SK Rods

HILLY · 01-28-07, 02:31 AM

Gents, Can anyone give me some history on these rods. I believe that they are from a late 60’s four cam Indy engine and may have also been used in the 302 XE' engines. Any history lessons would be appreciated.

Jac Mac · 01-28-07, 02:47 AM

center to center length should be 5.315". If you need weights etc let me know & I will look up the Data sheets I have from Ford in the T/A days.

Jac Mac

HILLY · 01-28-07, 04:06 AM

Thanks Jac Mac, I will check that length.
The weights and any other info would be much appreciated.

Jac Mac · 01-28-07, 06:07 AM

Peter,
If they are the Indy rod they should have a 7/16" rod bolt the nut of which requires a special socket. Small end weight will be in the vicinity of 193 grams- Big end 558 grams ( those are blueprint weights, yours may vary a bit from that ). When compared to a std 289/302 rod you should note that the notch's for the bearing shell 'tang' are in a different position. Bolt torque was 50/55 ft lb. Part No during Trans Am era was DOZX 6200-A.

Jac Mac

JimmyMac · 01-28-07, 06:39 AM

Peter,
These rods are used in original GT40's.

GT40 part number GT10 / P /3/ 3777
289/302 XE engines use them as well as the 255 Indy and TransAm engines.

Those rod bolts are hefty like my friend JacMac says.
Pardon me for saying this but : your nuts don't appear very sharp in your photo.
So the special socket he mentions is to fit the nuts in my photo.

Also the bearing shells are different, part number DOZX-6211-A B / CLEV T-77

HILLY · 01-28-07, 07:09 AM

Thanks for your concern James. Just had a closer look at my nuts and they definitely are not sharp however they do require the special toll as described. By the way, I knew that I had seen a photo of the before and just found yours in the original parts gallery. I should have looked harder the first time.
Thanks for the responses.

JimmyMac · 01-28-07, 10:01 AM

Peter,
It looks like you are getting a nice engine together there.
I have two original engines on the go now so if I find something usefull out there for you, I will let you know.

I hope your nuts are OK.

Jac Mac · 01-28-07, 03:04 PM

Gentlemen,
If you need a socket to work on your nuts, it was available from; Allen Manufacturing Corp, Order Department, Drawer 750, Hartford, Conneticutt. 06101. Ph no was 203-242-8511. This info is like your rods & nuts, historic!

Jac Mac

woodz428 · 01-28-07, 03:11 PM

Beautiful set of rods, nice find. They have the look of strength and should be able to handle plenty of HP. Now a nice old Indy engine sitting around gathering dust would be nice ;-)

HILLY · 01-29-07, 05:43 AM

Thanks again for the superb information gents. You guys never fail to amaze me with the detail of the information and knowledge that is available and freely shared on this site.
I for one have learnt a lot and I truly appreciate the help that I have received as I have again on this occasion.

HILLY · 02-15-07, 04:52 AM

Rods arrived safe and well.
Really nice units. Looks like they would do 20,000 all day every day.
Also an interesting etched marking of some sort on the caps of each rod.

Jac Mac · 02-15-07, 08:29 AM

Peter, I have seen the etch mark before too, usually related to X-Ray or Magnaflux testing on the items in question.

Jack Mac

Big-Foot · 02-15-07, 09:44 AM

Peter - Are you planning on using these rods in your GT40?

Not that I'm against the creation of a very close replica but I believe there are many more lighter and stronger connecting rods on the market today that would be less prone to catastrophic failure.

JimmyMac · 02-15-07, 02:49 PM

Peter,
Nice one.

Keith Hardy · 02-15-07, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big-Foot

Peter - Are you planning on using these rods in your GT40?

Not that I'm against the creation of a very close replica but I believe there are many more lighter and stronger connecting rods on the market today that would be less prone to catastrophic failure.

I would have thought that if they were good for at least 500 laps of Indy, they'd be strong enough for anything. As in all rods though, ultimately it's the bolts that are the weakest link. Most, if not all of the catastrophic failures I've experienced in 42 years have come about through oiling problems rather than part weaknesses or flaws. I did have a rod fail on my Shelby GT350 once that ventilated a pristine 289 HiPo (ouch) and that was a rod bolt failure. From that time on, I used a different bolt stretch torque technique and changed them every season. But that's just my experience, others experiences may be (and probably are) different.

HILLY · 02-16-07, 03:30 AM

That sounds like a fair thing to me Jac.
Randy,
I do not disagree with you and with GW heads and webers in hand I originally started looking at the new Boss blocks etc, etc. but I found that the research and procurement of these old bits and pieces is both very interesting and satisfying. Depends what does it for each of us as individuals I suppose.
Having now seen them in real life I have to agree with Keith. I’d reckon that it would have to be some other factor that takes one of these suckers out.

Big-Foot · 02-16-07, 06:54 AM

Whatever works for you Peter..
Just remember that race engine parts are good for a finite and unknown number of cycles.
If these rods are new and not just rebuilt (Cycled) rods - you may be in pretty good shape if you can get the whole assembly to balance correctly. Heavier rods require heavier crankshaft counterweights. If you have to use Mallory-Metal to balance the crank, you'll be spending some pretty hard cash.

Here's something else that may interest you;
eBay Motors: NOS Gurney Eagle heads with Boss 302 short block (item 220083036777 end time Feb-25-07 14:54:30 PST)

HILLY · 02-16-07, 07:37 PM

Thanks for the advice Randy. It is always appreciated.
Thanks for the link as well. The voices in my head will be working overtime for the next few days. There has to be a good reason why I do not need another set of them, but I just can’t think of one at the moment.
Seriously though the most difficult part of living in paradise is the logistics and costs involved when purchasing items such as these. I will have to find someone who is regularly shipping stuff to Oz that would not mind consolidating items like these every now and again. a good example just recently was a cam at $140.00 was going to cost $80.00 to $150.00 depending on who was used and if it was delivered in 8 days or 8 weeks. We won’t let that stop us though