Ok, that is not what I claimed. I was comparing apples to apples. This is a moot point because the super a-beam rods will not handle 425hp and especially not on 91 octane gas. They will also not be able to spin 8500rpm with the 5/16 rod bolts.

My intent was to give the OP some practical information that would steer them in a direction that would have a descent service life. There are many on this forum who have built high hp builds and most have been very short lived.


“A BP4W head with stock cams and better valves, which are a necessity, will make more power than the BP05 head with cams.”

The comments were not directed towards you. :)

The rods will handle 425whp easily. I'm making 420+whp with a mostly stock 4w head minus st 74lb springs. Bottom end is of course built. It's been running this power for a while now, engine has 20k on it since it was built. I think these engines will last a long time with good gas and a smart tune that doesn't work the engine on the ragged edge.

all the bickering and all I can think of is the time a friend of mine talked to a mechanic for a top time attack team at the time. The were running Scion TCs at the time. When he asked them what they did for head work, the answer was "we don't, we just add more boost to make up the flow"

Yea that's basically how I'm running my car. I have no head work on the ports just heavier valve springs and ti retainers. My car is making 425whp on 25psi. Could it make more with full head porting and cams, yea.... But this is a lot less $$ lol

Up to 8000rpm and 130-140hp per H-beam rod isn't critical at all. That's what BMW's and other inline six cylinders run with great success, so do I in the future. People push 700+wtq with these things.
I'd say aftermarket rods are your smallest problem, when pushing any BP up to 400whp or more

I believe it has the super a beam rods and not the h beam. The H beam rods are much stronger and use larger, higher quality bolts.

Oh sorry, my mistake, carry on

quick update - sorry to have such large time gaps here but MLB playoffs reprioritized my time

1. Im not sure what all the other FM stroker kits came with but THIS one has H beams.
2. This f'n balancer is giving me hell. Gave up but will give it a go tomorrow afternoon. the puller is moaning and groaning but it WILL come off
3. Once the balancer comes off I'll disassemble the front then remove the head for a deep cleaning.
4. Then gasket match my SKUNK intake and open up the TB side to match a 75mm TB. I plan on using a 88-93 Mustang TB from Fabtech. I"ve seen folks talk about doin something like this but no talk about getting the TPS to jive. Any input?
5. I'll be using the SKUNK plenum spacer but has anyone tried to stack them? I know that sound sketchy but it someone has already done it then "GAME ON" but if no one has I'll run a single spacer.

I know some folks will say "WTF you need a 75mm TB for but it makes sense to be to have a 2.5" cooler inlet with 3" outlet into a 3" TB with a large pressure drop into the over sized plenum equating to better flow and a charge temp drop.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b75312625d.jpg
THIS is the culprit! Sumbitches superglued the superdamper to the supercrank and i'm having a superhernia removing it. Tomorrow is the day!

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c0f3d7080f.jpg
I'll protect this little tag that came on the VC but I plan on stripping the paint and powder coating it (along with all my metal piping and compressor side) white.

When you get the pan off take some pics. Carrillo had made some special Pro A rods that were slightly longer for FM. Maybe this was an early build with Carrillo H beams or some other brand.

I'll take some photos but I assure you from a previous pan removal, that these are H-beam Carrillo's. The beams are marked and the big-end bolts/nuts are engraved similar to ARP products. 'I promise to document everything the best I can because there's another 19 of these motors out there waiting to be discovered and revived.

sorry for not posting more on the subject; I got the head off as said before but my Parkinson's has been eating my lunch as I play with meds and what not. I've decided to take the engine to Conrads Racing Engines in Bellville, Texas. He has the torque plates, machining capability, and has built several 1.8's for competition. No sense in me jacking with it for another couple of months pretending I have the dexterity I use to have nor clogging up my buddies work space in his garage.

The goals are still the same except I have to come to grips with what I can and can't do any more.

Last week I turned the motor over to Conrad Racing Engines for the build. I told Eddie Sr. to start by verifying static compression, viability of the block, head, etc. He's going to apply the torque plates and check for roundness of the bores ( because I'm looking to hone only to reuse the CP pistons), align hone the cam journals, check install height of springs, rebalance, the full boat the right way.

We already plan to change out rings, bearings, springs and check valve angle. We'll be looking to improve oiling and cooling the entire build. Obviously we'll use a new water pump, timing belt, and oil pump but we're reusing the crank, rods, pistons, balancer, ported head with over sized valves. I removed the ported intake and will gasket match and blend the SKUNK intake. I've been trying to find a way to use a 70mm-75mm tb but that'll be later. The intake, Super Miata reverse cooling reroute, FM manifold, and LS coils will carry over from my 2002 motor running a 2560.

ill take pictures when I get back to Belleville in a couple of weeks.

What are you planning on using for a clutch? Have been trying to figure this out myself

a lot has changed; Tremec and SST has pulled out for whatever reason but at that time I was to use a 10.5” Ford styled clutch from Centerforce. Then I was going to use the BMW G280 trans and ACT clutch to fit said 330 BMW but now I’m sticking to a MAZDA ACT, sprung 6 puck rated at 400 ft/lb torque. My trans is a stage3 Walter upgrade so no launching it.

similarly I’ll be retaining my 02 Mazda rear end but updating the LSD and 3.63 rear gears.

project creep is a real thing