Luckily, most 292 builds do not require a really big rod, because they don't have enough breathing to turn high RPM, and modern gas doesn't allow a big dome for compression.
What breaks rods? It's not power or cylinder pressure except in extreme cases - rods are very strong in compression, it's tensile/inertial loads that kill them. Causes, in order:
#1. fastener failure - easily fixed, use ARP replacements
#2. high piston weight - Venolia, JE, Ross etc. can supply a replica with over 100 grams off, taper-wall pins, etc.
The Dodge flathead 230 rod looks fairly feeble, but those engines were used quite a bit in dirt track back in the day and did fairly well for flatheads, so the metallurgy and quality control must be fairly good.
However, the Dodge is 7.94" is wayyyy too long for a 292, you need a journal about that size (anything at or under 2.100" = 53.34mm, like 2.0625") but only about 1/2" more length.
Langdon's poster child GMC engine: "Powered by a 1957 341 cubic in GMC engine (302 with 1/8" bore and 1/4" stroke using mopar rods and Chevy V8 pistons)"
Does anyone know what this is? To increase the stroke by 1/4" the new journal must be 2.0625" (2.31 - .25) or smaller... unless it was welded?
The 230 rod is too long to use anything like a commercial piston, and any other Chrysler rod is either too big to stroke the engine (not enough journal size difference - like the slant 6 rod), too short to work (shorter than the 302 rod by enough that the piston would be very tall - like the DeSoto 276 rod), or both.
...or the math is wrong (happens far more often than you think).
