Guest zfan Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 I was wondering if anyone knows much about these stock sbc rods and if so how much power they can handle before crapping out. I have a set with arp rod bolts lying around. Thanks, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 Mike, from everything I have read, 400 hp to 450 hp is what the books and the majority of experts are telling me. I have read about numbers higher then that, but I feel strange about recommending that... Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 thinking about useing stock connecting rods? in your next high performance engine? well Id think harder if the hp level is intended to run over about 450hp or the rpm levels might exceed about 4000 feet per minute in piston speed! http://www.prestage.com/Car+Math/Engine+Building+Calculators/Calculate+Piston+Speed/default.aspx the stock conecting rods were orriginally rated at between 400- 450 hp, I personally don,t trust them quite that high,on average, ESPECIALLY since a good set of FORGED (H) style rods with 7/16" ARP rod bolts, http://www.scatcrankshafts.com/forged4340hbeamrods02.html can be purchased for about $300-$900 that are at least twice as strong SCAT EAGLE PROWLER OLIVER CROWER CORRILLO MANELY all make rods that are at least slightly stronger and in most cases vastly stronger than chevys (X) rods keep in mind its RPMS more than peak hp that cause the rods to fail and they mostly fail on the exhaust stroke where they don,t compress the cylinder volume to lower the load on the rod bolts as the piston plays crack the whip on the end of the rod. a 3/8 rod bolt has a cross sectional area of close to .1106 sq inches a 7/16 rod bolt has a cross sectional area of close to .1505 sq inches thats a 36% larger area, now if the rod bolt steel holds 180,000psi thats a 7182 ft lb advantage in strength well worth the slight extra costs, plus the (H) style rods them selves are normally stronger and lighter and they tend to have greater clearance between the outer rod dimension and the block ,for less machine work when building stroker motor. http://www.vips.co.uk/demos/mech/con_rod/vm_anim.htm things to read http://www.grapeaperacing.com/GrapeApeRacing/tech/rodsstock.cfm http://em-ntserver.unl.edu/Mechanics-Pages/Luke-schreier/unzip/Tension%20and%20Compression%20in%20Connecting%20Rods%20VI.htm http://victorylibrary.com/mopar/rod-tech-c.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zfan Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 Thanks Guy's, I guessed they were not the greatest so after reading your imput I went ahead and upgraded for my 383 sbc build. I purchased a Eagle steel crank, eagle 5.7 forged I-beam rods with arp rod bolts, probe forged flat top 2 valve relief pistons that give me 10.8 to 1 compression with my Canfield 65cc heads and felpro 1010 40thousandths head gaskets. I also purchased new bearings and rings and had the unit balanced as well. The block goes in monday to be prepped. I am going to use my old cam on this build, it's a comp cams xr288hr 236/242-520/540 with 110 lobe sep. and use 1.5 rollers on the intake and 1.6's on the exhaust side. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utvolman99 Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 When I tore my stock engine down I was surprised to find seven X rods and one Pink rod?? There wasnt a lot of miles on the engine and it really didnt look like anyone had been in there before. I guess they sometimes used mix and match parts?? While these rods Im sure would of been fine for what I am doing I decided to go with some like these... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33623&item=2438996507 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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