Stock 70 Rods

[James Sample]

I'm in the process of rebuilding my bone stock 472 which had a bad rod bearing. I have a good 500 crank to swap in (76 vintage I am told). Planning to go with high compression pistons, a cam, modified iron heads, intake, headers, basic stuff. Just curious if I should keep my stock rods (they look great), or find some aftermarket I-beams. I am not planning on making over 500 HP / 650 ft-lbs long term. Will stock rods hold up well at 450-500 HP?

 

[robocop]

One of our most knowledgeable posters ran a '29 T Ford with 500 Cad power and made hundreds of passes as high as 6500 rpm with no failures.
I think proper clearances, bearing crush and good oil pressure are more important to rod life.

 

[Psychoholic]

unless you're pouring a ton of compression or forcing atmospheres into the motor I think you'd be fine

 

[Cadillac Kid 1]

The generally applied technique is to use ARP rod bolts.
Greg Surfas

 

[cadillac512]

I ran stock rods in the "T" as mentioned above. Shifted at 6000 and crossed the line at 6200 or so. Ran over 700 passes that way and still was fine. The car ran a best of 9.94 at 133 or so in the 1/4 with that engine.
I would never attempt that without using ARP bolts and having the rods resized. The bolts must be tightened using a stretch gauge every time...a torque reading is not the same thing.
If a rod has had a bearing spin or badly overheat it should be replaced and not re-used.

RPM is far harder on rods and rod bolts than the power level is. The forces generated with engine speed increase dramatically.

Terry

 

[James Sample]

Thanks guys. That helps a lot. I will definitely get ARP studs with the stock rods so I can spend the money elsewhere.