Questions on 440 Rods--Lengths and Reconditioning

[Chatt69chgr]

Every book I have says the stock 440 rod length is 6.768 inches.  I'am talking about the standard LY rod.  Now I look at the H-beam rods offered by 440 source, Eagle, and Scat and they all say they are stock length but they say they are 6.760.  What gives?  Why are they shorter than the stock LY rod.  If I wanted to use the H-beams, it would cause my piston to sit 8 thousands further down in the hole causing me to have to take 8 more thousands off the deck to get to zero deck.  (An interesting thing I discovered while searching the net was that all three of these apparently come from China and are the same part.  Supposedly, the final machining is done in the USA----I am not saying this is necessarily bad but was interesting).  Note that the stock replacement rods that 440 source offers also say they are 6.76 inchs long.

Reconditioning Stock 440 LY rods-----Where is the best place to have these magnafluxed, straightened, have new 7/16 inch ARP bolts installed ( I assume that they can be installed in these rods), and anything else that one does when reconditioning a rod.  Since they don't weigh much, I would rather send them off to the "best" place wherever that is.  I might want to do this in lieu of using the shorter H-beams or shorter 440 source stock replacement rods.  I have heard that the stock LY rods are super tough and that it's just about impossible to break them.  I understand they are forged.  Is this true? 

[Chatt69chgr]

Well, I called 440 Source this morning and found out that, indeed, the H-beams they have are 6.760 inches long.  He didn't know why they are all that length instead of 6.768 inches.  He did confirm that their rods are the same as the Scat and Eagle but that they do the final machining themselves---they all get the forgings from China and do the final machining here.  He told me that if I wanted to recondition my old rods that most any machine shop can handle the job including installing new ARP bolts and remachining the big end. 

We talked about the deck height of a 440 and he said that they vary all over the place.  Stock was supposed to be 10.725 but could be plus or minus 10 thou.  So you really have to have your block measured after you take your first cleanup pass on the deck to see what you have and then, and only then, can you order your rods and pistons (if you are looking to end up with a zero deck shortblock).  He said that their pistons, which have a Compression Height of 2.067 do come from Keith Black just like I thought althought they only sell the floating pin type. Said it was to help reduce the rotating assembly weight as the floating pin was lighter than the pressed pin.  If one wanted to run the stock rod with a pressed pin, I found a place on EBAY that sells the KB822 for pressed pin for the same $419 as the floating pin variety that 440 source has. 

Finally, the cheaper rod they have listed as a "stock replacement" for $250 is no longer available.  He said it has not been available for 3 months or so.  So it looks like you either use your stock rods or buy new H-beams. 

[Rayzor]

If new rods are in the budget I would spring for them. They will be stronger out of the box then the factory rods can ever be. I dont think the LY rod can be modified for a larger rod bolt anyways. By the time you get the bolts and resize them and do the normal mods to beef them up you will be close to the price of  new rods anyways. On that note I have thrashed on the factory rods with close to 500 horse and have not lost one yet so they are pretty strong. But its still a gamble on a 30 year old part.