wfot

I am in the process of building a stroker. 402. I found a 1991 block that has 12mm studs on all mains.. all. Someone replaced the 10mm on 2 and 4 with 12mm like 1, 3 and 5.
is this safe? A cool upgrade? Anyone with any first handed knowledge, I would appreciate any input
thanks John

A26B

Short answer..... probably.

tpepmeie

From the description that sounds like an old Kirchhofer stud job. Probably has 4" liners in it too?

wfot

yes 4 inch liners. Clearanced for a long stroke, was told a 415. The nuts say ARP. but the studs are blank. I think this is normal due to the age. I do not think ARP stamped everything then like they do now.
that is a new name for me. Where is he from? Still around?
thanks

Ronstar

he is still around. not doing much LT5 work anymore.

wfot

do you have any contact info for him?
i found a number on marc haibeck's website but it has been disconnected. .
thanks John

tpepmeie

Did that block happen to come from FL? I might guess it was Kurt's old 415?
Bill Kirchhoffer was the US dealer for Jeal hardware back in the day. Super nice guy, but their stuff did have some problems, which don't need to be hashed here again. He was out of Kentucky, but I lost touch with him probably 15 years ago. Doubt he has anything at all to do with LT5's these days.

From what I've heard, Bill used off the shelf ARP studs and made them work. The ring dowels might have needed to be removed? Those provide nice stability and alignment to the bottom end.

Crabs

If it's Kurt's old 415 block, there's a ton of history right there.
As I recall it didn't last very long.

'Crabs

wfot

i would love to hear any stories you guys might know. I never heard of bill before this thread. I am glad i asked, he sounds pretty cool.
John

wfot

I am pretty sure I have Kurt White's 415 block and large valve heads....

The port work is pretty damn nice.

I heard he used a lot of nos..

what kind of hp numbers did he put out without juice?

any vid links?

John

tpepmeie

We're in a 15-year time warp here.... Kurt had a decent 415, and loved street racing that thing with a shot of N2O. I know along the way, that engine was rebuilt more than once. Specifically, he had failure of the Jeal camshafts on one occasion, which several other folks also experienced. In fact, I have the set that failed in that engine. The hardness was not correct, and to make matters even worse, the intake and exhaust profiles were reversed!!!

At various times, the engine made respectable power. It certainly got used pretty hard. Lots of history there....

I'd have that thing thoroughly inspected. Did you get the 4.125 crank also? That might be the most valuable piece left of that motor.

wfot

wow, i am having a blast putting all the pieces of thos stpry.

i jave tje block and heads. No crank

Does anyone have vids of him running?

and any other info, please share

thanks

wfot

wfot

anyone have any videos of kurts 415?

I have read about a bada$$ 402 in TX as well..any videos of that?

I hear they all used to go to BG each year...