Rod and Rebuild Question

[blueman803]

I am trying to rebuild a 6 bolt motor. My goals for the car are for it to be a fairly reliable daily driver and be around 300 whp. From what I have read, 2nd gen pistons and 1st gen rods are more than enough for this power level. After talking to the local machinist, I was informed that the machining cost would be roughly 250 dollars or more to use the 1st gen rods. For a little more I could use brand new Eagle or Scat rods. Does anyone have any suggestions for what to do? Will Eagle or Scat rods accept 2nd pistons without being machined?

 

[Stapl3]

Putting stock pistons on aftermarket rods starts to get a bit tricky.

I have PM'd you.

 

[highboosted98]

Use the 2g pison/1g big rod combo they`ll work good for the power your putting down, You should be able too find somewhere that will machine them for cheaper

 

[blackGSX2g]

Yea, no kidding. Its not rocket science that they need to do:
http://hometown.aol.com/rcm1061/myhomepage/auto.html

bring that in and show them what they need to do and ask why it'll cost $250.

 

[anconover]

250$? thats insane, ive seen it done for 50$.

 

[blueman803]

Thats what I thought, anyone know of a good place for machine work that i could mail them to?

 

[eclipse90gsxt]

Print the specs out and ask them why they are charging 250.00 for it. I just got my 1G rods done for $75 at a local machine shop.

 

[Suparata]

It’s not rocket science but it is common sense that you should also have the rods reconditioned using better bolts besides machining for the second gen pistons and that’s what probably our friend here forgot to mention that he was quoted for. All you guys stop confusing people here just because you’ve got what you paid for.

blueman803
Don’t waste your time and money with those pistons when you can have a set of forged pistons at a price that is very close to what you would pay for machining plus the pistons themselves.

 

[blueman803]

Would buying stock 7 bolt rods be an option? I know they are weaker than big rods, but they are easily capable of handling 300 whp right? That is pretty much my ultimate goal with the car, due to the problems with more power. So would using the smaller rods be a stupid decision?

 

[blackGSX2g]

With an ultimate goal of 300whp, I would say they would suffice. I like to mod on the side of caution, so I go with the strongest I can, but I would like to make more power than 300. There are pleanty of people on this site making more than that with their stock 7-bolt rods.

 

[anconover]

7bolt rods in a 6bolt motor really arent an option hehe... 300whp goal? Do a complete stock rebuild man. Stock pistons, stock big rods etc. Youll have no problems and will save a bunch.

 

[Suparata]

7 bolt rods are smaller in everyway including narrower therefore they cannot be used in a 6 bolt application.

Your goal now is 300HP. But “who’s kidding who”? When you get there and the engine runs great you will want to go faster, faster and faster. We all do no matter how fast it gets. So do yourself a favor: build that bottom end the strongest you can afford to avoid re-building it in the near future because it expired when you made a few tuning mistakes in your quest for the “best the engine can support”.

Using forged pistons will help up to a point to “get away with murder” if detonation is present and believe me it will be very much present from now on.
Mitch.

 

[anconover]

personally, i think a stock rebuild with big rods and stock pistons will be plenty suitable. You can reach your goal of 300whp no problem, and ive seen 500whp made on a stock high mileage bottom end. He can even make 400whp reliably. For some people i think building a motor just isnt practical or neccessary, and will just be throwing away money.

 

[blueman803]

I understand the point that if you get there you want to go faster. But in a fwd platform, anything over 300 hp isn't going to be a great street car. Things are going to break a lot quicker, and traction becomes a huge issue. My goals for this car are to have a fairly quick fun car to drive. If I get to 300 and decide I want more, I would probably start over and get an awd vehicle to begin with.

Why would the 2nd gen rods not work? Surely they fit right onto the 2nd gen pistons, so that side is not the issue. And the crank's have the same journals right? According to the eagle specifications the crank diameters are the same. Is the rod's width a lot smaller, so it would not center on the crank or something?

 

[anconover]

Im not sure why your so bent on 2g pistons. Go with stock big rods, stock pistons. This motor isnt for a high HP car, nothing more is needed. Trust me.

 

[blueman803]

Mostly I am stuck on using them due to the fact that I already have a set.