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Ford RS2000 16V (N7A) forged conrods (Maxpeedingrods)
JonTarry - 5/6/18 at 09:19 AM

Hi guys 'n girls,

I've got a shout out for help here. I've got a blown up N7A RS2000 16v engine in a single-seater race car that I'm currently rebuilding. I'm now intending to go down the route of using the 2,3 block with the heavily modified N7A head I have. I'm getting the idea that forged con rods would be a good idea, but can only really see two alternatives:
1. a set of cheap & cheerful Chinese forged conrods. I'm not too enthusastic about doing this
2. a set of Arrow conrods at a price of GBP 1k, I just don't have the cash for this

The thing is, the standard conrods have the oil feed to the underside of the pistons, which don't seem to be in the forged rods.

So really I have two questions, which would be great to get answered!
1. are forged rods necessary if I'm looking at about 240bhp, 8k rpm and an increased compression ratio?
2. who's upgraded to forged rods for this block and if so, where did you get them?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Cheers,

Jon.

[Edited on 5/6/18 by JonTarry]

Nickp - 5/6/18 at 04:34 PM

I put some like this in a Fiat Twin Cam I built. That was revving at 7.5krpm+, had no issues and is still going strong with the new owner.
It's quite simple to modify them to allow oil to squirt up the bores by filing a couple of groves either side of the big end pointing upwards, as I did.

https://www.maxpeedingrods.com/Ford-Escort-RS2000-MK5-MK6-2.0L-Cosworth-149.25mm-Connecting-Rod-High-Performance-4340-EN24-H-Beam-Conrod.html

JonTarry - 5/6/18 at 05:35 PM

Hey Nickp, thanks for the response...Oh really?! These are the Chinese rods I was referring to...I've read differing reports of quality levels (it can therefore be a case of pot luck), but interesting to hear from someone who's had no problems with them...that gives possibilities! Thx for letting me know.

I've changed the title to reflect the change of question....are there others who have had experience with these rods???

Nickp - 5/6/18 at 05:44 PM

quote:
Originally posted by JonTarry
Hey Nickp, thanks for the response...Oh really?! These are the Chinese rods I was referring to...I've read differing reports of quality levels (it can therefore be a case of pot luck), but interesting to hear from someone who's had no problems with them...that gives possibilities! Thx for letting me know.

I've changed the title to reflect the change of question....are there others who have had experience with these rods???


I did spend some time making sure that the big ends were perfectly round, all the same and in spec when measured. I also checked the end to end balance, which was also fine. I wasn't going to spend £1K+ on a set so figured these would be much better than the set of 30+yr old ones that I had

JonTarry - 5/6/18 at 06:02 PM

So I gather you had no quality issues? Good you did the check, though...

I have the feeling the blown engine I have has been caused by a failed rod due to over-revving, although that's pure speculation on my side...and this was with standard rods. It's therefore going to be the choice between trying out another set of standard rods or upgrading to some like these...like you, I can't justify spending that much cash on a set of Arrow rods...as pretty as they may be

Nickp - 5/6/18 at 06:06 PM

quote:
Originally posted by JonTarry
So I gather you had no quality issues? Good you did the check, though...


I wouldn't say the finish was perfect but I didn't buy them to look at
The bits that mattered were right. I'd buy them again and may do just that for my BMW M52B30 build

JonTarry - 5/6/18 at 06:36 PM

Haha, I was referring more to practical issues that would cause balance problems

Interesting to read in another post that pistons are an issue for this block, here we go