Does anyone know a machine shop in the Midwest that machines connecting rods from raw 4340 GM Bowtie forgings. Doug
any particular reason you want to use that particular forging ? today you can pretty much buy any rod style you want from a number of different sources
Bought them dirt cheap....would like to get a nice set made once.........then should last me. Came from a Nascar Shop in North Carolina......otherwise might make good weights for the canopy at the shows..... I sent an email to Steve Schmidt Racing....Thanks,
Doug, There's several places that could do it. Four I would check with: Bob Hardison- http://www.jetboatbob.com/ Mike Phillips- http://automachperf.com/ Bob & Mike are part of the Kentucky Gang down around Owensboro that's doing quite well with drag racing & drag boats. Randy Malik- http://www.rmcompetition.com/index.html Randy isn't a machinist per se but has lots of good connections in the Detroit area...is also a fanatic for detail. If he recommended a shop I'd trust it. Dave McLain- http://www.mclainsautomotive.com/ Super nice guy, works on a little of everything from monster trucks to SBCs, and a very versatile & smart guy. Whether it will be cost-effective to do it (assuming the end result is strong enough for your needs), vs. cost of readily available rods, is another question. Unless you got these things for almost nothing, I would think that a Scat H-beam is roughly comparable in strength & possibly about the same price, factoring in shipping & initial purchase price. One more local place to us...and I must caution you that I've never used them, nor do I have any experience with them...but they are relatively new & seem to have a good rep so far.... Chenoweth Speed & Machine 368 Erie Avenue Morton, IL 61550 (309)266-8084 If you want to take a look at them, check here....http://www.centralstreetscene.org/forum/index.php and look towards the bottom in the sponsor section. Take with the appropriate grain of salt, since they ARE a sponsor of the forum, but it seems promising. I plan to talk to them in a month or two about a BBC. Edit: There have been quite a few negative comments on YB about Steve Schmidt recently. Some of these guys are more credible than others...& every business has its detractors...but there are several instances where people did not get what they paid for. http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=196585
No Luck So Far.......Need to find the shop that machined them for GM,, I doubt the GM would have done such low volume work.
Man it might be pretty expensive to get this done, might be better finding a set of good used ones cheap.
i doubt they have fixtures and tooling for steel rods the companys you suggested are strictly high end aluminum rods . as posted earlier in this day and age it,s gonna be tough to find some who will do them for less then what a set of EAGLE , SCAT and the likes can sell a set for , if you are dead set on using them i suggest you check out some drag race sites you may find someone you could try Carrilo rods o know they used to be hand machined in the past they may still some manual procedures
Hmmm. At this point, I'm thinking you may have to go to Carillo, or Crower, to get it done. I'm a little surprised, I guess...though some of these shops may simply be looking at their setup time & what they will have to charge, vs. what they figure you would be willing to pay. Do you need anything unusual for the C-T-C length, or will it be the common 5.7 or 6.0"?
Yeah ..............unless I find the supplier for GM Performance Parts that did the original machining, it may ge a good paper weight. Most indicate they purchase Billet material and make the H or I beam.............Rods.
If they came from a NASCAR team in North Carolina. Most of the Connecting Rod Forging comes from Carrillo Rods in Southern California. You may want to contact Roush in Michigan for Machining (They build other Engines other than Fords).
Maybe Carrillo Forgings..........I guess if I can get $7 each at a swap meet, I get my money back...........might look good on a desk.....Did send an email to katech....will see what comes of that....I know someone who has a contact at Venolia they know eveyone in Cali....maybe something there. got some time yet........2 spare motors to blow up before then......
Can you post a pic of one of the forgings? We might be able to do something with them. Me and my father own Dexter Manufacturing www.dextermfg.com We do a lot of odd engine machining and CNC Machining as well. a custom setup like that might not be so tough.
I just talked to Mike at Engine Supply, the guy to talk to about this stuff. He said they would do it for you but it would cost 2-3x the price of buying off the shelf SCAT or Eagle rods. They would do them proper and have made many rods from scratch for the biggest names in the business. If you want his number I can pm it to you. Thanks Mike
Yes the contacted me back, and do not have the fixture or program to set these up. At least they responded back, which is always a good thing.
You need to find a hobby machinist who thinks the challenge is worth his time. I've made single rods for small engines before, and it's a lot of time involved. Cool pieces, tho.
I worked in a high performance machine shop, and my job was to blueprint con. rods, small blocks to hemi's and we did most everthing that could be done to them. I think like everyone else, it might be cost prohibited compared to buying even a semi-finished rod and having it worked to your needs.
UNCLE................listed them on the you know what............someone else can find the machinist......
PAYPAL or MONEY ORDER is fine. SEND ME PRIVATE MESSAGE I GIVE YOU ADDRESS. CAN SHIP FLAT RATE ($15 with tracking) DId you look at the photos on my HAMB page. These came from Carolina area. Seller said they were from a big time engine builder? I AM 100% FB on THE LIST SITE.
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