I've even seen them on the ALBA web site.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]

 

Chimmer- with your carb mods and mechanical ability you could go either way. I would only add a rod if you have the assembly balanced. I have ridden some that were not balanced and it is a no-no in my book. None of my quads have a carrillo rod. The next time i decide to do some internal mods or re-ring it i will go TI.

I have seen first hand guys making sub 5 passes with large shots of nos on the stock rod with no failures after 2 years and many many runs.

 

desracers, so the ti is titanium? & is lighter & stronger or just stronger? The regular rod is made of? I have heard the regular rod is $340. I'd pay extra for stronger & lighter!

14 mins, its been a while since we pm'd. The last time we were talking about letting Craycraft do my port/polish work. I still haven't decided who to go with but I did talk to Bob for quite a while the other night-very cool, PR is important to them, very important to potential customer. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]
By the way, what compression are you running?

I really hate to go into the bottom end to replace the rod just to appease the 12:1 gods. I'd rather deck the cylinder 2mm to get an equivalent of about 11.6:1 out of my stock sized 11:1 Wiseco & still run high octane pump gas. That way I wouldn't even have to take the cylinder off. The only problem is if I don't get the cam adjusted correctly I'll be tearing it down to replace bent valves. Also, with decking, as the bore gets bigger, the compression gets bigger, so eventually I'll be close to 12:1 anyway. I'd still like to try it though, live on the edge, work on the edge, just don't fall off the edge, like I did, pics to follow, LOL..... I've been on antibiotics for the last 20 days recovering from that spill. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has tried decking though. On the other hand, I might as well try the 12:1 with stock rod & if the rod blows I'll have an excuse to tear into the bottom end & replace the 2001 gears at the same time. Rossier engineering uses a 13:1 stock bore or slight overbore, stock rod, with a port/polish to get a solid 55hp & they even have one setup with a Stage II Hotcam with stock valve springs since they beleive the stock springs rev faster & maximize hp.

 

Chimmer- shaving the head would be the last thing i would do. Just a big can of worms in my opinion.

i run 13-1 lightened piston stock bore now.

 

Don't count on just doing this or doing that if the stock rod goes. It could take your case, and crank with it or worse. Very expensive problem to have. I got lucky that it only banged my crank up a bit, and knocked some of the internal peices off the case. FWIW

 

Thanks for the replies. Most engine builders are willing to do whatever I want but recommend the rod upgrade for reliability/long engine life.
14 mins, I didn't know you were running a 13:1 piston, damn boooo pssst, you are living on the edge, sounds like fun though!
Perhaps there is some truth to being able to run high compression with the smaller bore. I could just deglaze the cylinder again & put in a 12:1 stock sized piston but it seems silly not to upgrade to at least a 12:1 100.5mm overbore. Then again, what would I really gain from 0.5mm?

I know I have nothing to lose if I just get the head ported/polished & possibly bigger valves but I am sure I will some bottom without raising the comp or bore some. I need that puddle jumping power to get to the mamer jamer hill climbs. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

If I decide to upgrade the rod, I'll have to tear into the bottom end & that means a 2001 tranny upgrade, a bigger bore/higher comp piston, bigger valves, port/polish, gaskets, etc etc & its gonna cost me a lot even if I do all the assembly/tear down myself. I guess you can tell I am cheap but I like to learn as much as possible & paying through the nose only teaches my wallet a lesson. Whatever I decide, I'll provide dyno results when done.

Any more thoughts? Anybody, Buehler......

 

You won't gain very much from going to even a 102mm bore over the stock 100mm bore. I'd personaly wait until you can replace the 01 tranny with 02 then do the rod. You'll be at that point in the tear down anyway. Of course that all costs money. You can get that 686 feel by staying stock bore and going 12:1 or 1:1 and cam. Get the cylinder honed to the piston to wall clearances reccomended by the piston manufacture at least. Don't just deglaze and slap in the piston, check those clearances. Of course if you did all that, then you might be replacing the 01 gears sooner than you thought. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]