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Thread: 263 Connecting rods - 1950 vs later Rockwell

  1. #1

    263 Connecting rods - 1950 vs 51-53 Rockwell Test

    In the long "Straight 8 hot rodders" thread, there is some discussion regarding the Rockwell hardness of the 1950 connecting rods vs the later years. I believe it was Alleycat who did the testing, and came to the conclusion that the 1950 rods were significantly harder than the 51-53 rods. I am wondering if a harder rod is necessarily better than the others. Not being a metallurgist, I have no idea, but wouldn't a rod that is better able to flex a bit be more desireable than one that is harder, which I always interpret (maybe not correctly) to be more brittle? I'm building a 263 which may one day have some slight boost added to it, have both versions of rods available, and am wondering which I should use.

    Any civil discussion would be appreciated.
    Last edited by ebbsspeed; 01-15-2010 at 06:57 AM.

  2. #2
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    I havn,t heard any bad things about Buick rods, most all rods can be improved with smoothing and shot blasting the beams. Balancing, and with a mild boost there shouldnt be any worry. when you get into competition lakes and drag racing then you have much more to be aware of. for the street a very mild cam, carb,compression,manifolds, and improved ignition, will give very satisfying performance.

  3. #3
    I'm no metallurgist either but many years ago I did quite a bit of chemistry. In and of itself the hardness doesn't signify that the rod will be more "brittle", what it does indicate is that the softer alloy is more prone to point deformation through the application of force.

    Hardness in a metallic alloy component such as this will be determined by a range of factors: such as the mix of metals, the casting process and the finishing process applied to the casting. Generally, controlling for all other factors, in an application such as this a softer alloy would be an inferior component.

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