"There is a local guy who is trying to sell 6 Oliver connecting rods that are 6" long. They are for a large journal sbc and he is asking $150.00
Just so happens that I am planning to build a long rod (6in long) sbc 406.
Are these rods a quality piece?
Should I be concerned about buying used connecting rods?
Should I be wary that he only has 6 rods and not the full set of 8?
I was originally planning to use SCAT 6 inch rods."
get a good set of NEW SCAT rods, if he only has six rods for sale chances are excellent they are survivors from a catastrophic engine failure that bent the other two rods ,many older OLIVER connecting rod designs are no longer available, so you can,t buy replacements to complete the set, and you don,t know if the remaining 6 rods are marginally bent, either or what stress they were put thru. buy the new scat 6" rods, with the good 7/16" rod bolts ,linked below, its money very well spent!
Ive used several sets of the 6" rods like these (H) beams I linked to below and never found a problem, keep in mind rods and rod bolts are some of the most highly stressed components, buy good parts, and get the rotating assembly balanced.
Ive used more (H) beam rods in my engine builds but its not the style its the quality of materials, clearances and care taken in manufacturing thats more important but I strongly prefer 7/16" ARP rod bolt cap screw style rods. the main flaw in the (H) beam design is a lack of a balance pad when you go to balance the connecting rods but thats partly off set by the fact that the quality of manufacturing of theres much stronger aftermarket rods tends to limit weight variation significantly, keep in mind even the better aftermarket (I) beam rods in the better rod designs are weight matched to reduce the need to balance them by removing metal.
H BEAM
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SCA-26000716/
I BEAM
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SCA-6600021/
related info you should read thru
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viewtopic.php?f=53&t=259&p=314&hilit=balancing#p314