440 rods ???

[Bens69PlymouthSatellite]

Hey How's everyone doing!? Have a question. Are all 440 connecting rods forged for every year? Is there a difference in the strength? Is a 68 rod stronger than a 73-78? And will the later rods hold up against say 550hp? Thanks alot!

 

[Propwash]

Good question Ben.....If you're sticking that kind of bling and horsey's/torque into that motor, it would probably be a good idea to back it up with a decent forged rod designed to handle 550+ HP, considering your looking at uping the stakes by 175-250HP compared to the stock motor depending on the year.

Just my 2 cents

 

[Bens69PlymouthSatellite]

I agree but I hear of people all the time saying the stock mopar rods are beasts and will handle a mid 10 sec car w/ no problem and I am going to be building a almost 100% mopar engine,serious 452 heads,mopar purple cam,possibly 528 lift,with 1.6 rockers,srp pistons,and balanced stock forged rotating assembly,mopar dual plane manifold,so I am just kinda thinking I wanna use as much as mother mopar gave birth 2 and no matter what hp she actually ends up at I will be happy,dont know if I would make over 500 hp but who the hell cares its a street,mild strip car! And I see a 493 stroker in the near future.

 

[72 Charger SE]

Here's my take on it. Factory rods may very well be plenty strong enough for your project. However, they are probably already well used, and even if reconditioned, will still have a lot of use cycles on them. My worry would be metal fatigue from long term use. This probably wouldn't be an issue with a close to stock configuration, but if you're sinking a bunch of money into a killer engine, I would invest in stronger and newer rods. Money saved on your rods won't really be saved if they fail and take out the rest of your engine.

 

[Bens69PlymouthSatellite]

Good point,I think I will go w/ eagle h Beam rods in that case thanks alot!

 

[Propwash]

Good luck what ever route you go Ben...Can't wait to hear that 493 roaring down the road!

 

[wingcarenvy]

With the cost of putting a good rod bolt and resizing a stock rod, a aftermarket rod is not far off. I have had 10 second cars with stock rods. They work good as long as you dont put an aftermarket head on it. Its seems to be the deal breaker. Piston speed and weight are the factors to consider. So engine speed and weight of the piston/ring package are what dictates the use of an H beam. With a SRP light weight piston and a dual plane intake you are safe in using a stock rod. Just hard to spend a lot of money and still have a stock rod. Just my 2 cents.

 

[67 B-body]

according to my charts, the factory B-RB rod from the year 1964 through 1974 should be casting numbers 1851535.
In 69 1/2 the six pack rods were of the same casting numbers, but were meerly 100% Magnaglow inspected for imperfections.
I agree with those who say a "GOOD" set of stock rods will hold up to 500hp keeping the engine of not much more than 6000 - 6200 RPM.
The 426 stage 1 and stage 2 had a rod casting number of 2406886.

Hope it helps!

 

[Patrick]

"In 69 1/2 the six pack rods were of the same casting numbers, but were meerly 100% Magnaglow inspected for imperfections." Not! The six pac rod was a real beefie=heavy rod and nothing more. By 70 we'd figured out that the rod sucked for high rpm. It was just to heavy. After slinging one of those rods and killing my block. I went back to light LY rod. We didn't have the after market choices back then like today. But in todays world it just don't make sense to run 40 yro rods in a high hp big buck engine.

 

[69 Runner]

The rods used in the 69 M code motors were NOT the beefy ones. Those were not used until 70, and used the different balancer

 

[Cranky]

"In 69 1/2 the six pack rods were of the same casting numbers, but were meerly 100% Magnaglow inspected for imperfections." Not! The six pac rod was a real beefie=heavy rod and nothing more. By 70 we'd figured out that the rod sucked for high rpm. It was just to heavy. After slinging one of those rods and killing my block. I went back to light LY rod. We didn't have the after market choices back then like today. But in todays world it just don't make sense to run 40 yro rods in a high hp big buck engine.

Chrysler thought the problem with their hipo engines slinging rods was because the rod wasn't beefy enough so the 6 pack rod came out. Problem with that wasn't so much the rod but the rod bolts were not up to snuff and the 6 pack only made that worse since the rod bolts were the same size as what was used on the LY's.

 

[67 B-body]

Hmm

The rods used in the 69 M code motors were NOT the beefy ones. Those were not used until 70, and used the different balancer

Sorry Patrick,,, Guess I was right. Well,,,, Not me, but the information I have is.:evil5:

 

[scotts74birds]

So, the verdict is....? I, myself would just go with an aftermarket rod. The weight savings and quality that are available today trumps any "retro" feelings I may have. Just my $.02