CLASS RACER FORUM - Pitched a rod [and a piston!]

Quote:

Originally Posted by herbjr (Post 233226)

Isn't it funny how you put a very interesting post on here and as always someone has to comment on the Drag Pack or the Mustang. Get a life guys.

BTW very interesting post. Back in the early 90's a guy who worked for my dad had a 2 cyl. tractor he competed with in a stock class at a tractor pull. We took the motor apart and replaced the stock cast iron pistons with a venolia piston. The piston was 3 pounds lighter but by the time we balanced it whole assembly and took over 20 lbs off the flywheel he won ever event he went to. If I remember right the venolia piston was over 1000 grams, but the stock piston 3600 grams.

Herb Jr

A 409 Chevy piston +.060 with the pin was 1025 grams, plus rings. I used to put a 396 piston pin in those things, then we used a 396 rod in a few of them, flycutting the top of the piston to get a negative deck again. That used to eliminate over 100 grams from that whole forged mess in one fell swoop. The engine liked the long rod and the lighter mass. I also remember a story one of my buddy's dad told of a Southern Pacific R.R. engineer who lost his job when they steamed up a cold steam locomotive in a rail yard one time. They turned up the burner to build steam, but the water level was too low. They went to breakfast instead of leaving a man in the cab to watch things, the crown sheet failed, the boiler exploded and it was blown to bits. They later found an 850 pound piece of steel boiler a half mile away.I guess nobody got hurt, however.