whitehause

I'm prepping the rods on my 454 build. I know it should be as close as possible, but what would you consider the max weight difference in the rods and still be ok for a mild street motor?
I weighed them all and from lightest to heaviest I have about a 5 gram difference....with most being within 2 grams. Is this ok or should I do some shaving?

True Blue Vette

Five grams is pretty close to the no-go line, but it really depends on what you consider mild... what rpm's will you be running? That is what really decides how much offset weight you can run. Regardless of the application, if you have the resources available to grind the rods, and know what you're doing, i'd match them to within one gram.

whitehause

It's just a street car that won't see more than 6000 rpm. They are the stock "thumb" rods, and have plenty of meat on the top and bottom that I can shave a little here and there to get them within a gram or two. I know that most balanced sets shoot for 1 gram, but I wasn't sure how crucial it was in a street motor.
These rods have a large "****" of metal on both the top and bottom. Is there a better end to remove the metal from, or should I take a small amount from each end a little at a time till I hit my weight?

billla

I certainly would get them within 1 gram...many shops treat .5 gram as ideal, even for a street engine.

Bowerss2

when i have an engine built i like to see the rods whiten one to one half a gram, even for a street motor. But i am just very **** like that.

BLOCKMAN

If its 5 grams on the big end thats alot as the big is figured in twice when we a setting up the bob weights.

L88Plus

You're weighing the rods as a whole, they're measured on each end for balancing. I wouldn't hit 'em with a grinder until you know each end's weight, those are the numbers you're trying to match.

whitehause

I just did a little more research on this and saw a nice you-tube video that shows the whole process. They have a hanging jig to put the ends in. they balanced the small first, then the big end. Looks pretty straight forward. I guess today will be jig building day! thanks for all the info guys!

billla

My bad - I assumed you had one of these The Proform unit is nice - it's what I have - but pricey at around $225. Summit may have one for far less...

7T1vette

For an engine that won't see over 6000 rpm, don't worry about it. If it were a racing engine that sees 6500-7000 all the time, balance is important to longer life and a bit more power. And, if this is not something you are familiar with, just grinding metal off of your rods is not a simple task to do correctly. Take it off the wrong place and/or in the wrong way, and you end up with a broken rod when you crank it up. Removing metal can be a much worse situation than not removing metal, if you do it improperly.

whitehause

These stock thumb rods have a healthy amount of metal on the balancing pads (about 1/4" or more on both ends). I have a good scale. The jig looks pretty simple to make, so I think I should be ok. From what I have seen, you get the small ends balanced first using your lightest as your target number. Then use the big end to get the whole rod in balance, again using the lightest as your target number. I think if I just work slowly,grind with the grain, and check often it shouldn't be too hard to get them pretty close to 1 gram at least.