Reconditioned rods

[Edmond]

I read about rods being reconditioned but I have two questions:

1. What is done to recondtion the rods?

2. How good are reconditioned rods compared with new rods?

 

[Ken]

From Grape Ape Racing's page on connecting rods:

Reconditioned Rods

Stay away from reconditioned rods from auto parts stores. These rods are rarely good for performance use.

Normally when reconditioning a rod, the rod and cap are ground at the split face a few thousandths, then the cap is tightened in place and the big end is resized. This process will leave the area near the split face untouched; this in not a bad thing, but it is visible. Auto parts suppliers care how the rods look and want the entire rod to clean up, so they mill the rod and cap at a slight angle. When the bolts are tightened, the side gets pulled in a few thousandths and the rods will then completely clean up when honed to size. This puts bending loads on the rods (the same bending loads that the bolts see at higher rpm) and the rod bolts will fail sooner.

Most rods will come from the factory with a rough finish on the split face, if the split face is very smooth; it is a good indication that the rod has been reconditioned. It's best to avoid reconditioned rods unless a reputable shop reconditioned them with performance in mind.

For more on rods, see: PREPPING STOCK RODS

 

[Edmond]

It's best to avoid reconditioned rods unless a reputable shop reconditioned them with performance in mind.

I think that just about says it all. Thanks for the info, Ken.