stay away from the eagles at the power level.

 

 

Bearings dont seem to like the harmonics at that power level and live shorter lives (8-9k) vs aluminum rods absorbing more of it. If its not driven hard ALL the time it will obviously go longer. It might be how that particular car had been tuned since it didnt have factory knock control, hard to say at this point.

Eagles are rated far higher than most people understand. If nothing else you can tune to a safe torque level and at that point only rpm is a consideration. If I can make 574/400 reliably on stock rods and rod bearings then I think you can make ALOT more on Eagles.

 

I think it's all about the failure/mileage/exposure to over heating that are the variables in which to look at when deciding if you want to run the "short route" and do a (as example) buschur drop in piston job(I have nothing but respect for buschurs work, imho his track record speaks for itself). With that said, people will believe what they want to believe. Drop in's definitely work regardless of your power level and can last just as long as a "all the bells and whistles" machine shop work job. A lot of folks say keep as many hands as you can out of the engine bay, while machining this and deciding on your tolerances for that; I feel MANY people do more harm than genuine good.

Experience in assembly will pay in spades.