Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO-relic
Fireball Roberts set the pole for the 1963 Daytona 500 at a speed of 160.943 mph. This marked his third consecutive pole position at Daytona with a Pontiac.
The average speed for the 1963 Daytona 500 was 151.556 mph.
Pontiac 421 equipped cars finished 7th and 8th, ahead of Smokey Yunick's 9th place 427 Mystery Motor equipped car, who had defected from Pontiac to Chevy that year.
500 mile NASCAR race with average speed of 151mph, is a 3-1/2 hour race.
Using factory forged GM SD421 rods.
That requires sustained 6300rpm engine speeds for 3.5 hours.
Vintage forged, heat treated, USA-made connecting rods are not weak.
The SD455 rod is even stronger.
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There is a big difference between rubber rods and early SD rods. The Sd rods had a noticeable ring to them when tapped together. Rubber rods did not because the steel was not as good. Even with better steel the beams are spindly.
SD 455 rods are "OK" but if Jim Butler himself tells me that those rods can break just looking at them sideways (he did) that tells you a lot.
No sense in living in the past. Hard to even find rubber rods anymore.
Its a fact that generic H beams are stronger (when checked out, just good cores) than any OEM Pontiac rod.