I planned on getting the stock rods shotpeened, ARP rod bolts, and pr3 pistons pressed on. The only shop in the area that can shotpeen rods wants $200 to do all of this. They recommended that I just spend the extra money on Eagle rods. I’m building up an NA B18A1 for street use, planning on a CR of 10.8:1, won’t be pushing it too hard, probably not going to rev too much higher than stock redline (if I chip it to raise the rev limit). Unless I was shooting n2o, going turbo, or pushing 200 hp (never gonna happen), I can’t justify spending the extra money on aftermarket rods. Will I be safe with just putting ARPs in the stock rods ( A local machine shop wants $90 to change the pistons, put ARPs in, and recondition the rods.), should I spend the money to get them shotpeened, or should I dish out the cash for the eagles? For a better outline of my engine plans, check out my previous post http://www.g2ic.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23314. I have a limited budget so I only want to do what will be necessary to prevent my engine from blowing up.
If your going to keep it NA in a b18a I would recommend that you get them shotpeened. That will be fine. Just get them balanced after you get them shotpeened.
Other than that, it sounds like you will have an alright setup.
There is no need to go with $500 rods if your going to mildly build your motor.
I plan on pushing much more than that with my all motor b18a/b setup and I am going to just shotpeen my rods…
Later,
BR