MT aluminum rods....any good? PLEASE ANSWER.

Old 03-03-2008, 12:52 AM
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speed2much
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Default MT aluminum rods....any good? PLEASE ANSWER.

I have 2 sets of brand new Mickey Thompson rods. I can't find any information on them to see how much they are worth or if they are even popular. MT as we all know is more known for his tires. I have so many things I need to sell, but I haven't been schooled on the hot rod, drag, vintage street rod lingo and the value certain things have to the right person., If there are any honest, selfless individuals in the dfw area that would like to tell me what exactly I have on my land, and how I should go about selling this stuff, I sure could use your help. let me know! thanks speed2much :?:

SO I AM ADDING THIS BECAUSE I SEE SEVERAL PEOPLE HAVE READ MY POST AND NO ONE HAS ANSWERED. GUESS I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS NO INFO ON THE MT RODS., HMMM ARE THEY RARE, COMMON , CHEESY, CHEAP ??????
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Old 03-04-2008, 09:43 AM
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edvancedengines
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Ok, here is the deal and I am in the DFW area. I have been hesitant to respond to this, hoping someone else would. I hate being the bearer of not good news to people who are hopeful for the good news. Here Goes.

At one time the M/T aluminum rods were as good as it gets. That was back many years ago. Aluminum can deteroriate just sitting and doing nothing. In other words the shelf life is likley gone on those. Perhaps not. Possibly they may still be useful for something.

I am guessing that those do not have ARP Rod Bolts in them but would likley have either the Mr Gasket SPS or the Dorman HPX bolts? Both were good 180,000 bolts of their time, which was before ARP.

I have no way to know when the M/T Brand rod stopped production. It was a heavy duty and beefy rod. Like any other rod compay M/T made several different models for different applications. As all aluminum rods of the era they did exhibit a lot of growth charastics so needed to be set up with plenty of piston to head clearances. Usually in the order of .060 as the minimum. The alloy used was likley the 7075 alloy, which was used by the better rods of the day.

You only asked about M/T rods. You have not asked about anything else. I would be happy to try to help you find out what you have in your posession if I could know. I do have a pretty good memory. It is also possible I might be able to dig up some old catalogs for older racing parts if I look hard enough.

As far as resale value even if new much of the yesteryear racing parts have only a nostalgia value but for some items that is more than they originally cost. For others it is nothing. Recently on eBay a Shaller double roller cam complete setup was sold for more than it cost becuase it was a conversation piece and a part of performance history.

There are some of the older parts which are still usable even today.

Mickey Thompson himself to my knowledge never made any racing tires or wheels. I have no idea how his company turned into the Tire and wheel company it is today. Mickey Thompson made intake manifolds, aluminum connecting rods, aluminum hemi cylinder heads for Fords, Chevys, Pontiacs, etc. M/T Industries made quite a lot of engine parts for Pontiacs. M/T himself raced Pontiacs.

Ed
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Old 03-04-2008, 09:33 PM
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speed2much
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Wow, what a perfect response. Thank you so much. All information I needed. Well too much to list as far as what I have, but I was more than anything needing an honest assessment on several motors I have, Some I believe are rebuilt and ready to stab, some have alot of high dollar performace stuff, some may have bad parts and were waiting in line to be worked on, some may be picked at for the parts and the long term plan for that motor would be for parts only. then there are the few that when seen by enthusiests but not professionals say, Holy crap thats a blah blah blah big block, supercharged blah blah, with suh and such cams and dual yaddy yadda, something blower nos blah.........its worth 30 grand. I just say yeah whatever . understand now why i need someone to assess things? :lol: thank you so much for repsponding.
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Old 03-05-2008, 04:20 AM
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Do you have some supercharged motors?How did you come to own all this stuff that you admit you don't know alot about?No offense intended.You can ignore that question if you want.BTW M/T still don't make tires.When you buy a set of Mickey's the tag says they are made by Maxx Trac Tire Co :?
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Old 03-05-2008, 06:34 AM
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speed2much
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well, my husband, common law for 10 years, died last year, and it was all his. now left to me and his son, I am starting from scratch. many of his friends have made me offers on things, but when i start looking some of the stuff up to see if they are trying to hose me, the end result is usually me declining their offer. or they dont tell me the truth about what they are interested in like one guy offered me 3 grand for 59 custom panel truck that is near complete restoration. eveything that still needs to be added is brand new, like the wiring kit is still in a box and all the glass are in boxes from lmc. all the chrome pieces have been polisheed and just need to be put on etc. 3 grand? the wiring kit alone is like 3 or 4 hundred right? plus what is under the hood i know is a worth more than 3 grand because of the things my husband would tell me as he was working on it. his friends made so many reasons why 3 was a fair offer but i dont believe them. what to do what to do??
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Old 03-05-2008, 07:48 AM
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Originally Posted by speed2much
. what to do what to do??

As much as I hate to do it....I would be willing to haul every bit of it away for a measly 500 dollars. ( cash only I don't take cc or check) 8)





:P
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Old 03-06-2008, 06:45 PM
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speed2much
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hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, i love a good laugh.
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Old 03-06-2008, 07:17 PM
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edvancedengines
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Lady,
If I wasn't so busy, I would talk with you about us getting together for me to try to give you a fair aasesment on what you may have and also possible sources to advertise depending on what all you have.

Without me seeing or knowing the truck you are speaking of, it is possible that what you were offered could be a good deal or not. That is not a popular year model and the ones not so popular just don't bring as much when sold. Also the quality of the work, parts and how much is left to be done, can largely influence the percieved value from the buyer's eyes. I wouldn't break bridges with the one who offered the 3 grand just yet.

Possibly if you could allow me a minimum of 1 1/2 months I might be able to take a little time to try to help. Currently I am sleeted on and snowed under with work to get caught up on. For certain, I have 4 engines that have to be completed before the end of the month.

Ed
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Old 03-07-2008, 06:03 PM
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phr
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MT made the rods for many years and at the time they were the best available.

Now with the advancement in aluminum alloys they would be on the lower end.

They could still live a long time with just the replacement of the rod bolts with current 8740 or arp 2000s.

They sell for the early hemis, in the 300-400 range for a new set, still.
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Old 03-07-2008, 07:30 PM
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lively
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I HAD THE ALUMINUM RODS IN MY SBF YEARS AGO AND RAN THEM SEVERAL YEARS WITH NO PROBLEMS--LIVELY
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