CA18DET Conrods HP rating

[Torpor]

Howzit Guys

I know Im asking a Newb question here but the spec's of my CA18DET are on the forum here.

I'm running forged pistons but I have just maxed out my set of GTR injectors at 0.8 (10psi) bar boost and producing around 240Whp and I have ordered 650cc bosch injectors to see a bar plus what HP range can the stock Rod's hold reliably?

Im kicking myself that I didn't forge them. Hope boost boy can help me out with some numbers here

[r34 gtr]

Stock rods are forged. They are good for a ridiculous amount of HP. I think garage Paddy made 650whp on stock rods. Without treating them (shot peening and cryo-treating and whatnot) I wouldn't worry about them until you were making 400+whp, so long as they haven't been abused.

[sjbsuperman1425]

Stock rods are forged. They are good for a ridiculous amount of HP. I think garage Paddy made 650whp on stock rods. Without treating them (shot peening and cryo-treating and whatnot) I wouldn't worry about them until you were making 400+whp, so long as they haven't been abused.

how can you tell if they've been abused? Im looking for 350whp and if i dont need rods, it'd save me like $800.

[boost_boy]

Howzit Guys

I know Im asking a Newb question here but the spec's of my CA18DET are on the forum here.

I'm running forged pistons but I have just maxed out my set of GTR injectors at 0.8 (10psi) bar boost and producing around 240Whp and I have ordered 650cc bosch injectors to see a bar plus what HP range can the stock Rod's hold reliably?

Im kicking myself that I didn't forge them. Hope boost boy can help me out with some numbers here

If you're not looking to produce mre than 500whp, then forget about looking for a better set of rods because it will be over-kill (screw insurance). If you want an honest number, 500ish hp is where I'll start wondering. Hope that helps you guys make a better choice when it comes to upgrading your engine.

Dee

[sjbsuperman1425]

it helps me Dee, thanks

[ser20det]

it helps me Dee, thanks

someone know the weight of stock rod versus aftermarket one ?

Aftermarket probably lighter ? What are the REAL avantage of a lighter rod, even at 350whp. it will rev faster ?

[themadscientist]

I can weigh them when I get home

[ganma_ca]

Well thats pretty bad @$$ to know they can take a beating like that. I had no idea!!! No wonder they would blow through the side of a block lol!!!!I was thinking about getting rods but after hearing that.... That's pretty freaking Swwweeeettt!

[themadscientist]

CA18 rods are quite beefy, I have never seen one fold under pressure. If they have a weakness it's the bolts, they are not as substantial as SR ones. The thing that kills them is revs, not boost. At the top of the exhuast stroke they are expected to come to a complete stop and take off in the other direction with the crankshaft. As revs climb that jerk on the rod bolts gets harder and harder until they stretch and in some cases fail completely.

You can't really rate a rod for HP. You could kill a rod with as little as 200hp if the method you obtained that power was very little boost pressure and very high revs. If however you kept the revs down and pushed boost higher you could get the same power without snapping the rod bolts.

Stock rods are fine, the only reason I went with forged was the better bolts in them and weight. I like to overengineer because I am impulsive and in the heat of the moment I am fully capable of going to far. I am building just in case.

[sjbsuperman1425]

http://www.spoolimports.com/co...S.asp

what you guys think of those??

[themadscientist]

Chinese.They look just like the K1 rods I picked up, probably the same piece under two different names. The price is comparable too.

[sjbsuperman1425]

Chinese.They look just like the K1 rods I picked up, probably the same piece under two different names. The price is comparable too.

junk or no?

[themadscientist]

I honestly don't know. I bought a set to test them for everyone but the build is taking forever. A similar rod, probably the same rod, is pushed by K1, a former independent company now owned by carrillo.

http://www.allbusiness.com/art....html

Carrillo has not put their name on them but I doubt they would associate themselves with a complete junk product.I wanted a new rod, these are looking good at cheaper than a new stock rod so I took a risk. We will see if they come apart.

http://www.k1technologies.com/....aspx

I spoke with Mr. Molnar via e-mail, very responsive and seems certain of his product. I cannot comment on the Spool rods but like so many chinese sourced products it is likely the exact same rod under a different name.

[sjbsuperman1425]

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Hypergear has some pretty builds, and i think this is pretty comprehensive for these rods maybe? I think i may pick up a set later on because they are cheaper than the Pauter rods.

[themadscientist]

Think about it though. Why are you going away from stock rods?If you want strength I would suggest that cost be a secondary factor behind known quality.I wanted stronger bolts and lighter reciprocating weight so these rods met my needs perfectly. If I wanted maximum strength and top quality I would look at Pauter rods, in titanium of course since I am dreaming.

[sjbsuperman1425]

Think about it though. Why are you going away from stock rods?If you want strength I would suggest that cost be a secondary factor behind known quality.I wanted stronger bolts and lighter reciprocating weight so these rods met my needs perfectly. If I wanted maximum strength and top quality I would look at Pauter rods, in titanium of course since I am dreaming.

im not looking to pass 400whp, and the only reason im looking for rods is basically for weight, and because it'd make me feel better inside. I dont know the history behind the motor and im one that is anal about things. I'm probably going to e-mail "HyperGear" and "Spool Imports" to see the their cars and what not. i know videos aren't hard "proof", but i've seen the HyperGear CA and it performs great.

money is not the primary thing in my build btw lol. if you could find Tomei cams for under 600, you'd take those over Jun ones for 1000 ya know? its that type of thing for me. Thanks for the info again TMS

[niscort]

which engine build? hope it wasnt the one they blew up... but guess you dont show or mention those things in marketing

[sjbsuperman1425]

which engine build? hope it wasnt the one they blew up... but guess you dont show or mention those things in marketing

i said build, not "engine" build. I'm building my car as i go along and this is for the future. and NO i didn't blow it up, never assume things, it makes an A$$ out of u and me...

[sicj]

You can machine the stock rods to make them even stronger if you want...While I was @ skoo doing the skoo thing, this was a topic that came up... grind the forging ridge off the sides of the rod, grinding parallel with the rod. It's a cheap trick that ol' V8 builders use.

http://www.chevyhiperformance.....html

here's mine...

also next to a Chevy 350 rod, the CA rod makes the 350 look like something out of a lawn mower haha.My old school, diehard Chevy teacher was surprised by my "puny 4 cylinder" rods. The CA rods are especially beefy at the rod cap, twice as thick at least...

[niscort]

i said build, not "engine" build. I'm building my car as i go along and this is for the future. and NO i didn't blow it up, never assume things, it makes an A$$ out of u and me...

so you go and assume I was talkin about you? nice one

[sjbsuperman1425]

so you go and assume I was talkin about you? nice one

yea, just because i like making a$$es out of people lol jk

i'll post back later when i hear back from the Spool Imports and HyperGear

[rico05]

I just put one through my block at 5k and it looks very mint. Just a few dents. The tow truck driver was impressed.

[sjbsuperman1425]

well i just got an e-mail back from Spool Imports, and they said that right now, the price shipped would be approx. $375 shipped, which is a VERY good price. I've also searched through some Australian forums and found that people that were very happy with Spool rods in 700hp RB's.

[themadscientist]

ouch

[r34 gtr]

To be honest, those spool conrods look pretty decent. Forged 4340 h beam rods with bronze bushings and ARP 2000 bolts. They are half the price too, and they have links to some pretty mean cars using them.

I got done looking at the site and all of a sudden I really want a Ford XR6 'ute. I could so some damage with a turbocharged 4.0L 24v inline six in a light truck body.

OOOOhhh dude check out Competition Tuning and Performance's FJ20 powered Datsun 1200 pickup!! Its so freaking awesome, 560RWHP at 34psi!

http://www.spoolimports.com/co...e.asp




Modified by r34 gtr at 7:07 PM 1/27/2009

[themadscientist]

That is a lot of grinding to get an FJ valve cover smooth like that.

[float_6969]

LMAO!!! That was the first thought I had too!

[meminto]

I use them in my build, I emailed spool to doublecheck the strength, but unfortunately they could not confirm that it would suit my requirement...

Although they didn't advise against it, either way my engineer was impressed with the quality...

Oh well I will find out in due course...

[D_Stirls]

As mentioned above the CA rods are quite strong, it's the rod bolts that let the show down. And i'll also agree on the fact that it's revs that'll kill the bolts not power. There are a fair few people down here in the past that have just treated their rods and reuse them when rebuilding, but lately with the spool rods costing only AU$490 (US$318) people are starting to upgrade them when building their engines.

The Spool Rods are very good rods, He has spend a lot of time developing them and has a wide range of rods for different engines. He is also developing some stroker cranks at the moment. One of cranks is a 3.4 litre RB30 crank as well as a 2.6 litre crank for an EJ20 and it may interest some of you to know that he mentioned something about a CA crank as well in a post a saw the other day.

Found the comment;http://www.skylinesaustralia.c...72754
Modified by D_Stirls at 2:50 AM 1/29/2009

[sjbsuperman1425]

wow cranks too! too bad he doesn't make camshafts lol