polishing rod beams?

[roger van doren]

I read in "street rodder" they polished some nailhead rods to remove stress risers by grinding and smoothing them.has anyone done this before to pontiacs and does it matter?
I have some SD rods that I was thinking about doing

[roger van doren]

I read in "street rodder" they polished some nailhead rods to remove stress risers by grinding and smoothing them.has anyone done this before to pontiacs and does it matter?
I have some SD rods that I was thinking about doing

[Brian Baker]

To answer you're questions, yes and, yes. What they grind off is the casting line left in the side of the rod from the casting (or forged) process (where the two molds that formed the rod meet). By doing this, it smooths the surface of the rod, thereby eliminating any "stress risers" from potentially creating a crack in the side of the rod from being constantly pulled and compressed. Generally speaking, this process doesn't strengthen a cast rod, it just helps prevent a rod failure from the aforementioned "stress risers". High quality forged rods shouldn't need this process as the metal is less porous as the result of forging.

[Dick Duclow]

It's a beneficial thing to do, BUT...be sure to grind (polish) up and down the rod not sideways. Keep any polishing lines running the length of the rod. Sideways marks will cause problems.

[PONTIAC DUDE]

Ditto to both of the above answers. Go fer it. Later