Shot Peened for Boost

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1

Will shot peening my B17 rods alone be enough to withstand 350HP? I found a shop that’ll do it. I’ve searched everywhere for B17 Rods and only Crower makes them ($760+ a set) so the only other choice I currently have is to have them shot peened unless you guys have other suggestions.

What about the stock B17 sleeve? Can it support 350HP?

I presume the tolerance of the rods and the sleeve is based on the lbs. of boost rather than the target HP because each turbo is a different. I’m going to be using a turbo with these specs: T3/T04 Turbo 57 trim 63AR E, 50AR O, but I’m not sure how much boost will be needed to hit 350HP.

Thanks in advance!

2

Generally speaking, 300 whp is getting close to the limits of the stock motor. I’m not sure about shot peening, but you were right in your first statement that the limits of the motor is a target horsepower, not a boost level.

3

Thanks. I presume then, that boosting over 300HP will require having the engine re-sleeved. I’ll keep that in mind.

4

there’s a guy on here who went 450whp on a stock sleeve with a block guard. Also, eagle rods are much cheaper than crowers, I paid $318 shipped for mine. I’m not sure if they make them for B17 tho.

5

Hmmm…well just to be safe, I’m going to keep the power under 400HP and I’ll get the block guard. I contacted Eagle and they said, “Sorry, we don’t make rods for the B17”. SCAT said the same thing.

As far as internals are concerend I have purchased new 9.1:1 CR pistons and new main bearings; the last thing I need are rods, but since I can’t find any it looks like I’m going to have to go with shot-peening the stock ones. There are 200k miles on the engine so a rebuild is definitely in order; just figured I’d reinforce it for boost while I had it apart.

I’ll keep you guys posted. Thanks again.

6

I think you would be alright shot peening the rods, using arp rod bolts and some aftermarket pistons with a block guard, that should withstand 300whp.

7

Thanks man. I posted in the WTB forum because I need an extra set of B17 rods to avoid excess downtime. If any of you guys have an extra please e-mail me: phatsamury@hotmail.com.

Peace!

8

Shot peen them, have the enlarged for ARP rod bolts, and you should be good to go . You could also look into having a brass bushing installed in the small end - it sometimes helps to strengthen it up.

9

I wasn’t aware the ARP bolts wouldn’t fit on them as is. I’ll ask the shop about it as weel as the bushing. Thanks!

10

make sure you use a decent block guard. i’ve heard really good things about the golden eagle (str copy) block guard. good luck!

11

Golden Eagle Block Guard? I presume it would be the first one on this list (B16/B18):

http://www.accountwizard.com/clients/shop.asp?Web=goldeneaglemfg&AW_SessionID=AWEngine2006000001697237566665666Q66d566QId6j66e566ASite0d10k710E&page=class&class=Engine+Parts&subclass=Block+Guard

Thanks for the info; I would have presumed most block guards were the same. Good lookin’ out!

12

STR changed to BDL. Get the real BDL one.

13

stock sleeves are good to over 400whp. Stock rods w/ arp bolts are good to 400whp. 350whp is fine with stock rods and sleeves. the tune is the MOST important thing.