Quote: Sorry, I did mean 440 rod. The longer rod lets you use a shorter piston and gets the pistons up away from the crank.
Turning the crank down to 7.250 is what I've been recommending for years. It takes weight out of the assembly and it provides for clearance. Read the 451 Manifesto on my website at www.arengineering.com in the article section.
Interesting that the latest Popular HOt Rodding mag for the Jeg's engine shootout suggests using a smallish bore (not too small otherwise you'll get valve shrouding) and to use a short rod as the latter will decrease the dwell time the piston is in its comp. stroke and is less likely to detonate.
