Procomp Rods

[ron19]

I may get a set of Procomp sbc rods. I'm putting together a street 406 to run in my hotrod. No more than 500hp. Probably lower than that to start with. There are sets of 6" H beam rods that I can get for a good price. Being that it's a street engine, and may run the strip once or twice at no more than 6500 rpm, does anyone see a problem with them at this capacity? Anyone use their rods with success, or failures?

[signsbyesa]

get ready, you are expected to only buy the best, if they have
not heard of it, or they don't cost an arm or a leg, and they come
from china, they have plenty to say, me have not used them but
send you to a site and let you talk to the guys who have some
great rods http://www.catpep.com/catproducts/connectingrod/5140OEMStockReplacementRod.asp

even the best will break, check out the forum :wink:

[bjuice]

get ready, you are expected to only buy the best, if they have
not heard of it, or they don't cost an arm or a leg, and they come
from china, they have plenty to say, me have not used them but
send you to a site and let you talk to the guys who have some
great rods http://www.catpep.com/catproducts/connectingrod/5140OEMStockReplacementRod.asp

even the best will break, check out the forum :wink:


who is "They"?...just curious....what i have seen on here (RJ) is people who ask for opinions then they get an honest opinion"s".....sort of like don't ask if ya don't want to know..... :D

Also what i have seen here in the past is people trying to go Drag racing on a full schedule and make over the top HP and ask opinions about using certain parts not up to par for what they are wanting to do.....

to me its like putting on deodorant before you take a shower...lol :shock: .....

I have said in another post..your parts should reflect on what type of use your motor will see...

i personally have learned thru the years to spend a little more up front for proven track tested parts ..this will be much cheaper then re-doing a motor later on (longivety)...besides most of the time you are seeing guys haggling over a few hundred dollars difference from the better grade rod etc... than what they have chose to buy just becuase its a good deal ?...i DO UNDERSTAND the extra few hundred could be an issue for someone at that time...i have 2 responses for that.

#1- that person should re-evaluate if they need to be racing at this point in their life.

#2- wait another month or so until you have the extra few hundred..and do it right the 1st time....it will be cheaper in the long run trust me..even when its time to re-sale or rebuild..


The doing More with Less Theory has not always been the best MOTTO in my book.....


Now this is just My opinion..take it for what its worth...

also signsbyesa no offense here..you just opened a door that i feel passionate about...

Brian

[ron19]

OK guys, I asked for an opinion/maybe some personal experiance, no need to get heated. I have built many "racing" engines myself, 620+hp. run at 6500+rpm all day (circle track) and definately used the proper parts. That is why I have 4 engines out on the track right now that have never had a problem in 3 full seasons.

What I am trying to do here is build an economical STREET engine to have a little fun in, and don't see the need to get crazy on the budget and way over build it.

So, please guys, just keep the question I posted in mind, and post honestly, thats what it's here for. If I could afford a set of $500 H-beams, or better yet $1000 billets, I would put it in. But I can't see it for a street motor. Also, that extra money can go into a carb, tires, etc. Actually, with the mind set that using these, I free'd some money up and bought a used set of AFR 190's that should be perfect for the street.

So, my question is, does anyone have any experiance with them? For a street engine, does anyone have an opinion on them good or bad? How bout up to 500hp?

Thanks guys.

[johnracer]

At that power level, they'll be fine. For that matter, properly resized stock rods w/ARP bolts would be fine. I ran stock 5.7" rods and stock cast crank for years in a 13:1 406 in a 3075 lb 63 Nova. Ran 11.20's at 118 up here in Co and 10.80's at 122 in Topeka. Never went past 6500rpm and never had a bottom end failure. Cracked a couple of cylinders though....

[bjuice]

cc:
I have said in another post..your parts should reflect on what type of use your motor will see...

by the way how much do these rods cost you are speaking of ?

nothing heated ..just an opinion.

[v8Fiero]

how much does a set of GM pink rods go for? they came in a few differant GM vehicles and can easily handle 500 street hp.

[ron19]

They cost $200. I don't think I can get a stock set re-conn'd for that price. I also like the H-beam style, a little heavy but strong. They claimed to be rated up to 600hp, though I'm thinking I wouldn't want to try it. Here's a similiar set on his ebay site:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SMALL-BLOCK-CHEVY-383-350-406-4340-6-Connecting-Rods_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33623QQihZ014QQite mZ330205577233QQtcZphoto

[zipper06]

They cost $200. I don't think I can get a stock set re-conn'd for that price. I also like the H-beam style, a little heavy but strong. They claimed to be rated up to 600hp, though I'm thinking I wouldn't want to try it. Here's a similiar set on his ebay site:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SMALL-BLOCK-CHEVY-383-350-406-4340-6-Connecting-Rods_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33623QQihZ014QQite mZ330205577233QQtcZphoto

Being a Procomp dealer, i can tell you that all the cheaper rods forgings come from China, including, Eagle,Hawk,Cat,ProComp, Crower, and the list goes on forever.
The difference is that most are heat treated and machined in the USA. ProComp rods are equal to most of them if you use the bolt upgrade, to ARP 2000 ot L19's.
All the cheaper crank forgings come from China also.
Eagle has a edge in my opinion because they machine the H beams, useing a 1/8" radius in the H beams making 2 passes, where the others use a larger milling cutter 1 pass.
Eagle also has in house heat treating and machining (i've been in their shop) and their machining capabilities has greatly improved over the last few yrs. Being a Machinest myseft for 50 yrs. i can see flaws that some people may not see.
With that said i have sold several sets of procomp rods for the street and have see no problems as of yet (4 yrs) i have a friend who builds lot's of engines from 350's to 632's also uses them but he switches out the bolts to ARP L19's or 2000's.
For the price you can't go wrong and they are a lot stronger and lighter than any rod GM ever put in a motor and they will stand up to 500HP as good as anyone elses will.
This is not an advertisment, because i donot advertise, nor do i have a website. Everything i sell i usually know the person who's buying it or is a friend of that person.


JMO

Zip.

[signsbyesa]

there's no offense taken here, but i would have recommended
a performance stock set shot peened and balanced, i like using
factory and coming out with a strong motor like i used to build in
high school. but purchasing a set of $200 rods that take 600 hrpwr
for a 300 pwr street engine is not a bad tryout.
no offense bjuice but i left it so when "they" reponded, it would be
obvious who went in that gatagory, not all products perform like
they should and then some perform like it should and like
the more economical stuff too , for my motor i purchased lunati pro-mod
rods, i talked to pat musi and that guy does not shoot down any product,
but tells you what has worked for him, next time realy read the guys
request for an economical street motor, thats all, all we need is love :lol:

[bjuice]

there's no offense taken here, but i would have recommended
a performance stock set shot peened and balanced, i like using
factory and coming out with a strong motor like i used to build in
high school. but purchasing a set of $200 rods that take 600 hrpwr
for a 300 pwr street engine is not a bad tryout.
no offense bjuice but i left it so when "they" reponded, it would be
obvious who went in that gatagory, not all products perform like
they should and then some perform like it should and like
the more economical stuff too , for my motor i purchased lunati pro-mod
rods, i talked to pat musi and that guy does not shoot down any product,
but tells you what has worked for him, next time realy read the guys
request for an economical street motor, thats all, all we need is love :lol:

we luv ya brother !.....don't matter what Rod you use....lol

[cepx111]

how much does a set of GM pink rods go for? they came in a few differant GM vehicles and can easily handle 500 street hp. The famous small block chevy pink rod was just a factory stock rod that was magnafluxed at the enigine assembly planta and then dotted with some pink paint. I had a set in my first sbc engine I built for my drag car and I got them from JC whitney no less for under 2 hundred bucks, I'm sure it was making close to 450 hp and never had any issues but maybe I was lucky.

><Charles

[v8Fiero]

I thought the pink rods were double shot-peened aswell as magnafluxed from the factory? and came in the LT1 along with some other earlier engines that I cant remember right now. there strong, cheap, proven, american rods for a good street build up.

Sorry, my memory is kind of vague on the details, if Im wrong with anything please correct me.

[bjuice]

the magnaflux is only just checking them for defects such as cracks etc..a quality control issue from factory in this case..IMO

the pink part did originate from the pink paint on the rods..


the late model sealed crate engines used by todays round trackers,has the same pink paint on their camshafts....

Brian

[Pwmax]

I personaly would skip the pro-comps, and run the Scat premiumn pro 4340 i-beams, with the 7/16 cap screws, or the 4340 I-beams with the 3/8 cap screws, if you want to save $50. Personaly, for the money, for what your doing, the pro-i scat I beam, is a good piece. Scat does it right, and is a legit rod and crank place, Pro-comp, is a big parts distributor, that steals peoples designs, has it made in china, and sells it cheap. They are at the top of the R&D chain. RIP off and DUPLICATE. If you want to reward a company for doing that, then buy their rods. If you want to buy a decent properly finished part, that has proven reliability, then buy the scat.

Oh, that paint, whether its pink for gm, or purple for mopar, is worth at least 20hp. I have tried to get the exact color, so I could put pink or a purple dab of paint on certain parts of engines I build, and, it seems they are very picky to the exact color, because, I have yet to make that 20hp from the paint dab. Mopar has it down though, with the "purple shaft" cams. 20+ years of intense marketing, for the "purple shaft" HP cams. What makes it a purple shaft? The small dabs of purple paint, between the lobes, lol. Sorta funny really when you think about it

Frank
Advanced Performance
www.get-ap.com

[bjuice]

I personaly would skip the pro-comps, and run the Scat premiumn pro 4340 i-beams, with the 7/16 cap screws, or the 4340 I-beams with the 3/8 cap screws, if you want to save $50. Personaly, for the money, for what your doing, the pro-i scat I beam, is a good piece. Scat does it right, and is a legit rod and crank place, Pro-comp, is a big parts distributor, that steals peoples designs, has it made in china, and sells it cheap. They are at the top of the R&D chain. RIP off and DUPLICATE. If you want to reward a company for doing that, then buy their rods. If you want to buy a decent properly finished part, that has proven reliability, then buy the scat.

Oh, that paint, whether its pink for gm, or purple for mopar, is worth at least 20hp. I have tried to get the exact color, so I could put pink or a purple dab of paint on certain parts of engines I build, and, it seems they are very picky to the exact color, because, I have yet to make that 20hp from the paint dab. Mopar has it down though, with the "purple shaft" cams. 20+ years of intense marketing, for the "purple shaft" HP cams. What makes it a purple shaft? The small dabs of purple paint, between the lobes, lol. Sorta funny really when you think about it

Frank
Advanced Performance
www.get-ap.com

Frank my point exactly on the paint .....Pink rods...LOL..

bRIAN

[johnracer]

I built a 355 with a B&M 144 supercharger for a guy "back in the day" and he insisted that it be painted pink. It was a pretty mild deal and I told him that it probably made around 450-500hp. I later heard that he told everyone that it was at least 800. May be something to that pink paint.....

[ron19]

I personaly would skip the pro-comps, and run the Scat premiumn pro 4340 i-beams, with the 7/16 cap screws, or the 4340 I-beams with the 3/8 cap screws, if you want to save $50. Personaly, for the money, for what your doing, the pro-i scat I beam, is a good piece. Scat does it right, and is a legit rod and crank place, Pro-comp, is a big parts distributor, that steals peoples designs, has it made in china, and sells it cheap. They are at the top of the R&D chain. RIP off and DUPLICATE. If you want to reward a company for doing that, then buy their rods. If you want to buy a decent properly finished part, that has proven reliability, then buy the scat.

Oh, that paint, whether its pink for gm, or purple for mopar, is worth at least 20hp. I have tried to get the exact color, so I could put pink or a purple dab of paint on certain parts of engines I build, and, it seems they are very picky to the exact color, because, I have yet to make that 20hp from the paint dab. Mopar has it down though, with the "purple shaft" cams. 20+ years of intense marketing, for the "purple shaft" HP cams. What makes it a purple shaft? The small dabs of purple paint, between the lobes, lol. Sorta funny really when you think about it

Frank
Advanced Performance
www.get-ap.com

Pwmax,

I got to thinking and before I seen your post, I had already called the guy and arranged to swap out the Pro-comp H-beams (Yes, I ended up buying them) for the Scat I beams for exactly what you said. $50 more, and I get ARP bolts and Scat's reputation instead of who knows what. For my street engine, it should hold up plenty fine. I think I'll compliment this motor build with a Scat cast steel crank as well. I'll have a Scat bottom end and I will be able to sleep at night knowing the next time I hammer down on the throttle, it won't be the last.....

Thanks for the good input guys. I think the Procomps would get by, I'm just wondering after all the research, $200 for the rods, how much to reconn them to bring them into spec's.....hmmm.

[bjuice]

I personaly would skip the pro-comps, and run the Scat premiumn pro 4340 i-beams, with the 7/16 cap screws, or the 4340 I-beams with the 3/8 cap screws, if you want to save $50. Personaly, for the money, for what your doing, the pro-i scat I beam, is a good piece. Scat does it right, and is a legit rod and crank place, Pro-comp, is a big parts distributor, that steals peoples designs, has it made in china, and sells it cheap. They are at the top of the R&D chain. RIP off and DUPLICATE. If you want to reward a company for doing that, then buy their rods. If you want to buy a decent properly finished part, that has proven reliability, then buy the scat.

Oh, that paint, whether its pink for gm, or purple for mopar, is worth at least 20hp. I have tried to get the exact color, so I could put pink or a purple dab of paint on certain parts of engines I build, and, it seems they are very picky to the exact color, because, I have yet to make that 20hp from the paint dab. Mopar has it down though, with the "purple shaft" cams. 20+ years of intense marketing, for the "purple shaft" HP cams. What makes it a purple shaft? The small dabs of purple paint, between the lobes, lol. Sorta funny really when you think about it

Frank
Advanced Performance
www.get-ap.com

Pwmax,

I got to thinking and before I seen your post, I had already called the guy and arranged to swap out the Pro-comp H-beams (Yes, I ended up buying them) for the Scat I beams for exactly what you said. $50 more, and I get ARP bolts and Scat's reputation instead of who knows what. For my street engine, it should hold up plenty fine. I think I'll compliment this motor build with a Scat cast steel crank as well. I'll have a Scat bottom end and I will be able to sleep at night knowing the next time I hammer down on the throttle, it won't be the last.....

Thanks for the good input guys. I think the Procomps would get by, I'm just wondering after all the research, $200 for the rods, how much to reconn them to bring them into spec's.....hmmm.


8) :wink:

[poncholvr]

get ready, you are expected to only buy the best, if they have
not heard of it, or they don't cost an arm or a leg, and they come
from china, they have plenty to say, me have not used them but
send you to a site and let you talk to the guys who have some
great rods http://www.catpep.com/catproducts/connectingrod/5140OEMStockReplacementRod.asp

even the best will break, check out the forum :wink:

how true ,and right you are-lol
HEY WE HAVE OUR REPUTATIONS NOW lolol

the big me little you $hiit gets old doesn't it

[bjuice]

get ready, you are expected to only buy the best, if they have
not heard of it, or they don't cost an arm or a leg, and they come
from china, they have plenty to say, me have not used them but
send you to a site and let you talk to the guys who have some
great rods http://www.catpep.com/catproducts/connectingrod/5140OEMStockReplacementRod.asp

even the best will break, check out the forum :wink:

how true ,and right you are-lol
HEY WE HAVE OUR REPUTATIONS NOW lolol

the big me little you $hiit gets old doesn't it


Hey look....maybe i am reading your post wrong but i see it can only be taken one way....so let me say again.. this is about a public forum where someone ask for opinions...if you do not want a non-biased opinion on a subject then i suggest do not ask for them.....this is directed to you only Poncholvr..sorry if i mis-understood your post...particularly the last sentenance ..but i do not think i did...



Brian

[poncholvr]

I built a 355 with a B&M 144 supercharger for a guy "back in the day" and he insisted that it be painted pink. It was a pretty mild deal and I told him that it probably made around 450-500hp. I later heard that he told everyone that it was at least 800. May be something to that pink paint.....

hahahaha--- i didn't think the pink would give a ego trip- :twisted:
i wonder how many times he got a whoopin- :twisted:

[poncholvr]

get ready, you are expected to only buy the best, if they have
not heard of it, or they don't cost an arm or a leg, and they come
from china, they have plenty to say, me have not used them but
send you to a site and let you talk to the guys who have some
great rods http://www.catpep.com/catproducts/connectingrod/5140OEMStockReplacementRod.asp

even the best will break, check out the forum :wink:

how true ,and right you are-lol
HEY WE HAVE OUR REPUTATIONS NOW lolol

the big me little you $hiit gets old doesn't it


Hey look....maybe i am reading your post wrong but i see it can only be taken one way....so let me say again.. this is about a public forum where someone ask for opinions...if you do not want a non-biased opinion on a subject then i suggest do not ask for them.....this is directed to you only Poncholvr..sorry if i mis-understood your post...particularly the last sentenance ..but i do not think i did...



Brian


YOU MUST HAVE MISUNDERSTOOD IT-
OR YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE- (THAT BE LITTLE OTHERS FOR USING LESS EXPENSIVE STUFF)

IT WAS ABOUT - WHEN SOMEONE ASKS A QUESTION, AND GETS LOOKED DOWN ON FOR THERE ANSWER--(OR CHOICE OF PART)

( BRIAN - I AM TALKING TO U)-
AND YEA ITS A PUBLIC FORUM-, AND YEA THATS MY OPINION-
AND TOO BAD IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT

[edvancedengines]

I suggest to not use the cast steel crank from anyone unless it is a low pered application. I have not read the rest of this thread yet so may come back and add more here. Factory GM Cast Iron I am much more comforatble with than cast steel from China.

The factory Chevy NUDULAR IRON Crank is very strong and is a favorite of mine for budget strokers. That little recognized crank is good for over 800 hp. It will handle as much or more than your block.

Ed

[edvancedengines]

A factory GM 5.565 400 cu in rod with ARP Bolts & Nuts will handle 500 hp. Reworked 5.700 rods with good botls will handle more.

I have never seen any offshore rod from anyone of any design that is steel that will not be good for 500 hp.

The Eagle H Beam rods seem to use a shoter bolt head than Scat or Cat does. As far as I am cincerned the Cat 4340 is as strong as the Eagle, Scat or other animals. I know nothing about the Hawk but am suspicious of it becuase of the similarity to the Eagle in logo and name. It is also a yet unknown. Elgin offered a 5140 rod like this Cat and I would bet it is the same with different name. Same as the 5140 cranks 4130 cranks etc.

It it was my own engine for that price and it being steel I would try out the Pro Comp rods. I would not try them in a customer engine though. I would also check them very thoroughly for maching quality before using them and as always wouldprefer an ARP Bolt or a Dorman HPX or Mr Gasket SPS Bolt.

I applaud you for trying to build a decent engine with no bucks. I specialize on doing more for less. I have done it all my life.

If anyone bought Chevy Pink Rods from JC Whitney, my bet is they were clones. GM didn't make all that manyof those. Like was said the Pink Rods were in the 1970 LT-1 engines and were in the 1969 302 cu in Camaro for IROC. All it was is a 5.7 rod that was like earlier said, double or triple magnaflux checked for cracks and were shot peened with better bolts in them. The reason of the Pink dabs or stripe was only for identification purposes for the assembler to recognize the rod was different and was for only a special engine and required different bolts. The marketing genious who decided on pink I am sure hoped the color would mean something, becuase in that day Ed Pink was one of the top name engine builders for Top Fuel and other competition only engines. Ed Pink had nothing to do with Pink getting chosen. ;) I have even seen pink Rods at swap meets that were fully painted pink. lol.

Ed

[Pwmax]

I wasn;t critisizing anyone for building an engine using inexpensive parts. The Scat rods I recomended, vs the Pro-Comps, are between roughly $200-$275. The reason I don;t like Pro-Comp, which, I am sure is probably ok for the money, is for the reason I stated above. There great R&D department. :roll: . Thats all. I could offer to sell him some rods, but I didn;t. I just recomended something, based on what I know works, and holds up. I am with Ed, all of us engine guys, would love to build nothing but $30-$50,000+ engines all day long, but the reality is, we build a lot more of the regular guy stuff, and that means using less expensive parts, such as Eagle and Scat, and a few others. Certain stuff, I absolutely will not use, for more than one reason, whether it an ethical issue with a certain company, or, a quality issue. I have seen just about every part made, thats available these days, and, some, I wouldn;t use if you gave it to me. There is some stuff, I wouldn;t take a semi truck full of the stuff, if they gave it to me. I have taken sstuff out of the box, and busted out laughing, I mean, really laughing. The stuff was such a joke, it was rediculous. Needless to say, it went back. Valve train parts, for the most part, I stay as far away as possible from the stuff, if its cheap china knock offs, with few exceptions. Descriptions like, "needs good oil suply, and low spring pressures to survive" thats an EXACT description of a fairly well known, and heavily advertised rocker arm. Besides that, the Geomtry, just doesn;t work, no matter if you have the right length pushrod or not, the way it sweeps, is really messed up.

Frank
Advanced Performance
www.get-ap.com

Frank