Thanks for the link and information. I'll have to do the CR calculations to see if that would work. No valve reliefs may be a problem, but not insurmountableHere you go man.
Silv-O-Lite Cast Pistons 1278-030
Thanks for the link and information. I'll have to do the CR calculations to see if that would work. No valve reliefs may be a problem, but not insurmountableHere you go man.
Silv-O-Lite Cast Pistons 1278-030
Do you have personal experience with this Scat cranks? I would like to hear from those that can speak to the quality of their products, please.
I already did it because I'm curious too! It came out at 9.2 with 70cc headsThanks for the link and information. I'll have to do the CR calculations to see if that would work. No valve reliefs may be a problem, but not insurmountable
Interesting... I was looking for that example..... a small fraction of a % difference in the rod/stroke ratio of a SBM with 4" stroke 1.534 versus 1.531....I don't think that 454 bores wear out particularly fast. 1.50 is considered the lower limit of 'normal' engine design for rod-stroke ratio. FWIW, with the OP's lower RPM range of 5000 RPM max and interstate cruise RPM of 2500, it seems like a good match. But that is probably academic at this point.Secondly, with a four inch crank the rod ratio is going to be close to the same as a 454 Chevrolet. The best near daily driver example I knew of that was an oval port standard deck engine in a C50 tow truck. It still runs, has been going on the stock short block since the early eighties.
Ohio crankshaft h beams also.I wondered what was available, OTHER THAN THE STOCK MOPAR RODS, what was available. So I did a little searching, limiting the search to 6.123 c/c rods.
Found:
Molnar, H Beam
K1, H Beam
Howards, H Beam
Eagle, both I Beam and H Beam
Scat, both I Beam and H Beam
Did I miss any? Seems we are kind of limited in our choice for an aftermarket source.
Crankshaft choices seem to be even more limited, especially for a stock stroke crank. The only NEW, not reman, crank I found was made by Eagle.
However, after talking with several professional engine builders and receiving their cautions concerning crankshaft quality, I rejected that avenue.
I did not consider a reman crank for a variety of reasons.
I started this with a bare block, main caps, and a set of rebuilt stock iron heads I had laying around. No crank, rods, or pistons. Wanted to build a mildish 318 for a street driven Willys pickup project.
I have abandoned the search for a NEW 3.31 stroke crank. That leaves strokers and a choice of from 3.58, 3.79, 4.00, and 4.125.
In my personal humble opinion, the rod ratio on the 4.00 and 4.125 are to low and put too much side load on the cylinder walls and pistons. For a strip motor, probably just fine, but not for a daily use street motor I expect to last a long time.
So that leaves the 3.58 and 3.79 strokes. For me, I chose the 3.58 stroke for it's more favorable rod ratio, better bore ratio, and a more favorable pin height. Molnar makes this one. A bit pricey, but I can deal with that for a quality product. Using this crank leaves no choice but to use a custom piston since no one has an off the shelf piston for a 3.940 bore, 3.58 stroke, 6.123 rod. But pistons are a subject for later.
That left me on a search for connecting rods, since I do not have any. For this build an I Beam rod is more than capable. But I have no experience with either Scat or Eagle and they seem to be they only choice for an I Beam rod.
What connecting rods have you personally used or are using that have proven to be reliable and durable?
And before you ask:
Strictly street driven
5000 rpm maximum, 70 mph cruise approx 2500 rpm
either a 727 with a gear vendors OD or a 518 (have both buried around here somewhere)
Rear end is a old frankenstein quick change I saved from a dirt car 30 some years ago after I totaled it
318 block +0.030 (because I had it)
3.58 stroke forged crank
Lunati Voodoo Cam and kit (because I had it)
Very mildly ported iron heads (because I had them)
Weiand intake (because I had it)
Holley Street Demon (had to buy this one)
Appreciate any advice you have.
Ohio crankshaft h beams also.
They are very good rods.
Stock rods with arp bolts should work.
Thanks for the information. I had looked at both Eagle and Scat and have been leaning toward the Scats just for the material. Honestly I had not paid attention to weight.Look into the rod materials for Eagle vs SCAT, OP for the I-beams. (I have not compared the H beams.) The Eagles are a 5140 material and the SCAT's are a 4340.. stronger. Your app is not stressing the rods so maybe no big deal. For total weight, they are nominally the same: 605 gr for the Eagle I-beams vs 602 gr nominal for the SCAT's. I have been able to call Summit and ask for the lightest set of SCAT's they had on the shelf and got some that were 30 grams lighter than nominal to help with a challenging balance setup. Which leads into balancing.....
The non-standard combination is gonna require balance work on the crank. With a 3.58 stroke, lighter rods are going to put you a long way towards being able to balance internally without adding weight to the crank, just removing it. (Adding weights drives up the balance price.) So the aftermarket rods and the 3.58 stroke are a good thing here. Going with lighter hyper pistons like the KB's plus light rods will almost guarantee being able to balance a 3.58 stroke crank internally by just drilling out weight... you just pushed the 'easy' button LOL. A 4" stroke makes it very hard to impossible to balance internally without adding weight to the crank.
Not a show stopper in any case, but with a 4" stroke, the 318 block may need a bit of notching by the pan rails; I'll venture to guess that the 3.58 stroke setup with SCAT rods will easily clear the pan rails as cast with no issues. For either stroke, the SCAT rods will help with that clearance versus stock rods, by 1/8" or more from direct measurements. I have not measured Eagles for that.
Interesting... I was looking for that example..... a small fraction of a % difference in the rod/stroke ratio of a SBM with 4" stroke 1.534 versus 1.531....I don't think that 454 bores wear out particularly fast. 1.50 is considered the lower limit of 'normal' engine design for rod-stroke ratio. FWIW, with the OP's lower RPM range of 5000 RPM max and interstate cruise RPM of 2500, it seems like a good match. But that is probably academic at this point.
I agree with you. All I wanted when I started this build was a nice strong 318. Did not want a stroker at all. I have had this block for many years. Had all the rotating assembly also. Sometime over the years I strongly suspicion one of my boys sold the crank, rods, pistons, etc. to one their buddies either to make a few bucks or to help someone out. I do know when I asked my oldest son to ship the crates, all he could find was the bare block and main caps. It was when I tried to find a stock stroke aftermarket crank, and all I could find was an eagle, that I realized I would have to build a stroker. And I still prefer a 3.58 or a 3.79 over a 4.00.You won't have any clearance issues with a 3.58 stroke.
I'd use a 360 crank turned down to fit. Good American steel.
Stock rods are tuff...more good steel. One of my engine shops is Chevy oriented but he admits he's never seen a failed crank Mopar crank that wasn't caused by another part.
All this rod/stroke talk is meaningless in your application IMHO.
Have fun.
The heads I have are 70's (I cannot remember the casting number and they are not readily available to check). They were rebuilt some years ago and a check of my records says they cc'd at an average of 68. I must not have recorded the cc of each chamber. At the time they were port matched to (I think) an Offy intake and some casting irregularities smoothed out. Not really ported, just cleaned up some. No longer have that Offy intake.Speed-O-Motive carried a .030 over 318 350 kit for years based on a 318 with a 360 crank. Indeed, it would be pretty easy to do the Silvolite pistons with stock rods and the Scat crank, but I would just use a 360 crank worked by someone trustworthy. No reason to spend the the extra on a forging at this level. The 1978 up 360 crank is slightly stronger than the earlier ones. The fel-pro 8553 PT permatorque head gaskets compress in at .052 actual, but are only about $13 apiece and work well. The 1.658 compression height will put it down .029 in the hole or deeper if the block is taller. You mentioned you had ported 318 heads, what casting number and what do they cc in at? Have they been surfaced? Most come in at 62-63 ccs after a .010 cleanup. This comes in right at 9.9:1 compression. I'm really starting to like this build, the 360 crank I have laying around is starting to look really attractive to me right now!
Thanks for reminding us! That's one of those details that I've forgotten about along the way that sneaks up to bite during building this type of stroker. One advantage is it lightens the pistons and therefore the bob weight even more having to do that. With 68 chambers and the aforementioned parts and clearances, dead on at 9.5.One thing to keep in mind with all this, if you use a shelf compression height piston NOT designed for the 3.58 stroke, the skirts have to be clearanced for the counter weights.
Clearancing skirts removes a very small amount of weight from the piston so not much help there. BTDT.... Cast 318 pistons and stock 318 rods (heavy or light) are going to require a considerable amount of weight to be added to any stock 360 crank to internal balance if that is what is desired. An option is to go with the 360 external balance parts at the damper and TC/flexplate to get much closer.Thanks for reminding us! That's one of those details that I've forgotten about along the way that sneaks up to bite during building this type of stroker. One advantage is it lightens the pistons and therefore the bob weight even more having to do that. With 68 chambers and the aforementioned parts and clearances, dead on at 9.5.
Pishta's roughly 100 gram drop in piston/rod bobwieght from stock is all in the much lighter stroker piston weights that he used. Stock 318 cast pistons have very thick and heavy crowns and their bobweight with stock heavy rods is going to be around 2160 grams." A 4" stroke makes it very hard to impossible to balance internally without adding weight to the crank."
An Eagle forged 4340 360 mains 4.00 crank has a bobweight of 2050g (same as their cast). Stock balanced rods and cast stroker pistons were 40g under this bobweight, that's lightening the crank, no metal added for internal balance. Not hard, and I used 'heavy' stock rods.
Do you have personal experience with this Scat cranks? I would like to hear from those that can speak to the quality of their products, please.