As much as it pains me to admit it, the Chinese connecting rods are a better choice in every case I can think of than 1958-62 production rods. I remember clearly paying $200.00 a set for the old rods and also scouring the junk yards looking for 58-62 Pontiacs for the sole purpose of extracting the rods. Those were the days. Personally never had a failure of those old rods using them without heat treatment. But the highest HP application for me was around 415-425 HP. in a 66 2+2 stick shift car @ 6000 RPM's. I guess I was lucky. Very careful prep and ARP fasteners likely kept them in 1 piece. With the Chinese rods, all of them require the careful prep work. Taking them out of the rice paper and putting them directly in the engine is almost a guaranteed failure.
|