Inliners International Forums General Discussion Blown and Injected Need some advice.

I'm new the chevy sixes. I'm building a 292 for bracket racing and trying to choose parts. I'm going to use a Garrett Gt42 turbo,tial waste gate with a 80mm throttle body. Probably 60lb injectors. I'll use a 292 head with 1.94-1.60 valves and lump ports. My main questions are on the rods and pistons. I assume aluminum rods are needed? Any recommendations. Pistons? Thanks for any help.

What kind of HP and RPM are looking to see. Aluminum rods are an alternative, but steel billet ones are also an option if the power level is real high.

I'm looking for 500hp. Do you think thats possible with a factory head? As far as rpm goes, maybe 6000. I'm going to start with a Delta cam. Its .574 lift and they will grind it for a turbo. Am I in the ballpark or out to lunch. I don't want to go the hybrid head and radical crank work until I see if I like the world of 6. About 30 years ago I built a slant 6 in a dodge dart that ran high 13s and still got 23mpg. Thanks for you help.

You should have no trouble reaching 500 HP with the factory head, especially with a turbo. The connecting rod choice is more likely going to be a personal preference, the steel billet rods are going to be more costly, but can provide a better long term solution.

I agree, if the budget will stand it a quality steel rod has an indefinite life expectancy - you don't need to think about it again.
Aluminum does last quite a while (20,000 street miles not uncommon), but they should be examined for stretch at regular intervals and discarded before they break the engine.
Aluminum rods also require the engine temp to be higher before serious power, and not everyone is careful to warm up first!
Your head porter should be the consult on cam timing, since it will follow the port efficiency and intake/exhaust bias.

Would the steel rods clear the cam better than the aluminum rods? The only rods I've priced is GRP. They want $673 for a set of aluminum rods. Is that comparable to a set of steel rods?

Steel rods will still need to have the cam barrel notched for clearance as well. The factory 292 cams were, so using a non-292 core to start with can be an issue if you don't think of that ahead of time. Plus using a non-292 cam core places the fuel pump eccentric in the wrong place for the fuel pump on the engine block, and places the eccentric too close to a connecting rod and can cause issues there also if used in a 292. Steel billet rods are about twice the cost of what a set of aluminum ones are. In aluminum rods there are good and bad quality ones, so don't be persuaded by cost, good alumiunum ones are about $800-$850 a set. Aluminum rods also require much more clearancing than steel rods do to the block, camshaft and sometimes the oil pump and pan rail on the oil pan itself. If those are things you cant do yourself, you can tie up another couple hundred bucks in labor to have that done, and can make the billet steel rods a little more appealing and cost effective at that point.

Since the rods are not a common item (2.100" weird journal size and 6.76" length) I don't think you'll find any used (and never buy used aluminum rods!).
Clearance problems as CNC-Dude noted, plus H beams (most Carrillo) are even bigger.
A long rod, which is what you want to get the piston weight down, interferes even more with the cam, but I don't know how much - it's just not going in the right direction.
Unless you want to weld the crank, there's really nothing else that fits - all the long rods are for journals bigger than 2.100".
If you need a rod made, consider searching for a quality "shelf" piston (SBC, etc. stocking item) to save some money, since the rod length and pin eye can be made to match this.

My rods are Crower steel and longer than stock - 7.263". This should make clearances tighter to the cam. I have a cam with the cast in clearances (a 292 not a 250 cam) and have at least .060 to the cam. The only clearancing I had to do was on the oil pump suction pipe boss, which would be a factor no matter the rod length.

I also recommend getting custom pistons and ordering your rods to fit.

I paid 1100 for my crowers. But, I think you are going to have fun making the GRP's fit. Good luck!

56er do you spend any time out at Bremerton Raceway? I'm there quite often. I live in Montesano, about 70 miles away which is a local track for those of us in the north west.