[Fot] GT6 Connecting rods

Wed Dec 9 07:07:07 MST 2015

I think it depends on what you want to do with the car.  Both my race motors have Carillo rods in them - one component I have no worries about. Beware those pesky little bolts on the Carillos - use a stretch gauge, not a torque wrench, cuz if you over-stretch one they are about $45 each, but I digress.

My motor sees 7,000 rpm five times a lap at Summit Point, so in a 12 lap race that's 60 cycles to redline over about 20 minutes. I like having parts I can rely on.  There are enough other weak points in a GT6 to fix!

When I originally got this car, it had six beautifully lightened, balanced and shot peened stock rods with ARP bolts. You could do that for a lot less money and probably be fine for 6,000 rpm regularly.

So, reliable competitive race car (Carillo), or fast street car/back half of the pack race car (improved stock), or fast race car if it doesn't blow up first (Chinese)?  Keep in mind that back in the day they ran stock rods to 8,000 rpm.
If you are on a budget (we all are at some level, right?) and want to get on the track sooner than later - go for "stock" and know the limitations of the engine.  You can always upgrade later- that engine will not be "one and done", so you will have it apart every other year at a minimum and can swap out rods.
But I agree with Russ- don't buy the knockoffs and delude yourself that they are as good as the real stuff- that will just lead to catastrophe down the road.

Sent from my mobile device 

On Dec 9, 2015, at 8:02 AM, Spitfire Racing <spitfire_racing at twcny.rr.com> wrote:

A properly built and modified race engine represents a mighty investment not
only of dollars but of time. Is that really where you want to pinch pennies?
After all, with the exception of pistons and crank that is one of the
primary components and all it takes is one piece inside an engine to reduce
all your work and investment to nothing more than scrap metal. One seized
valve, or substandard bolt even can be a disaster. It doesn't take much.
Realize all the ancillary invested expenditures that are also at risk like a
weekend's entry fee you lose in an engine failure; the cost of time off from
work to go to a race weekend; the cost of food and lodging for the race
outing and the cost of just getting there. When asked, I usually advise
folks to figure a race weekend is ~$1000 minimum when you roll all in.

A number of racers have run Pauter rods as stated before by Bill and these
do present a less expensive alternative. I had the opportunity to rebuild an
engine last year with Pauter rods and they were quite substantial and were
well designed, constructed and balanced. Personally I have seen far too many
Chinese knock-offs; reproductions (call them what you will), that fail to
come close to the parts they try to mimic. 
I suggest you perhaps delay your build until your war chest allows for top
quality internals. Do it once and do it right the first time and reduce the
potential for disappointing expensive disaster.

Russ Moore
Spitfire #49

-----Original Message-----
From: Fot [mailto:fot-bounces at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Jamie
Sent: Wednesday, December 09, 2015 6:22 AM
To: McKearn McKearn
Cc: FOT list
Subject: Re: [Fot] GT6 Connecting rods

Although I was initially very wary, they have worked well for over 1,000
race miles in our (horror) MGB engine.

Jamie Palmer

> On Dec 8, 2015, at 11:52 PM, McKearn McKearn <mckearn2 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi Gents.
>   I am looking for feedback on the MaxSpeeding connecting rods for GT6.
Can't afford Carrillos and I'm hoping these are good. Also am still
searching for an aluminum flywheel without having something custom made. and
would like input on what type of clutch to use as well . Lets call it a race
car for the sake of argument....
>                                Thanks.  P.J.
> _______________________________________________
> fot at autox.team.net
> 
> http://www.fot-racing.com
> 
> Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
> Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
> Forums: http://www.team.net/forums
> Unsubscribe/Manage:
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/fot/tr6driver@yahoo.com
_______________________________________________
fot at autox.team.net

http://www.fot-racing.com

Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
Forums: http://www.team.net/forums
Unsubscribe/Manage:
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/fot/spitfire_racing@twcny.rr.com

_______________________________________________
fot at autox.team.net

http://www.fot-racing.com

Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
Forums: http://www.team.net/forums
Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/fot/sjanzen@me.com