Guys,
I have an opportunity to build my 3rd gen Camaro for a new racing class this year. The class allows aluminum rods. What's your opinions on them? I've never ran them before. Any stumbling blocks to look for? I understand that I'll have to deal with increased thermal expansion. Any particular brand? How much weight could I save over steel rods?
Here are some of the engine specs.
365" sbc w/ Etec 170 heads
4.06" bore/3.52 stroke
6" rod length
flattop pistons
Heads milled for 12.5+ compression
solid lift flat tappet cam
7000 rpm shift points

Do you guys think that there will be a performance gain that is worth the extra hassle of running the al rods?
TIA,
Kevin

 

No

-Shannon

 

Someone's goin Cheap Street Racin' looks like

If it's a street car in any way shape or form I'd stay with a steel piece. Even a "featherweight" design maybe. Then again I don't have any personal experience, just secondhand info from watching local buddies. Sorry! Goodluck.

 

Aluminum rods are cheap, light, and strong. The problem with them is that they don't last. Most people I know who use them go for maybe 100 runs. Pros replace them much more often. A set of Manley "standard weight" Al rods are in the mid 500gm range and the light weight rods are 50-100gms less. This compares weight and strength wise to a lightweight billet steel rod and is about 1/2 the price. ~$600 v. ~$1,200 dollars. But they are definitely a race only item and will need replacement long before a set of steel rods.

There are various designs and weights available depending on the intended use and other components selected. But in general, a comparable strength aluminum rod will be cheaper, lighter and stronger.

Rich Krause

 

Autoroc,

Yep, I'm looking at racing in the PRO series. They have a new class called Mean Street, which is like Cheap Street, but without the juice. It'll probably start off being a low 11/high 10 second class, then move down to the 10.6 range over the next few months. I'll probably stick with a lightweight steel rod based on what you and rskrause have told me.

Thanks for your information.
Kevin

 

No way would I go with aluminum rods,imo! I hear that al. rods are mainly for the big cars when they blow so they dont scatter to much stuff and for people with enough $ ta change them very very often. So if you are like me then neither of the 2 is you. I would say to go with a light weight steel rod and gain some strength and lose some hassle!