best sbf aluminum block

[markstang]

Whats the best 9.5 deck sbf aluminum block made for an all out type nitrous motor? is the Dart block strong enough & will it seal up around the bores as good as my iron Dart block?

the bore will end up around 4.15" & I have a Jesel belt drive that I would like to reuse on the aluminum block.

I was told that the Fontana block will use a differnt belt drive than a Dart block.




thanks Mark

[Jim Monson]

RDI from what I hear. I also hear they are hard to find.

[Greg2]

Whats the best 9.5 deck sbf aluminum block made for an all out type nitrous motor? is the Dart block strong enough & will it seal up around the bores as good as my iron Dart block?

the bore will end up around 4.15" & I have a Jesel belt drive that I would like to reuse on the aluminum block.

I was told that the Fontana block will use a differnt belt drive than a Dart block.




thanks Mark

Cast aluminum of any brand will be hard pressed to seal as well as cast iron. The material is more flexible and will tend to move somewhat under a lot of heat/pressure. Engine builders will typically alter their clearances slightly with an aluminum block to compensate for the flex, as well as different head gaskets and maybe a few other pieces. That said, you can make it work, just consult with an engine builder that has built some n2o engines. I think the sleeves in the Dart blocks will go to 4.165" if I remember right, so 4.150" should be ok.

I'm not sure about the belt drive, check with Jesel or Dart.

[Greg2]

RDI from what I hear. I also hear they are hard to find.

The RDI block had more aluminum around the bottom of the cylinders compared to the early Dart aluminum blocks. Dart took out material on purpose to try and lighten it for the dirt track guys. When power adder drag racers started abusing the blocks, Dart changed the tooling and put more material in their castings, so they now have support comparable to the RDI blocks. That change was made about a year ago, maybe a little more, so if you buy a new one you'll get the beefier Dart casting. Plus the Dart is made from 355 aluminum, which is a little stronger than the 356 some other companies are using.

I'm not sure about availability of RDI blocks now, but I remember a year or so ago they were supposedly heavily backordered.

[markstang]

RDI from what I hear. I also hear they are hard to find.



I called RDI today & was told that the waiting list is over 2yrs long now & they don't know if Ford will ever produce the blocks anymore at this point.

[Greg2]

I guess that settles it.

[slowbrick]

I called RDI today & was told that the waiting list is over 2yrs long now & they don't know if Ford will ever produce the blocks anymore at this point. Whats up with Ford?

[DougSikora]

I was told that the Fontana block will use a differnt belt drive than a Dart block.



Fontana makes a new windsor version, same timing cover as the Dart.
Joe Fontana 310-538-2505

[Sam Vincent]

I was told that the Fontana block will use a differnt belt drive than a Dart block.



Fontana makes a new windsor version, same timing cover as the Dart.
Joe Fontana 310-538-2505

I know people in FL that have a Danny Bee on a Clevor block.

THe thing about a Clevor block is simple if you think about it for a moment.

It uses a windsor style timing cover ( gasket/bolt pattern) but has a cleveland oil pan rail, which a cleveland has a different curve or radius around the bottom of it's timing cover. So to be able to bolt on a Cleveland oil pan. Fontana sells a Windsor style timing cover with the Cleveland correct radius on the bottom so one can just bolt on a Cleveland oil pan.

IY you use a Jesel/Danny Bee belt drive, You just need a custom oil pan with Cleveland oil pan rails, but the smaller Windsor style radius on the front of the pan to work with the windsor style belt drive.

[DougSikora]

The new Fontana windsor version has a windsor pan rail and a standard windsor timing cover pattern. Same as a dart block.

I think I confused the issue by not using the "quote ".
This: " I was told that the Fontana block will use a differnt belt drive than a Dart block. " was in the original question.

:rolleyes:

[Brian F.]

So....unless you run across an RDI by some lucky chance, the only 2 options are Dart and Fontana is currently manufacturing one, correct?? The dart block kinda scares me b/c they wrap they got when they first came out, and i havnt heard of many running them since then, i would love to hear feedback eventually if folks are trusting those as much as they were/are with RDI. Also would like to hear this same feedback from the Fontana crowd, but who is running one??