577 SOHC Post Mortem

[BruceS]

MB, Mr. Crower's first name is Bruce. Ask me why I remember that! 

Bruce

[jayb]

So, Im replying to this to ask why stay with Crower, when there are several other good rod makers?
 
Mark

I stayed with Crower because the overall shape of their rod works inside the engine.  The 4.6" stroke in this engine makes internal clearances something of an issue, especially at the bottom of the cylinder sleeves.  Crower's billet rods have what they call "stroker clearance" ground right into the rod.  As a result I knew they would fit in the engine without a bunch of additional clearancing and grinding.  They also agreed to upgrade the rods a little for me, adding some beam thickness and about 50 grams of weight. 

I briefly considered going with Oliver instead, but when I talked to those guys at the PRI show they weren't all that helpful/interested in my application.  And the rods they showed me at the show would have needed a whole bunch of grinding/clearancing to fit the engine.  I also thought about going with Carillo, and since the pistons are CP, that would have been one less vendor to deal with (Carillo and CP are part of the same company), but in the end I decided to go with the path of least resistance, which was another set of Crowers.  I've got Crower rods in my supercharged FE, which makes 1200 HP, and haven't had any issues, so I still have a high opinion of their parts; I think I just "lucked out" and got a bad one.  Go figure...

[Nightmist66]

I briefly considered going with Oliver instead, but when I talked to those guys at the PRI show they weren't all that helpful/interested in my application.  And the rods they showed me at the show would have needed a whole bunch of grinding/clearancing to fit the engine.  I also thought about going with Carillo, and since the pistons are CP, that would have been one less vendor to deal with (Carillo and CP are part of the same company), but in the end I decided to go with the path of least resistance, which was another set of Crowers.  I've got Crower rods in my supercharged FE, which makes 1200 HP, and haven't had any issues, so I still have a high opinion of their parts; I think I just "lucked out" and got a bad one.  Go figure...

While I was at PRI, I stopped and asked a few vendors about parts and most just replied, What's an FE? I just said nevermind and walked away. It was good to finally meet you and Barry, Jay. Loved all the parts on display, like a kid in a candy store!

[cobracammer]

Crower Rods seem to be pretty beefy.  I have Eagle Forged "H" beams.  I was told they are pretty strong, but when you look at them, they don't look as sturdy as those Crowers Jay is using.  :0)


On Edit:

I went back to the company I got my Forged H Beam Eagle Rods from.  And with the upgraded ARP bolts I installed, it says I am good for up to 1400 HP.   I guess looks can be deceiving.

[BH107]

Being local to me I've had the chance to walk though Crowers operation and it is impressive to say the least. They do everything in one building now, from cranks to rod to valve train and cams. They also do it all in house, not subbed out like some other companies like Comp Cams. They are top notch and I'm sure you'll be good with this set.

[Autoholic]

What would it cost, on average, to have the whole deal magnafluxed? I'm talking block, heads, pistons, rods and crank. I'd figure that on a SOHC, you're spending at least $40k for a new one. Seems like it would be a smart idea to have it all tested if it only cost like $2k.

[MRadke]

I probably missed this, but what did you change to take this engine from 577 out to 585?

[jayb]

Went from 4.470 to 4.500 bore.

[mummert]

MB, Mr. Crower's first name is Bruce. Ask me why I remember that! 

Bruce

  I think its actually Harold, but he preferred his middle name Bruce.

[ScotiaFE]

I have had to disassemble two baby cammers in the recent past.
I thought about this as I was taking them down. And studied the disassembly very close.
#5 is taking a lot of punishment.
These are around 100,000 mile 4.6'ers.
Coincidence, who knows?

[jayb]

That is interesting, Howie, but its hard to tie my failures and your observations together.  We will see what I find when I tear down this year's engine...

[falcongeorge]

Uh, Jon... Jay's engine was using the good parts. Nobody runs aluminum rods for the purpose Jay was. Not only would they not likely fit with that stroke but on a 1200 mile street drive you might be leaving some along the road or at one of the tracks. Same deal with a billet block without water jackets, you'd have problems. Even Larry Larson's 3000hp ProLine engine was using a cast block.
http://www.brodix.com/blocks-list/5-0-aluminum-blocks

@TomP FWIW, I ran BME's in an 800 hp street/strip brand x motor and was VERY happy with them. For one thing, they are much easier on the rest of the bottom end, and cured issues I was having with cap fretting. Tom, you probably saw the car in question make many passes, and it was always driven home from the track, unlike virtually every one of the "street cars"   it was competing against. Probably shouldnt even post this, and Ill ignore all the "you don't know what you are talking about, it says on the internet you cant do that" that will surely follow this post. Tom, next time we meet face to face, feel free to ask me about it.