Con rod ?? for street stroker

[6T5]

I recently bought an abandoned project, a 4.15 stroker. It's supposedly the first series 440Source kit from many, many years ago.

It has "Cat" rods. I see Cat stuff on the internet. It's low priced like ProComp stuff.

440 Source still sells that rod as a budget hi-perf rod ($299). At least I think it's a Cat rod...the big end looks the same, quite unique.

-The Cat rods I have are about the same bulk as an LY rod but they taper up towards the pin end.
- They have floated .990 pins.
- They have MSA 3/8 rod bolts(MSA makes areospace fasteners and are what Howards put in their rods)
- They are forged (440Source says 5140 steel)


Does anyone know anything about these rods? The big end uses shorter bolts than an LY or Scat/Eagle....the side bolsters where the bolt passes through the cap are about 1/4 inch shorter.

With the stubby bolsters and tapered beam, these rods would be definitley lighter than an LY.

Application - street car with decent top end (a max wedge setup) and a big street cam.

Thanks much

Asking here first ...call 440 Source later....I value your opinions to be the most objective.

 

[383man]

This is the I-beam rod and piston I run from 440Source as they came with my 4.15 stroker kit. I bought thses in early 2011 as I had the eng in the car running in June 2011. They are still working great for me and have held up fine. Ron

 

[lewtot184]

This is the I-beam rod and piston I run from 440Source as they came with my 4.15 stroker kit. I bought thses in early 2011 as I had the eng in the car running in June 2011. They are still working great for me and have held up fine. Ron

that looks like a PEP rod and Icon piston.

 

[6T5]

Thanks Ron,

No, mine is much like thier 200-1015.... if you go to 440Source you'll notice the stubby bolsters on the cap.

Thanks Lewtot.

 

[lewtot184]

i have a set of those 200-1015 rods i was going to use in a mild build. they're better than stock ly rods, in my opinion, but i noticed the bearing locating notches in the caps may not be machined in the correct location. take a good look at them.

 

[Meep-Meep]

From my research regarding overseas aftermarket rods you might consider using those as paper towel holders. The way that industry works is barrels full of rods and other components are spit out of a plant and get sold at different price levels. The folks that take the time to check the metallurgy and so forth pay more but start with a better product. The rejects get sold to the budget companies. So a new set of rods that are ready to go for $299.00? And the seller is making money off that?? Hmmmmmm. Makes me wonder. The best as far as overseas components go would be K1 Technologies. He starts with the pick of the littler then does the finish machining in the US and as a result his stuff is really nice. There are some well known builders that will only use K1 for a budget build, otherwise it's Callies, etc..

 

[383man]

I can tell you the 440Source I-beam rod I showed you is the rods that came in the 440Source 4.15 stroker kit I bought in 2011 and one reason I had no problem using them was because my brother was using them in his 499 stroker and he had them in his buddies 493 he built for him. Myself I like that rod as its held up great in his race eng and his buddies street eng. The only thing I saw on them was the piston pins are a tad tight which was no problem to me as I just honed the rod bushing to get the pin fit I liked.
I cant say if they still use the same rods in their kits now but everything in the 440Source kit I got was fine to use in my street eng. I did work a few items a tad but everything came in specs and as I say its been holding up good. I race the car once or twice a year so I put about 4 to 10 passes a year on the eng but I drive it a ton on the street. I do not street race but I will wind it out a little every now and then but most street miles are easy driving. It does get alot of street miles on it though. Ron

 

[Budnicks]

many of the rods from 440source are 100% Made in the USA too,
especially the Platinum series, they worked really well for me,
built a few engines with them,
no bearing problems or weird issues at all
http://store.440source.com/Platinum-Series-Rods/departments/138/

also other inexpensive, better than OEM/Stock

Eagle
Scat
Howard Cams
Manley

some are fine for budget builds, not necessarily for a 1000hp 600ci build

CP-Carrillo
Crower
Callies
K1
Oliver
Ultra
Lunati
probably more I can't think of, at the moment

all make rods in H {preferred} or I beam

some have different sized ends for use on different type combos,
really depends on bearing size, pin size & lengths

go to Summit for decent examples, enter connecting rods & your criteria


lots to choice from, even more when you go with aluminum, not necessarily the best choice for a street use

 

[lewtot184]

i have two sets of 440 source rods, h-beam and i-beam. both are chinese.

 

[6T5]

I called 440Source. They said thier budget rods are good for 500hp on one and 600 or so on the other....can't remember which was which, geez.

I'm just not confident that my rods are exactly the same as 44Source, thus I have no real info to go on.

I guess I'm putting this thing together once and hope to make some power...........I will no doubt flogg on it. Perhaps it's best to get known budget rod like Scat/Eagle/440, etc.

I'll sell the Cats maybe, should be about equal to an LY, I would think....at least they are new with good bolts.

 

[lewtot184]

post a pic of what you have. i've got some 440 source h-beams in one of my cars. seem to work fine, lightweight (734grms), but i don't hot rod much anymore. the PEP rods are advertised to over 700hp, but fact is there's folks out there that can break an anvil. i've got a set of CAT h-beams i've put 16,000 street miles on them, beat on them a little, and i'm going to use them again. a lot of options.

 

[6T5]

thanks Lewt but I can't seem to post pics......they are very similar to the #200-1015 on 440Source website except they taper up near the small end.....not a straight beam like the one shown in thier pic or like an LY.

 

[383man]

About how much HP are you hoping to make with this eng ? Ron

 

[6T5]

Well Ron, kinda wondering that myself...

-493 cu in
-#286 max wedge heads
-crossram w/3705's
-max wedge exhaust
-10:1 comp
-rumpy street cam...maybe around 250deg duration @ .050 (I have a Voodoo hyd and a Comp street mech roller)

What do you suppose that will produce?

 

[383man]

Well Ron, kinda wondering that myself...

-493 cu in
-#286 max wedge heads
-crossram w/3705's
-max wedge exhaust
-10:1 comp
-rumpy street cam...maybe around 250deg duration @ .050 (I have a Voodoo hyd and a Comp street mech roller)

What do you suppose that will produce?

My guess would be around 500 hp ? Ron