Use chevy connecting rods on M96 ?

[phil53chevy]

Can I use Chevy rods in my rebuild? all the expense of new pin bushings,ARP bolts, or cost of aftermarket rods with the " hallowed " Porsche name on them is pissing me off. I know they used to use them on older P engines. They are very tough .

[JFP in PA]

Unknowns: Are the journal and pin bores the correct diameter and width? Is the the length correct? Do the journal ends clear the crank carrier and cases? Is the weight the same or less than the OEM rods?

If the answers to the above are mostly "No", it would be cheaper to go with quality aftermarket stuff. Not cheap, but well made and they at least fit..............

[phil53chevy]

length yes, journal size, no. weight, not sure. this is a daily driver, not track, In the process of dynamically balancing; Have new LN nickies, J and E pistons( 3.6 liter),new pin bushings, ARP rod bolts.

Are my "rebuilt", stock rods gonna hold up ??

[JFP in PA]

In order to correct the journal size, you would significantly alter the journal end weighting, which could become difficult to dial into the crank counter weights. The overall rod and piston combined weight is critical, as again it plays into the crank counter weights as well.

Having raced various Chevy engines myself, I can honestly say there are some rods that were pretty good, and others that were total rubbish, so a lot depends upon what the rods were for.

The stock Porsche rods are "adequate", but not great; any time rebuilding and upgrading a Porsche engine, we went with after market stuff; R&R and Carillo makes some very nice forged steel units, or you could jump for the big bucks and go titanium.

[fpb111]

If you are going to use Chevy rods use one of these "holders"

http://www.renegadehybrids.com/