Just wondering if anyone here uses GRP alum. rods (pro series?) on a street/strip car (say ~95% street), and any pros/cons, mainly cons if any. ie. longevity

Also wondering how they might compare to the higher end of Lunati's I-Beams for example.

ie. http://www.lunatipower.com/Product.aspx?id=2599&gid=324
http://www.lunatipower.com/Product.aspx?id=170&gid=172
http://www.lunatipower.com/Product.aspx?id=172&gid=174

 

Why do you want aluminum?

 

So I can go 160 swiftly?

I am just asking, don't really want alum one way or the other. Just curious who uses them on the street primarily,

 

oh ya... they look purty as well... well except for the two below though.

http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/sh....php?p=7151071
http://www.speedtalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=210586

 

I have them,Greg Alexander has them in his 70 W30 496,and there are others.These are street-driven cars.Are they neccessary for you? No.There are some nice H-beam and I-beam SBC steel rods for those SBO stroker builds.

 

thx.

Further to my query... alum sounds good... and then it does not (to me anyway b/c I right away think frageeelayyy for some reason). I am looking for Internet opinions (even though The Bill looks down on this sort of thing?? LOL) on street use mainly. I already have a set of CP stroker 350 pistons on the way as well, and looking for a good compliment. I also prefer to support 'locally' whenever possible.

The Bill recommends them highly.. BUT on the other hand seems kinda iffy in his book about them for long distances/street use.

 

On a related note... I am confused as to which size rods I need exactly. I know the CP piston (4.125 x 3.500 set) pins say .927, but many rods say diff sizes....

ie.
6.000/.928/2.100
6.000/.927/2.100
6.000/.928/2.000
6.000/.927/2.000

Is 6.000/.927/2.000 the ones I need, or does it really matter which since they are so close?

 

Edit: Never mind. If you are dealing with Travato, then he has ordered pistons (with correct pin heigth) for the aluminum rods.

 

Brian are you using them or have them? Is greg the guy who had you put the 496 w-30 engine BTR did last fall?

 

Greg Alexander has a blue 70 W30 hardtop.The engine I installed last year was Stan Kryla's orange 72 442 convertible.His engine has steel rods.
My 517 has them.Nate's 496 has them as well.He's another local,about 4 miles from my house.I plan on putting a set in the 507,if/when I ever need to freshen it up.
Oldzy,
As for your rod selection,since you already have the pistons,stroke the crank as much as possible,then fill in the blank with the correct length rod.A 3.75" stroke 350 crank is doable.You can finish it with 2.00" journals.
You might want to make sure your 350 block will go 4.125",unless you are using a DX block,then no problem.

 

Brian, I was under the assumption that you could only go 2.0" with a 3.50" stroke. And to do a 3.6" stroke you need to use a Honda 1.88" bearing. This was probably not taking too much off the crank and move the oiling holes or weakening the crank.

 

I'm not real keen on the SBO mods,but I thought it was Bill,or maybe T Richards that had put more stroke to those cranks,without using the Honda bearing.I guess whatever you can safely go to with the 2.00 journal is good enough.I'd like to do a 3.800" stroke,or just order a crank with 4.00". I do know that T Richards took a 425 crank,ground the mains down to fit a 350 gas block,cut the counterweights,then put the stroke at 4.00".That is in something he drives on the street.With all that crank work,I would just order the right crank.Sorry to get off topic.

 

You are correct Nick. 3.500 stroke is achieved by grinding to a 2.00, 3.6 in stroke needs to go to the 1.88 Honda or Olds Quad 4 journal.

I have a 330 crank that I'm thinking about about having welded/ground to a 2.00in journal and 3.75 Stroke.

Ken, again with the CP pistons you ordered you'll need a 6.00 in rod, with 2.00 inch rod journals and a .927 pin. The crank needs to be ground to a 3.500 stroke.

 

I have never had a motor with aluminum rods but I do know you need to have more piston to deck clearance. The aluminum expands much more than steel. So a deck clearance of .040-.050 is needed. The pistons need the correct pin heigth for either steel or aluminum rods (one or the other).

 

tx.

So ones like these would be what I need/want since they are 6.000/2.000/.927 ... http://www.lunatipower.com/Product.aspx?id=2597&gid=324

BTW, I got a response from Mr. Bill and he advised against the GRP alums for street use in my app. Now looking at Carrillo H-Beams. Yes I know they are $$$ and prob overkill.

 

Why stop there, go titanium!

 

tanks

 

I had Nicks old crank & rods,and those rods were Carillo's.Nice pieces.
Nick is also correct about the deck.Do NOT zero-deck an aluminum rod set-up.
I guess I've narrowed it down to custom billet,again,for my W31 build.That's way overkill for what you are doing though.

 

Titanium? There is nothing better? Titanium is old news. I want material like the Predator uses in his bladed weapons.