Our 351w block is being bored .030 so I need new pistons. Can I reuse the original connecting rods with newer aluminum pistons? Just have them pressed on at the machine shop?

 

Yes, but it's a good idea to have the shop check them out beforehand. They may need to be resized. Shot peening them is also an option.

 

have a machine shop check them for straightness

you might also have to bore them out a little bit to get them back to perfect roundness

 

you should ALWAYS get your rods reconditioned if the motor has any real amount of miles on it. you should also have them install new ARP rod bolts as well.

 

Doing a bunch of machine work to a stock set of rods is silly. Pressing out and in new arp rod bolts, resizing the big end wil be nearly the same cost as an aftermarket rod ready to go that is much stronger.

 

I disagree. There's nothing wrong with a set of OE rods with ARP bolts installed, as long as you're not pushing ridiculous power numbers. And I bet you could get out of a machine shop for cheaper than you could get a set of GOOD forged rods.

 

OK so the guy I usually deal with isn't in today at the machine shop. They want $130.00 to turn/polish the crank 0.010, $110.00 to resize the connecting rod holes for ARP bolts which are $100.00, $240.00 bucks for Clevite H-Series Main & Rod Bearings and another 85 for Clevite Cam Bearings.

That all sounds expensive to me since Cam bearings are 22.00 at Summit, Main bearings are 68.00, Rod bearings are 16.00 and ARP bolts are 57.00. The high parts prices up in eastern Canada are due to shipping and demand costs. Typical crap up there.

I said I'd order the bearings and bring them with me in Jan and was told I couldn't since they wouldn't know if the crank only needed to be turned 0.010 or more until they did the work.

Starfury.. I'm looking at roughly 400hp/torque (give or take) after the build. RPM heads/intake, CC roller cam/rockers, yada, yada. We weren't looking to add a stroker since the extra power isn't needed and to save on fuel.

Basically I'm weighing the bank scales on

1. machining the old crank & rods, new pistons, and associated hardware costs there for that work
2. ordering new rods, pistons, bearings
3. ordering a stroker kit since the block has to go 0.030 anyways, most come with the bearings and its a done setup. No additional machining needs to be done. Sell the old crank, rods, pistons for whatever on cl/ebay.

 

If you're looking for 400hp, you're going to need that stroker kit unless you want to wind the engine to 8k to make those numbers. IMO, that's the better option for what you're doing. You can get a full stroker rotating assembly assembled with bearings for ~$1k and you'll have more driveable power potential than with the 289.

 

Something else to consider is balancing. You need to have the whole assembly "blue printed" and "balanced". Basically someone needs to:
1. Weigh the rods and bolts
2. Weigh the pistons and pins
3. Match the pistons to the rods based on the medium weight
4. Balance the piston and rod combos to as close as possible to each other (make all combos the same weight)
5. Set the piston rod combo for the position in the block and then balance the crank

This may sound like overkill, but I promise your engine will run smoother and live much longer than just throwing it all together. Balancing is one of those things that will not gain you much if any power, but it makes the difference between a motor and a great motor.

 

yeah, you do need to also consider the cost of getting it all balanced!! listen to urban, he really knows what hes talking about. it also seems like a stroker kit would be cheaper for what your doing IMO