Attention All Aluminum Rod Engine Owners....
 

For all of you with aluminum rods in your motor... I'd like to start a some sort of history thread if you will. I believe in time, this can show reliability, and important valuable data that will be priceless for Evo's in the future.

Basically, the information I'd like is: (Feel free to Copy/Paste and then put the answer under each bullet point)

• When was the motor built?
• What rod bearings did you go with?
• What rods did you go with?
• What crank shaft did you put them on?
• What compression ratio did you choose?
• What displacement are you running?
• How many miles of non-boost breaking-in did you do before spirited driving?
• What motor oil are you using? Why?
• Who built the motor/what shop?
• What are you using your vehicle for?
• How many miles are on your vehicle since the break-in?
• What fuel/boost level are you set on?
• If your motor blew (whether it's a head-gasket, piston, cylinder, rod, spun bearing, valve, etc...) state how many miles after the build/break-in that it occurred and what you were doing during the tragedy.

Feel free to give your opinion/feedback/experience(s) with aluminum rods in motor builds for different applications.

Thanks in advance.


POSTS #'s POSTED WITH THE ABOVE INFORMATION:

Post 2
Post 8
Post 10

• When was the motor built?
June 2010

• What rod bearings did you go with?
acl

• What rods did you go with?
long rod aluminum grp 156mm

• What crankshaft did you put them on?
33lbs manley billet forged shotpeened cross drilled nitrided 100mm stroker crank

• What compression ratio did you choose?
10.5:1

• What displacement are you running?
2.4

• How many miles of non-boost breaking-in did you do before spirited driving?
1,000

• What motor oil are you using? Why?
amsoil dominator 10w30. because its the best lol

• Who built the motor/what shop?
Mark @ turbotrix racing

• What are you using your vehicle for?
daily driving/track-days/and minimal drag/shopping/groceries/heightening my testosterone levels/long drives by the beach/occasional car meets/etc...

• How many miles are on your vehicle since the break-in?
9,000

• What fuel/boost level are you set on?
93 octane. 26-28psi on high. 15-20psi on low. Stock ECU

• If your motor blew (whether it's a head-gasket, piston, cylinder, rod, spun bearing, valve, etc...) state how many miles after the build/break-in that it occurred and what you were doing during the tragedy.
Nothing yet.

^ You guys didn't have any clearance problems with the 100mm stroke???

Mikey

naw, had to do some block grinding or something, but other than that it worked out. 2.4 aluminum-long-rod 10.5:1 build with a bad-ass manley forged billet crank. How long have you had your 2.4 build? what kind of rods in yours?

My motor is new... It is a Long Rod 2.4L with steel 156mm GSC I beams. I was highly advised to not go aluminum rods with my 100mm stroke but every build has there own way of doing motors I guess... Here is the link to my build thread for you to look at. https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...tor-build.html

Mikey

i allways thoguht there was a problem running ally rods for street use? is this no longer the case?

Call me a ginny pig, call me a trend setter... but my engine builder and I have reasons to believe otherwise. :)
I have faith in my build. It makes sense for my purpose, you can't believe everything you read without taking it with a grain of salt. ;)
If it doesn't work out, I can at least confidently say I tried my best to make it work, and the future :mitsu:Evo owners can use my experience as an important piece of data. :spin:

Time will tell the tale :dunno:

-MR

Two of my personal engines have Aluminum rods in them. One of the is a Daily Driver and the other is a race engine. Funny that you posted this, I am getting ready to build another one with a Winberg 100mm & GRP Rods in the next few weeks.

• When was the motor built?
July09 / April10
• What rod bearings did you go with?
Calico coated ACL's in both
• What rods did you go with?
GRP Solid beam 150mm
• What compression ratio did you choose?
10:1.1 in both
• What displacement are you running?
2.0 in both using Winberg Crankshafts
• How many miles of non-boost breaking-in did you do before spirited driving?
500 on the DD and maybe 5 miles on the race engine
• Who built the motor/what shop?
Me-Carz Performance
• What are you using your vehicle for?
Daily Driving & stoplight warrior / other engine is full racing at the track
• How many miles are on your vehicle since the break-in?
3500 & 10 passes at the track / 40 miles & 16 passes at the track
• What fuel/boost level are you set on?
V/P import 26psi / E85 25psi
• If your motor blew (whether it's a head-gasket, piston, cylinder, rod, spun bearing, valve, etc...) state how many miles after the build/break-in that it occurred and what you were doing during the tragedy.
Both still running strong & healthy


What Turbo are you planning to use? I would be nervous to rev that long rod engine past 8000RPMs unless you lightend up the rotating mass with a Winberg Crankshaft :)

[QUOTE=DynoDude55;8430002]Two of my personal engines have Aluminum rods in them. One of the is a Daily Driver and the other is a race engine. Funny that you posted this, I am getting ready to build another one with a Winberg 100mm & GRP Rods in the next few weeks./QUOTE]

Awesome data DynoDude! :beer: Keep it coming guys! {thumbup}

11:1 compression 2.0L
22k miles
no oil cooler
Dyno guinea pig/Street driven/Drag race (alot)
R&R aluminum rods
ACL bearings
E98
Boost anywhere from 31-41 depending on traction
675-770whp
50 mile break in

Why no oil cooler?

I updated the OP with crank info :)

edit: Oh forgot to mention turbo DUH. I actually am not 100% sure yet (about 99.9%). It's going to be ball bearing for response/spool. I've narrowed it down to a T4 Twin Scroll 1.06 housing on either a HTA3582r, or HTA3586r. I've been told a T3 Twin Scroll 1.06 can help spool/response, but have gotten mixed feelings from other people that it would be silly to put a T3 on a 82/86 turbo. I honestly don't mind if I limit myself HP by putting the T3 in exchange for response, however some people were telling me it's bad for the motor/turbo (something about backpressure, and improper flow for the turbine) which from what I understand is mismatched to begin with... but everyone's got their views. I'll probably play it safe and do HTA3582 on T4 TS 1.06. First gotta run my FP Red into an FP Lava... then I do the turbo haha.


Interesting combo Aaron! {thumbup}

2 reasons.

Proving a point about aluminum rods and oil temps on the streets and weight reduction.

Actually I think Luke took it off to sell to a customer that had a spun rod bearing and needed an oil cooler and didnt want to pay dealer price.

aaron

whats the reason they advised you not to run them ? great thread i plan to build a alu rod motor over the winter the rod bolts are what everybody makes a fuss about right ?.

We have had trouble trying to make them fit. It barely fit when I did 162s with the 94mm and the 156s and 94mm were also pretty close. Just getting the I beams to fit requires clearancing. However if the GRP is smaller in the beam than the R&R they might fit pretty tight as a 150 but still make it.

Its not that we didnt want to, we just couldnt see a way to make it work how we wanted.