BME Aluminium Rods cycle life circa 1981?

[la360]

How many passes were you guys getting with these rods back in the early 80's?
AL...

[Ron C.]

In a 394" SBC that saw a lot of 9100-9200 rpm pass's they saw about 15 pulls on the dyno and about 175 track pass's......which was exactly... one pass to many. The old story....had new set sitting in shop but laziness and greed said......awww one more race! There a tuff rod......but today, I like MGP's better.

[user-9274568]

I worked at both MGP and GRP con rods. You can put 500+ runs with no problem, in a normal bracket, super class engine. I usually put dyno plus 75 on a set of comp rods. At both places I never seen a rod failure. I seen failure due to vacuum and other issues, but never just fatigue. I have a friend who runs a BED and he a had a rod break at the finish line, due to vacuum, and he finished the run! He didn't even know it broke. The rod is degined to "part" in the middle. In fact, it hurt nothing other than the piston and pin. The crank was fine, needed turned, no hole in the pan or block!. Ask Brad or Darrin how may dyno pulls and runs a Pro Stocker goes. I think you'd be shocked.

Chad

[Scott Smith]

The crank was fine, needed turned, no hole in the pan or block!. Ask Brad or Darrin how may dyno pulls and runs a Pro Stocker goes. I think you'd be shocked.

I had heard most Pro Stock engines were going to 5/16 rod bolts. Is this what you are seeing?

[user-9274568]

Just as I was geting out, the Honda and Aurora bearing sizes were becoming popular. But as I recall they were still useing 3/8 bolts. In fact when I worked at MGP, I got to keep a couple of REAL important rods. I have a Maskin first 200 mph rod and a KJ first 6 second rod. Kind of a cool conversation piece!

Chad

[la360]

What kind of Aluminium are companies like MGP, GRP etc using these days? I don't imagine it just being 7075 Plate or anything like that. I recall reading somewhere that BME use a special grade of aluminium they developed with Alcoa, are the billet style rods the same stuff?
AL...

[user-9274568]

What kind of Aluminium are companies like MGP, GRP etc using these days

Honestly it was a big secret. BUT, it was a material devolped by Martin Marreta?. Basically your correct, nothing more than x-rayed billet. Trust me, I unloaded a ton of it. Came from the same place, both companies.

[agertz1]

Is it ok to say " aluminum metal matrix", without Men In Black showing up ? 30% silicon carbide particulate. Less thermal growth than steel,
better wear than cast iron. Forged in "Area 51", get back !

[stealth]

I worked at both MGP and GRP con rods. You can put 500+ runs with no problem, in a normal bracket, super class engine. I usually put dyno plus 75 on a set of comp rods. At both places I never seen a rod failure. I seen failure due to vacuum and other issues, but never just fatigue. I have a friend who runs a BED and he a had a rod break at the finish line, due to vacuum, and he finished the run! He didn't even know it broke. The rod is degined to "part" in the middle. In fact, it hurt nothing other than the piston and pin. The crank was fine, needed turned, no hole in the pan or block!. Ask Brad or Darrin how may dyno pulls and runs a Pro Stocker goes. I think you'd be shocked.

Chad

Great info.. can you tell us more about the vacuum failed part? Its interesting to hear about the lifespan of the aluminum rods that we are told break all the time due to fatigue. Hope you can explain in more detail.

Thanks!

[la360]

The fact that this post is almost 20 years old now, you may not get a response. Chad Speier isn't a member on here either, which may not help you at all.

[fabr]

The fact that this post is almost 20 years old now, you may not get a response. Chad Speier isn't a member on here either, which may not help you at all.

Actually,Chad is on here.

[la360]

Good to know, must be using a different account to what he used in this post all that time ago. I haven't really been on here in years

[rebelrouser]

So if anybody is interested here is my story on BME aluminum rods. I bought a used 440 stroker short block at a swap meet in the 90's it had a cracked number 2 main cap, reason guy was selling, engine actually looked good other wise. It had 4.150 crank and BME aluminum rods. I got anew block built it and ran it 4 seasons probably put 300 runs on it, not sure how many runs from previous owner. Sold that short block at swap meet, as I was afraid of the rods. Guy I sold it to put it in a dragster, ran it for a few years and then sold it, I never heard if it blew up, but it had to have close to 1,000 runs on those rods. I used BME rods in the replacement engine and ran it for five years about 400 runs, low on money so I freshened and bang it broke a rod. I wonder out loud if the process of torquing the rods has more to do with longevity than the actual runs sometimes? I also had an oldtimer tell me that storing your car in climate controlled garage helps with aluminum rod life. That first engine was stored in a climate controlled garage, the second was in the race car trailer behind the shop. I have steel rod engine now runs just as good as the aluminum rods.

[Chris_Hamilton]

The fact that this post is almost 20 years old now, you may not get a response. Chad Speier isn't a member on here either, which may not help you at all.

memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=17359

[la360]

The rods I originally made this post about I individually sold off and didn't use. Two of them had rod bolts that didn't screw in cleanly, so I figured the they weren't worth risking. They were 6.625" long in a LA series Chrysler Small Block. The builder obviously put a lot of weight in to rod ratio, as the engine had a ratio of 1.84

The pistons were nice enough looking Venolia with paper thin wrist pins. Would certainly do things different now I am sure.