in a 406 build. At enginekits.com i found a set of powerhouse I beams, $159pressed $189bushed #LG5-5700I, rated to 500hp. then a set of fullfloating H-beams for $269 #LG3-5700H, 700hp. they also have reconditioned OEM style5.7 rodds w/ARPbolts for $126.

I know Hbeams are better in strength but u pay for it with their weight, if this being a decent rod(never heard of powerhouse) is it worth it that much more to get the Hbeams if im not spinning over 6K. H-beams are most likly stroker,and i know im going to have clearance issues with I-beams, so either i grind on them a lil or just run a small-base circle cam.

umm im also a lil new at building engines so i need to ask this while im here.... what is the difference between pressed fit and full-floating(also called bushed i believe) and is one better than the other. im going to use speedpro #H616CP30 pistons and they can fit either style of rod fitting

 

Geeze thats cheap. My H beams were around 450ish mark.

 

you pay your machinist to press the pressed fit rods & pistons but you can assemble full floating ones yourself

 

In my opinion,run the I-beams.H beams are stronger,and they have their place,but on a street engine operating at mostly lower R's,there's no sense in slinging all that weight around.

As far as pressed or floating pins go,on a race motor,floating pins save time on rebuilds,but on an engine that is going to (hopefully)be togethor for a while,I'd say go pressed.

 

thanks for answering the pressed or floatin question. i did some more searching on powerhouse products and still everyone likes there stuff, though it must be generic. as long as its not as crappy as those generic rachets i got from harbor freight, the word generic wont scare me

 

Honestly,I probabley would not be too scared of them,as long as they have a return policy.
After you receive them,mic them or have your machine shop check them out,as long as their true you shouldn't have any trouble.

Just a side note as far as checking tolarences at home,a good set of digital calipers are money well spent.Anyone can read them,and you can check all kinds of tolarences at home.

 

i'd look at gm powdered metal rods

 

Stock or PM rods with upgraded hardware would be ok so long as you don't incorporate a power adder.

 

I agree,but stouter rods are never wasted money,and should the engine see more punishment down the road thah originally intended,the rotating assembly is already up to par.
On top of that,you'd be hard pressed to aquire a set of PM rods,replace the bolts with ARP's,and have them sized for $250,at least around here.

 

kinda hard to find those powered metal rods, i'll try gmgoodwrench.com or whatever later on.

I just got done reading an article in my SUPER CHEVY mag and it was saying that on a hardness scale, the powered are at about 42, and pink rods are rated bout 20. but that might not say to much bout them coming from what i've heard bout pink. THese rods are stronger than 4340 forged steel and is actually closer to 300-M.
this was all quoted so please dont jump on me if there is a non-believer

 

I guess if it were me building a hot engine, I'd stick to a brand name on something as critical as con rods, IMHO.

Maybe these are "brand name" rods, but I'm talking about the big brands....

 

So what do you consider big brand? The only big brands I know of are Carillo, Crower, or Oliver etc. Pretty much everything else I seen look identical and seem to be coming from a plant in China somewhere. Eagle, Scat, Cat etc. are all coming from China and the blanks look identical. Other than the machine work is done here. The more expensive American made stuff are the only rods I have seen that stand out as big companies. If the company will stand behind their product then I dont see a problem with using some less popular brand like powerhouse. Just look around and see who is using them and how they are working for them. BTW those Powerhouse rods look like another company who is buying blanks from China and selling them here under their name.

 

Yes, those type of brands.

I really do not want to find out if a company stands behind their product when there is a hole in the side of my block since most companies do not cover consequential damages in warranty.

Never said they were bad rods, just my .02...

Not trying to hijack the thread, but my perspective comes somewhat from my job. I work in product reliability for a major ag equipment mfg. and I see people buy machines that cost >$250,000 then go looking for the cheapest oils, filters, etc. to maintain them. Most oils these days are fairly decent, but filters, expecially hydraulic filters, are a different story.

I see engineering changes and supplier changes on a daily basis for cost improvement. Lots of them are good ideas but it may not be apparent today, or tomorrow, but often you find out too late that you got what you paid for.

 

I see what your saying. I think if I was heavily into racing and trying build a really hot engine I would go for the big companies too. If your build a low rpm street engine I think the knockoffs have their place too.

 

Here is some research data from Metaldyne on powder metal rods. Pretty interesting stuff. Yield strength is added pressure before permanent deformation which PM rods are superior. I would think Tensile strength could be more important since this is most likely when the rods will fail. Very close in comparison between plain forged and powdered metal with the forged rods with a slight advantage. BTW I work for a product research lab and I see lots of products that are compared and sometimes non name brand items are equal if not superior than that of big name brands.

Mechanical Properties

Forged Steel Powder Forged

Yield Strength Rp0.2 550 N/mm2 670 N/mm2

Tensile Strength Rm 1050 N/mm2 1030 N/mm2

Elongation A5 10% 11%

Density p 7.82 g/cm3 min. 7.80 g/cm3 min.

Modulus of Elasticity E 206 GPa 207 GPa

Poisson's Ratio 0.294 0.294

Core Hardness 28-34 Rc 21-31 Rc