[goatwgn]

Miss a shift or rev the engine too high a couple of times with the 40 year old high mileage cast rods and even if they stay together, it will have you awake at night worrying about it. I ran my old engine up past the mark several times back in the late 80's when there wasnt any choices. Lucky for me they "stayed in there". For peace of mind on my new build I went with the forged units. Went with forged pistons as well. Cast parts arent that much cheaper, and although they are pretty stable and resileint, when they do "fail" they go all the way, and they can take your otherwise nice engine to the core pile.

[lust4speed]

Originally Posted by Pontirag

what? like you can look at a rod and see if one is better than another?...

Well, maybe not if you're blind . The cast rods that I have seen after a catastrophic event (not counting rod failures themselves) are broken in pieces - usually several pieces at that. Our machine shop keeps interesting parts on display. There is an Eagle rod there that is compressed into an "S". It is still in one piece and the small end contains part of the wristpin, and the large end contains part of the crank. This particular rod was out of a BBC block that came apart and took everything with it when it went.

[72LuxuryLeMansLa.]

Originally Posted by goatwgn

Cast parts arent that much cheaper, and although they are pretty stable and resileint, when they do "fail" they go all the way, and they can take your otherwise nice engine to the core pile.

No Doubt!!! I have no problems running a cast crank (new) but I will never trust an engine of mine to cast rods and pistons!!!!

Karl

[Don 79 TA]

Originally Posted by PONTIAC-ONE

If you cannot stand having something "Made in China" then you're in big trouble, those buggers have their hands into everything nowadays.

hey lets not blame those buggers, but the fokkers here that allow jobs to be sent overseas.... it's all about the benjamins.... and always will be.....

to me... if your stock rods are in decent shape not requiring them, F-it use em
otherwise if they need work... then yup it makes sense to get new replacement ones
Crower and Eagle has some nice stuff too.....

all this back and forth about not wanting something made in china is like that ole mentality of you aren't american if you buy a foreign car lol

lets all just face it now and take it like men.... we are loosing america, and loosing it faster then we know, but hey... thats what our soon to be increased taxes are for, so we can support those that get F-ed by being outsourced and jobless

[Tripower455]

Originally Posted by abefromen

I've asked myself this question:

What would give more piece of mind? Rolling down the highway with 35 year old but properly reconditioned made in the USA rods or new rods made with Chinese steel?

Maybe I am just over thinking this a bit but I try to use good old USA made things whenever possible........especially internal engine components.

I am certainly not disputing anyone's advice or opinions here. Just tying to make a decision as engine longevity is important in this build.

After seeing the window in the side of my friend's matching numbers '71 455 HO block, made when the big end broke off the stock rod during a mild romp (completely stock engine!), I am a believer in the forged parts. Chinese or not.

YMMV

[track73]

My last 455 build was done before lower cost forged rods were available. I had them magna fluxed, shotpeened, new bolts and resized. They went trough some missed shifts and many burnouts with out any problems. I have posted the demize of this engine due to a air cleaner stud being sucked into to number 7 cylinder. When the stud got wedged in to the chamber it cracked the cylinder wall causing coolant to be sucked into the chamber. It hydrauliced breaking the rod and taking out the cam, lfter bore, oil pump, windage try, and finally through the pan. I have broken a few Chev circle track engines and have seen rods "L" shaped with out this much damage.

[HWYSTR455]

Nothing wrong with properly, and I mean 'properly' prepped factory rods. But, where can you get properly prepped rods done for $240? Rod bolts are like $55-$65 bucks alone. By the time you're done, you can easily have $300 in a set of prepped rods. Just doesn't make any sense to me, no brainer decision.

.

[71ModelJ]

Originally Posted by track73

My last 455 build was done before lower cost forged rods were available. I had them magna fluxed, shotpeened, new bolts and resized. They went trough some missed shifts and many burnouts with out any problems. I have posted the demize of this engine due to a air cleaner stud being sucked into to number 7 cylinder. When the stud got wedged in to the chamber it cracked the cylinder wall causing coolant to be sucked into the chamber. It hydrauliced breaking the rod and taking out the cam, lfter bore, oil pump, windage try, and finally through the pan. I have broken a few Chev circle track engines and have seen rods "L" shaped with out this much damage.

Wow! I feel your pain. Must have really hurt hearing that!

[lust4speed]

Have to get quasi-political on the Chinese topic. Our local steel mill was shut down by the EPA because of not meeting smog standards. The Chinese were the only ones bidding on the mill, and sent over several hundred laborers to disassemble every part of the mill and ship it back to China. There's a good possibility that the forged rods are being made in our old mill. Don't blame China, blame the damn tree huggers. Does it make you feel any better knowing that the rods were produced with our technology and equipment?

[Bob Crueger]

Blame the tree huggers? Blame the politicians? How 'bout blame yourself. there isn't a single one you that doesn't have wal-mart-bought, cheap overseas-made cr@p all around your house.

There was a storage lift company out of Texas that sold two lines of storage lifts, almost spec'ed out identical, but one was made in USA and one made in China. The Chinese unit sold for about 33% less. This company no longer offers the US made line any longer, because it didn't sell.
So I guess that's because environmentalists won't let the American companies dump their waste in rivers anymore, or because unions have ruined America, or because we have a godless muslim president...blame anybody but yourself when the standard of living becomes the same all over the world.

I wish I had a Chinese forged crank instead of a Chinese cask crank in my engine.

[track73]

Tree huggers? I live in North west Indiana. I haven't seen stars in years. If it weren't for "tree huggers", I wouldn't see the sun. Corporations want to max their profit to increase their stock price. The next quarter is always the most important. So in order to make more profit they sell the mill and buy back their stock with the money and raise the price. that way the CEO can sell his stock options for millions. Then we can blame the muslin prez for the jobs loss. Ain't America great.

[69Goat1]

Originally Posted by HWYSTR455

Nothing wrong with properly, and I mean 'properly' prepped factory rods. But, where can you get properly prepped rods done for $240? Rod bolts are like $55-$65 bucks alone. By the time you're done, you can easily have $300 in a set of prepped rods. Just doesn't make any sense to me, no brainer decision.

.

Just checked with my machinist, to prep 8 rods, resize and add ARP bolts is $160 and that includes the cost of the bolts... I wouldn't sweat a stock rod in this case and would use one in a heartbeat and sleep like a baby...

[lust4speed]

Originally Posted by track73

Tree huggers? I live in North west Indiana. I haven't seen stars in years. If it weren't for "tree huggers", I wouldn't see the sun. Corporations want to max their profit to increase their stock price. The next quarter is always the most important. So in order to make more profit they sell the mill and buy back their stock with the money and raise the price. that way the CEO can sell his stock options for millions. Then we can blame the muslin prez for the jobs loss. Ain't America great.

The steel company went bankrupt, and 3,600 employees in our local area lost their jobs including the CEO. It was paying the Feds off for the energy credits that did the mill in. The EPA didn't care if they polluted, they just wanted the payoff. Government ended up with most of the sale proceeds to settle up the past energy credits used. Feds could have worked with the mill and offered tax relief for the company investing in state-of-the-art equipment, but instead taxed the mill out of existence.

[PLAY400]

I'm another one with Ace's cheap forged rods. My machinist figured it was my best bang for the money and most here felt it was good insurance over 38 year old rods

[grivera]

Pontiac Dude:

Nice combos on youre website!! In this link, it indicates that you went 10.80s on the bottle with the referenced combo, which uses stock rods. Were forged rods used in the nitrous version?

http://www.angelfire.com/fl4/pontiac...nebuildup.html

[NBF823]

I went with the China forgies. I lost a 400 years ago, not to the rods, but the rod bolts. That motor was about 350hp and went to 5500. It didn't last.

Originally Posted by Bob Crueger

Blame the tree huggers? Blame the politicians? How 'bout blame yourself. there isn't a single one you that doesn't have wal-mart-bought, cheap overseas-made cr@p all around your house.

There was a storage lift company out of Texas that sold two lines of storage lifts, almost spec'ed out identical, but one was made in USA and one made in China. The Chinese unit sold for about 33% less. This company no longer offers the US made line any longer, because it didn't sell.
So I guess that's because environmentalists won't let the American companies dump their waste in rivers anymore, or because unions have ruined America, or because we have a godless muslim president...blame anybody but yourself when the standard of living becomes the same all over the world.

I wish I had a Chinese forged crank instead of a Chinese cask crank in my engine.

I disagree. I think it's the Anti-union American buisness owner. Always money grubbing and unwilling to pay a fair wage. Always thinking they earned their buck, when the people who do all the actual work make less. It's not that Americans don't want to buy American goods, it's that the American employers won't pay their employees enough to buy american goods. If minimum wage were adjusted inflation, to match the late '60s our lowest paid workers in this country would be making $16 an hour, not $7.25. I know who ruined this country. Constantly spilling their innaccurate crap at every opportunity. I love Pontiacs, the USA, and I'm not a tree hugger, and it's sad that every time I come to this site, I get swamped with the same right wing bull as the buisness owners and politicians who sold America for a quick profit. I could learn alot about Pontiacs here, instead I get constant political miss information - Thanks buddy.

When I find myself reading this crap, and arguing for the defense of a working middle class America, I wish I would just get booted from this site. Then I'd be forced out of these conversations - that I'd just rather not be in. We were defeated long ago, now America is in debt with little industry, and there is no real reason for me to engage, one only need to look at the last 50yrs of domestic economics to prove my point.

[abefromen]

I ask a question about rods and now this thread turns political...........zeesch.

[lust4speed]

Maybe so, but both left wing and right wing zealots told you to go with forged rods -- what more of a recommendation could you want?

Also note that all of us that have had a stock rod come apart have recommended the new forged rods. It's really impossible for anyone that has lost an engine due to cast rods to even consider a stock rod, no matter how well prepped.

[b-man]

Looks like the OP has had his question answered.