What is the concenus on NASCAR rods?? Are they usable or worn out?? I realize new ones would be OK, but what about the used ones, Lentz, Carillo, Arrow, or other?? Every now and then a set comes up that the specs are usable, length, big end and even small end. They look like they would be an excellent buy. What's the impact of a smaller wrist pin or a slightly larger one??

I use them, and they work great. They are indestructable. I remember calling Petty's for some rod bolts one time, they quizzed me as to why I needed them. They are $800 bucks (a half inch SPS) but Pettys told me they never, ever changed them on the NASCAR cars.

The drawbacks is they are heavy..real heavy. They also come in some funky lengths, as there were a lot of different combinations, so be careful what you buy. I use a set that McCandless modified several years back, bushed to 1.03 stock Hemi pin size and 6.86 stock Hemi length.

I shift the car at 6600, and it traps at 6700 and I am pleased as punch with them. If you were going to run more engine speed, I don't know if I would use them. The old Pro Stock boys used them to run 8500 rpm, and although they didn't break, the weight pounded the bearings out of them pretty quick. As far as wearing them out, I don't think that you could do that drag racing.

For a fairly low budget bracket or NSS type deal, they are the best bang for the buck, in my view. For some kind of class racing, quick 16, or something like that, I would stay away from them and go with a more modern, lighter setup.

No, they were talking about the Hemi NASCAR rods used in the old days. They used a 1/2 inch SPS bolt. I used to know Maurice Petty pretty well, who was the engine guy in the day. Maurice hasn't been involved down there for many, many years. He also did Roy Hill's stuff when Roy Hill ran a Pro Stock Duster out of Petty's shop.

I have no clue what the current small block stuff uses........I don't care, either. My interest in NASCAR ended about 1975.

What, are you guys about eighteen years old? I may have misunderstood the question, therefore showing my age a bit. I feel old, because the only NASCAR rods I know of are the old Hemi pieces. There was a time before the current yuppie NASCAR days.

The Chrysler NASCAR rods were a Hemi rod....they came in 6.96; 7.06, and 7.16 in length for different applications. They were used in Chrysler Pro Stock racing for many, many, years, as well as all the NASCAR programs before they were required to run lawnmower engines.

A popular displacement for Pro Stock was 396 cubic inches; it worked very well as the weight back then was based on cubic inches, with the Hemis running more per inch than the others. Again, they ran big rpm, but the weight of the rods pounded the bearings out pretty quick.

After the NASCAR program ended, a lot of the rods were bushed to 6.86 inches and down to the street Hemi's 1.03 pin size. McCandless had a ton of these that he sold.....and there are still alot of those rods around. I would not hesitate to run a set in a bracket/NSS motor.

The funky length rods are still around, but they used the 1.09 race Hemi pin. I think for what it would cost you to bush them down it would probably be more than they are worth.....you could get something better and newer cheaper. But, if you can get them in the length you need at the right price, they are probably worth it.

Steve1118, I was definitely talking about current NASCAR stuff that ends up on ebag, RJ and other sites. Some hi dollar stuff for little money. Sizes in the 6.2, 6.3, 6.4 length with 2" crank pin but with usually a less than normal size wrist pin. Altho every now and then you can find them with a .927 or a .931 size pin. Sizes that could definitely be built around!!!!

I have purchased several sets on ebay. (its still eba y , right? They havent changed the name)
Just keep in mind that 500 miles at Charlotte is a bit different than 500 miles at Martinsville or Watkins Glen.
I did call Carrillo once to see about having a set rebuilt. At that time they wanted around $85/ea. Sort of took the "good" out of a "good deal".

I am pretty sure they use the Honda 48mm rod bearing. Also, the pin diameter will likely be small too.

dizuster, I definitely understand what you're saying, but I've been running an offset ground crank with 2" pins and 6.4 rods for about 12 yrs. I personally would not be concerned about 2" but I wouldn't go any smaller. I'm not so sure about the small wrist pins but I don't know whether that's bad or OK. I would definitely try to select some with a more normal pin size.

Proof is in the pudding I guess, you're running 2" stuff at a pretty good power level. Is there really that much 2" stuff even out there anymore? Also I doubt there are many 2" or 2.100" pins out there with goofy less then .927" piston pins...

Ryan J has been doing offset ground k-1 4" cranks to make 2" pin 4.125" stroke. I know he's been pretty happy with them...

We use used Nascar rods every once in a while... I have a set of Carillo's in my Turbo motor out of a Cup car. 6" X 2.10" X .927's Old stuff probably from late 90's. Dizuster has a set of 6" Olivers out of Arringtons for his 440" W9 motor....

As far as the wristpin end being too small on some of the newer stuff with .866" etc pins........ Current cup motors are making around 840 HP & turn 9200ish.... So I don't think most people are going to come close to matching that with their NA SB's....So I would'nt be too concerned.

Here is my understanding of the rod situation:

The engines built by Penske and Elliot(Granassi) typically use 2.0" journal and .927" pins. For Dodge, the rods will be 6.200" long. Petty, Arrington, Bill Davis tended to use the 1.88" and 1.84" rod journal. A lot of the rods you see for sale now are from the earlier "qualifying" engines used by all the teams about three years ago. Qualifying engines are no longer allowed.

The 6.30" and 6.40" rods are typically Ford rods. And they use a lot of .910" pins as well.

All of the Carillo and Lentz rods I have ever seen use Carr rod bolts---practically indestructable---but also about $480/set. The Carillo and Lentz rods with Carr bolts sell for about $2100/set. There are also some Childs and Albert rods used. They are really expensive, about $2600/set. They are not even listed in the C&A catalog. There may be some other brand of rods used, I just haven't come in contact with them.

Nascar engine builders cannot afford a failure---it cost too much $$$ not including loss of some sponsorship $$$ due to engine failure. So, they replace the rods on a precise schedule---and that means there are some good deals out there.

We have bought several sets of used Carillo, Lentz and even one set of C&A rods. I consider them an excellent deal; but, I also want to know what the history of the rods are. If they have passed through several hands over several years---I stay away from them. If I am the first person to get them from a team---then they are probably OK. I do not buy off e-bay---only from reputable used parts dealers---you may pay a little more---but you have more confidence in the true condition.

Steve, you weren't the only one to think of the NASCAR Hemi rods when reading the title of this thread.

To this day I can't get over the use of 1/2" rod bolts!

The dead giveaway he was talking about modern NASCAR rods, should have been when he mentioned Lentz, Carrillo and Arrow.

Monte

I guess I'm just dating myself. Sorry, fellas. As far as being eighty, let's just say I'm a whole lot closer to eighty than I am to eighteen!!