I'm actually thinking of buying the cross-bolt mains as well and have them machined at the same time.. if that's even possible??
Yes. It's possible to use both cross bolt caps and a girdle. I talked with a machinist about that at one time. I don't know how much benefit it is or if it's worth it vs. going to an aftermarket block. I decided to just get some Pro Gramm cross bolt caps.
I'm not negative about the FE girdle, though. I wouldn't mind trying one. I am negative on main cap girdles on other engines, where just the tops of all the caps are connected. That seems like a waste. The "Y-block" design of the FE makes it, make sense, to me. A big block Mopar would be the same way, where you can tie the caps to the block, instead of just to each other.
JMO,
paulie
