okay so I have done a little research on polishing rod journals as well as shot peening rods. Is there any REAL added benefit in your guys' opinion? I am building an LS vtec and don't have a whole heck of a lot of money to buy expensive eagle rods. The local guys in town can shot peen and polish the rods for about 50 bucks each.

I have talked to a trusted source and he said they are suppose to help increase rod strength significantly. Are stock LS rods with stock LS wrist pins and pistons/rings okay to use for an ls vtec that isn't going to be revved past 7500 rpm?

I've polished and balanced the crank, replaced all the rod bearings and crank bearings and I'm also going to replace the rod bolts with some ARP ones.

The final stage I guess would be to shot peen the rods IF it actually adds substantial strength to the rod.

I didn't actually measure the piston to cylinder wall clearance and also would like to know if I can simply just buy standard sized piston rings and reuse the old pistons without having to regap the rings or replace the piston with an oversize one. My motor when I purchased it had 180, 000 km's on it and was in excellent shape when I purchased it.

Thanks

 

IF you understand the process-then you know that shot peening will relieve some if not all of the stress risers in the rod. Polishing does little in tiself except make the surfaces smoother-oil flows off them easier. No matter what you do-have the rods and crank Magnafluxed BEFORE you put any more money on the table. Honda cranks are nearly bulletproof from the factory-if you use their clearances.

 

good to know this stuff. Thanks!

I didn't get the block magnafluxed but I guess its sorta too late to so.

I'm hoping that when I do take my rods to get the rod bolts installed and shot peened that they won't require any further work.

I'm trying to do this on a tight budget but I certainly won't cut corners if it will compromise reliability.

I wish I had the money to buy high compression pistons but I think the stock LS pistons with a b16a head and type R cams will probably give me some decent power.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jc836 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">IF you understand the process-then you know that shot peening will relieve some if not all of the stress risers in the rod. Polishing does little in tiself except make the surfaces smoother-oil flows off them easier. No matter what you do-have the rods and crank Magnafluxed BEFORE you put any more money on the table. Honda cranks are nearly bulletproof from the factory-if you use their clearances.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Actually, the purpose of polishing is also to reduce stress risers. Remember that stress risers occur at abrupt surface irregularities. And polishing reduces these.