US made conrods

Hey all

I'm getting some custom rods for my engine.
Nothing available off the shelf apart from some MAXSPEEDING Rod H-beam cheapies, which I've used before and required gugdeon pins shortened and locks machined into the pistons, as the originals were press fit in rod floating in piston.
Anyhow I digress, for this new engine I have custom JE pistons with 5mm shorter comp. distance, smaller dia pins etc etc.

So 5mm longer custom rods it is, the question is are any of the US rod "manufacturers" eg Crower, Callies, Carrillo, BME, R&R etc better or worse in design and manufacture?

Or should I just stump up the cash and get a set of Pankl rods. [cool starry bra]I've got one in my air compressor as it was the right length to use when rebuilding the freebie I got that had a broken rod. [/cooltstarrybra]

I'll probably be using steel or maybe alluminum if the $$$ are comparable.

Any other tips/traps to be aware of?

I'd like to use one of the local Australian manufacturers but they seem to price themselves way out of the market(whats new eh?)

Cheers
Andrew

you have the pistons already, eh?Most of the US companies have their rods done in either of the 2 factories I import from in Sichuan... I've been there and seen rods boxed and inked up for a bunch of them.

Then tell me rod c-c needed, big end dia and width and what pin size you have?

Pankl/Carrillo will cost millions, maybe more. Almost all will.

Might even be nice to know the motor---

John---mixing and matching rods and pistons since 1987---semi custom rods sent world wide.
Hundreds of sets since 2007....

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Yep pistons are done.

Engine Daihatsu CB80 3 cyl turbo - Did that help? ;-) DOHC 76.5mm x 73mm

Here you go.
All dimensions in MM
C-C 130
BE bore 46
BE width 24.85 (crank guided)
PE bore 16.02
PE width 22
straight rod no offset
Ideally would like a tapered H-Beam
Current rods have 9mm bolts and theres definately room for 3/8 maybe ever 7/16 if needed
Has oil squirters

242gm piston/rings/locks/pins

I have tang info etc already too.

Expect about 9500rpm upper limit but would also be nice to know it won't explode instantly if I mechanically over rev it to around 10500.

We currently have a standard(ish) 125mm rod engine with 9000rpm soft cut with extra 200 rpm till hard, but it falls over about 8500. it's hung together really well so if the head/turbo can keep up I don't think the rpm is unrealistic for a rally engine.

Also have others interested but they're all cheapskates with road cars.

why did you order pistons before you had a rod nailed down?
( cries)

Why? why? why? (sobs into his cuppa)
Rod journal somewhere around 43?

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

In my research I couldn't find an off the shelf piston or rod close to what I wanted so I ordered pistons first because they're sexier than rods and figured both would have to be custom anyhooo

Yeah about 43mm rod journal

I can have done anything---including saying "make the pin bushes for the silly bastid at 16mm but leave material enough for us to take it out to 20 (or what ever), and 3/8" bolts

4 sets min.

So find a few other loons and tell them about this hot deal----4 sets will cost you maybe what 1.2 Carillio rods cost..

( am a CP dealer which means I guess i can do custom rods. Never have yet cause none of my customers are fabulously wealthy enough to think about hoity toity fancy rods....hell you should see all the children here talk "You don't need forged pistons, my brother talked to a guy at the 7-11 when he was getting a 64oz Big Gulp and that guy's cousin has a Honja/Mitsu/Focus/VW/Volvo making 460 HP on a totally stock bottom end so you don't need forged pistons!"

I can even ask for I beam if you want... last piston/rod orders I did was, the guys asked for I beam for classic Pinto and classic 99 Saab, both to the same village in Sweden, both same joural diam, same rod width, same pin (22mm) just different c-c so Fords were like 139mm and Saab 144mm which was +13 for the Ford and +10 for the Saab so both had pistons end up around 29.75 to 30.25mm comp hgt

Think you can find 3 other loons?

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

ooohhhh Screaming Charade????

This thread is useless without pics!

Sadly no chance of getting 3 more interested, there's not many of these left and even fewer silly enough to modify them much.
I'd love to be able to get 4 sets made either as group buy or to onsell but it took me 12months to sell the 4 extra balance shaft gears I had made, a company making pistons can't sell them at 600euro a set and the online "community" still whines nobody makes parts for my eighties turbo shopping trolley!

They are pretty solid little engines to start with and 175-200hp at the front wheels is easy on standard internals.

Pic attached for you Matt

Here's a video of it at a khanacross





Attached is a pic of the Group B 926R prototype which we a slowly building a replica of. mid engine RWD. That's what the new engine is for, already got a good rebuilt spare CB80 to use initally so I can take my time on the wild engine as time and funds allow.

Well let me see what Carrillo/Pankls cost, OK. That'll have to wait to Monday when i call in an order for a set of Nissan SR20DET and SR20DEZ--both going to China for drift cars I think..
Guy wants a Chevy LS3, too

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Sound good, thanks John.

I'm in no screaming rush.

Quote
john vanlandingham
you have the pistons already, eh?Most of the US companies have their rods done in either of the 2 factories I import from in Sichuan... I've been there and seen rods boxed and inked up for a bunch of them.

Apparently, if it's forged there and the final machining is done here, then that is enough to be able to say they were "Made in the USA" since technically all you got from China were "raw materials".

---

Pete Remner
Cleveland, Ohio

1984 RX-7 (rallycross thing)
1978
Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver.

Quote
buerckner


They are pretty solid little engines to start with and 175-200hp at the front wheels is easy on standard internals.

Pic attached for you Matt

Drool... dream, wish.

So much love for the mighty 3 cylinder!

Quote
Pete

Quote
john vanlandingham
you have the pistons already, eh?Most of the US companies have their rods done in either of the 2 factories I import from in Sichuan... I've been there and seen rods boxed and inked up for a bunch of them.

Apparently, if it's forged there and the final machining is done here, then that is enough to be able to say they were "Made in the USA" since technically all you got from China were "raw materials".

ALl the steel comes from specialty mills in OZtralia. All finish done there. 2 nice shiny Sunnen machines for finishing big end and pin end.
'memeber I went there back abouty 3 years ago---just after the big earthquake is Sichhuan that smooshed 80-90,000 people?

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

I do remember.

But it's worth pointing out that a lot of "Made in the USA" is really "Machined in the USA" or maybe "Repackaged in the USA". But maybe the "Made in the USA" refers to the box that the part comes in and not the part inside the box.

Heh. I remember from my BMX days, one of the ragazines said about one bike "The frame is part mild steel and part 4130 chromoly, and the seat tube is the chromoly tube, which an inside source says is the tube to have if you are making a (trimoly?) frame." Sure, because if you put a sticker that says "chromoly" on the bike, it has to be on a tube that actually is chromoly, and those stickers always go on the seat tube...

---

Pete Remner
Cleveland, Ohio

1984 RX-7 (rallycross thing)
1978
Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2014 12:07PM by Pete.