want to keep it that way.
 
DSG girdles are basically made with bed frame angle iron and are worthless.

Some members have made their own, a search should bring up some info.

Member name "turbonator" made one if I remember.
 
Yes I did see the girdle made by turbonator with the specs. I do not have the ability the replicate it thou. You would need a CNC to replicate for the +- .010 tolerances. I was hoping I could purchase a production girdle.
 
basically what is being said is, don't put a bandaid on a broken arm. not worth the time/trouble/money. get an optimizer or P400 and be done. if you are going to push the block to the limits and crack the mains, girdle won't be more than just wasted money.
 
Okay I am new to this this is my first diesel engine. What is an optimizer also a P400. I am going to be running a mechanical fuel setup, 1993 6.5L setup.
 
They were both built by General Engine Products (GEP) for the military H1 "repower" program.

Optimizer is a redesigned 6.5 that's had the "faults" of the original design fixed. IE: cracking mains, cracking cylinder bores, etc. These are brand new engines, not rebuilds.

P400 is a complete redesign of the block that incorporated a main cap "girdle". It will not retrofit on to the older blocks since it actually comprises the lower portion of the block on a P400. You can't get one without buying a complete P400 anyways. Gep only sells P400 long blocks as of this date. Supposedly, the heads were also redesigned to eliminate things like cracking between valve seats.

Both engines can be bought by private citizens, but they aren't cheap.

Expect to pay around 5500 and up for a new optimizer. This is the engine you will get if you walk into a gm dealer and order a new GM Goodwrench engine for your truck as gm buys them from GEP for thier parts program.

When my engine died on a recent trip and i was stuck with no other options, i had to pay 7100 from the dealer.

Gm signed rights to the 6.5 engine over to GEP a while ago and GEP has run with the design ever since. Rumours of a direct injected common rail 6.5 float around every now and then...

Military "take outs" of the 6.2 optimizer can be had for around 2-2500 and up.

Full blown P400's can cost closer to 8-10 grand......
 
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Turbonator is running his own that he created. I was thinking of doing the same. My block is not cracked at all I want to do it just to keep it from cracking. I will be installing a 6.5td top end
 
The mains are NOT the only place these blocks will crack. To eliminate cracks you have to get the newer and better designed block. Everything else is a band aid that doesn't not have a good track record of working.

Many engines go 200K with cracks before failure.

Myself I picked up a engine with 30K on it, beat it with 10% grades and a 24' trailer for 30K with the IP turned up and the turbo at 14 PSI. I pulled it out at 60K and found the start of cracks in the mains. Without touching the main bolts I deglazed the cylinder walls and re-ringed it. It is still running today. Yes, I should have scrapped it, but WTH.

The oversize bore 6.5 I removed from my truck that was worn out had crack free mains. It was still scrap as the block had a crack in a head bolt area to the outside of the block. It was a survivor having been rebuilt once in the past.

I just accept the design for what it is and the cheapness of a used block for a cost effective fix for cracks.
 
Hi, we are firm advocates in the use of 5 pin girdles (at least that).

This time round, we will stud the bottom end complete with ARP also..... we looked at many different girdle set-ups for our platforms (6.2/6.5L) and many others. The five pin we built, was not with a CNC, just 2"x2"x3/8" cold rolled angle iron, a 4" angle grinder, 3 new files, bench grinder, caliper, straight-edge and feeler gauges.... it takes some work, but the change in harmonics and the piece of mind is well worth it. The style we built would take a machinist with even a conventional mill possible 2-3 hours to make, not a big investment, the ARP studs can be sourced also.
 
I had a home made girdle on my 6.2 . Somehow it tweaked the bearing caps,and spun the 3 center main bearings . It has to fit perfectly. My recent 6.5 build , I didn't use any girdle,and reused stock bolts for everything. So far it held 38 psi boost without coming apart . It also has 22.5-1 compression .
 
38 psi boost says it all and that is definitely putting a load and test on one of these engines. I really am confident and like Heath's setup with using the main studs and filling the block (up to your choice height) for keeping the bottom end sturdy like he did for his "500 HP" race engine. I mean the only thing better would be the Peninsular girdle that they use on the P400, but I'm not sure I'd be willing to use a girdle if it wasn't going to work or fit "perfect" so as not to tweak those caps in the bottom end.
 
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