Yep, seen a few of them fail. Haven't seen one split through the lifter valley like you're probably thinking, but I have seen several that have cracked the main webs from the cylinder bore transition up to the cam bearings. We sent a total of four Sportsman blocks back to Ford and they're basic answer was that the block was overrated in terms of HP capacity. They were talking about down rating it to ~450hp from the current 600hp rating. Haven't seen it done though. Personally, you're not talking about all that much more to go with an R block over a Sportsman machined to accept a main support.
Sign me......
Jeff 'once a Sportsman, now an R' Chambers
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Jeff Chambers
1990 Mustang GT 10.032 Seconds / 137.5 MPH
14-time Street Warrior World Record Setter
CRT Performance
2001 Tropic Green Mustang GT - 12.181 / 113.2 MPH
2002 Ford F-250 Crew Cab 7.3l Power Stroke - 17.41@77.2
"There's nothing boring about a small block automatic shifting gears at 9400 rpm!"
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