Okay - someone said "what about overseas rods"? I've just had a heavy
weekend of racing the TR3A (happy ending) so too buggered to pull the files
and look things up, but it is an interesting prospect. As for my TR3A, I
used rods from a Mitsubishi Sigma (this may be an Australia-only model) that
have been happily turning to 6500pm for several years now and cost $A100/set
(that's $US50!). But that's not what you guys who run billet cranks and
8000+rpm are asking about, I'm sure!
But I am having a set or "Carillo-like" rods made for an MG TC project.
This engine will run a billet crank and 8,000rpm and the place that is
making them does many "custom run" rods for many of our vintage racers. We
don't have the volume to have long runs, so there are several companies in
Australia willing to make short runs (like one set). Mine will cost
$A150-175 each. I can't give you any exact info on "how do they compare",
but they are certainly running successfully in plenty of highly stressed
engines.
Why am I bothering you with this note. Well, we might be onto something
interesting here. Australia has a pretty mature engineering industry with
high standards (my humble opinion). More importantly, the Australian dollar
is scraping along at around 50" U.S. So, even at $A200 a rod, to you Yanks
that's only $100 each, and that's certainly a saving worth having.
Our friends across the Tasman (New Zealand) have an even bigger $ problem,
so that could be worth looking into.
I'll do some research when I unpack the trailer and clean the driving suit!
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