Carrillo or Arrow rods

[adamwilkinson]

Does anyone run either of these rods in their engines?
If so, what made you choose between the two (or other makes of H pattern rod)?

Also, does anyone know the weight of a standard cooper s rod?
I would weigh mine but that'd mean taking them out the engine...

[Westfield 129]

I have run Carillo rods in several engines (including my 400 HP Renault R5Turbo). No problems. Carillo is sort of a standard here in California, and in NASCAR. They supply high performance rods and pistons for EVERYONE, including the Porsche factory.

I am sure that there are other manufacturers that are as good, but Carillo is local (US based, with a California office, and one in the deep south for the NASCAR engine builders).

Carillo will have the information on the comparative rod weights. Contact them directly.

You can't go wrong with Carillo. For information on ultra high performance Spridget bottom ends, contact Huffaker Engineering. They have everything, and all of the information that you will need.

Unless you are planning to run the engine at 9000 RPM, the stock rods are most likely good enough when properly prepped, and installed with ARP fasteners. The crank and bottom end of the engine may be another area to look into, though. You can "wedge" the crank, removing metal safely, and reducing the reciprocating mass, along with using an alloy flywheel (I do in all my A series engines) to improve throttle response.

The Carillos are EXPENSIVE, but they are excellent parts. However, they may not be necessary,as a properly prepped 1275 rod may be adequate for your engine.

[adamwilkinson]

We have a steel crank, strapped centre main, aluminium flywheel etc and at present run the copper s rods. Upgrading the rods is something we've been looking at for a while and to be honest we may continue to look at and carry on with the standard rods as we are over the same opinion as you, the standard rods have been fine so far.

I did have to chuckle a couple of years ago when I contacted Carrillo about the price of the rods as they worked out cheaper to buy from the states, or so I thought!! They wouldn't sell to me at the US price as they were shipping to UK (even with all the taxes etc added it was a cheaper option then buying them here due to exchange rate - they were having none of it )

Think we'll concentrate on plan a for the time being.

[jonclancy]

adamwilkinson wrote:

> Also, does anyone know the weight of a standard cooper s rod?
> I would weigh mine but that'd mean taking them out the engine...

From Vizard:

Std Cooper S rod (AEG-521 it's EN24V, btw with a 1 5/8" big end) is around 690 grams.

[jonclancy]

Just out of interest, I have looked far and wide and see NO reports or these rods failing - even in race engines.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/for-MG-Midget ... 4ac9ef8e09

Worth a punt at some stage??

[adamwilkinson]

Hmmm, seem very cheap when you compare to Carrillo, arrow, swiftune etc but maybe that's because they aren't a named brand as such

[jonclancy]

Indeed. As I understand it, some sellers are branding these rods with their logo (i.e. maxspeedingrods are an OEM supplier).

If they are up to snuff, then they are pretty good value as a performance item when compared with the usual cost of refurbing and blueprinting your original rods.

[adamwilkinson]

Cant help but be concerned by these rods, the wording in the ad makes me think english isnt the sellers native language and the fact if you live in corfu and other places the rods get shipped direct from china (and we all know how reliable they are for producing legitimate parts...)

I think ill pass risking these in our engine and if we ever go down that route we'll stump up for proven parts.

[jonclancy]

These rods are made in Hong Kong. Might be worth more investigation as to exactly the experience the other users are having.

[Westfield 129]

Several high performance crank and rod companies here in the US use Chinese sourced forgings for their stroker kits for high revving American V8s. Eagle, SCAT (a company with an excellent reputation) and other have had excellent success with the Chinese forgings in 4340 and other alloys.

The final inspection and machine work is done locally, and includes rods of H beam and I beam design, along with all sorts of crank configurations. We often call the rods "Chinese Carillos".

While some of the hardcore guys go with billet cranks and Carillo Rods, the majority of engine builders are using Chinese forgings in the preferred alloys. These parts have been around for about two decades. Nothing new to V8 builders here in the US.

I have used a SCAT and an Eagle stroker kits in 331 CI Ford small blocks and have not had any trouble at all. Most of my friends have had the same experiences. Really, the chance of rod failure is more related to the general engine prep and the driver than the origin of the rod's forging.

If I were building an engine, I would take a good look at the rods, as it gives me a chance to enjoy the same competitively priced parts that I enjoyed with my big domestic V8s.

While you might worry about the Chinese aspect of these parts, know that Chevy had problems with the domestic Titanium rods in the 7 liter small block, and I have seen dozens go off for re bushing and re machining.

And, you can always stock with a prepped stock A series rod. They have worked for me.