ok so buick did a good thing I think

they made theyer 350 motors with forged con. rods
why cant I use these instead of the ungodly priced new rods
of the (I assume) same size
the only problem I could think of is crank journal size
and can you mix and match used parts.

ok would it be unwise to use this setup (used parts)
for something in the 375 hp range as a daily driver
an thoughts on this would be appriceated

 

The Buick 350 and a sbc 350 are diff. engines and I doubt that the rods are the same size. The sbc came with forged rods,though some are better than others. I got a set of the gm pm rods before they went up in price, but any of the thicker stock sbc 350 stock rods are strong enough for any reasonable hp level.

 

Yep, even older chevy motors had good forged rods, the PM's are better. If you have access to junk/used motors rip some 350's down and look for "GMX" or "GMK" stamped on the big end. These are the beefiest stockers. Most of the difference is in the amount of material around the small end. Although all the stockers weigh about the same, avoid the rods with large balance pads on the small end, because if the weight is in the pad, it's not added in a critical area.

 

ok so the block I have is from a 75 vette
the short end is untouched are you saying that it is possable that it already has forged con. rods
and can they be reused with a new set of pistons
cause I need to get at least 9.5:1 CR
any rate thanx for the info

 

Its just the material that they are made out of that make them less than ideal. For the amount of money it costs to rebuild a set of rods (around 190 for resizing bigends, checking center-to-center and rodbolts), you can get a new set of 5140 scats. check ebay.

 

IF the bootom end is in good cond. yor stock rodds are probably perfectly ok and reuseable,don't spend money on new rods unless you need them.Also most after market rods require rebalancing,more money!