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the most amazing [Deleted]

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trfourtune

Jedi Knight
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well,i feel like that when i find out a really good tip that i've never heard before that no-one has ever mentioned!! so, here it is.....
tr3,4,4a connecting rod alternative-those looking to enhace their tractor motor know that the original connecting rods are a weak link (one of many)in the drive train. you can do some major work prepping the stock rods (which to do properly,you should send out to a professional)or you start looking at premium rods like carillo ($1100),pauter machine ($800),crower ($800),cunningham($800). unless you are going to go racing , you ask yourself "there has got to be a better alternative"! prepped rods don't give you the securety if you miss a shift and over rev your motor past 6000 that billet rods do but you have invested some serious coin into a hot street or autocross motor and don't want to ruin it.
here it is.....drumroll please.....

jaguar aj6 inline 6 cylinder motor 3.6 or 4.0 liter rods (late 80's 90's).

they will fit the crank but are nominally .25" longer. the wrist pin is different so you need different pistons.the pistons can be lighter because of the raised pin location which is a good thing. you will need different pistons anyways because of the rod length. custom pistons from JE are not that big of deal and not that much more expensive than premium triumph pistons (some are from JE anyways). i'm told (source withheld) the rods are a modern design and very well made (the source runs 300hp in his jag with these rods with no problems)and are usually built to within 1 gram, stock. so if you order the JE low expansion material forged "hot street" pistons, you don't need the clearance required for race pistons that are not the best for a hot street,autocross type motor. run these rods with them and you end up with an ideal combination for that hot modified street motor.
junk yards beware!!
rob
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Re: the most amazing [deleted]

What would be an estimate of the cost of a set of these rods (or a whole motor from the junkyard) and a set of custom pistons?
 
Re: the most amazing [deleted]

Rob,

So are you in the process of doing this yourself?

Just out of curiosity, is your car exempt from aircare?

Todd
 
Re: the most amazing [deleted]

Are these the rods that are used with the Stag V8 pistons in the TRactor motor to lighten the rotating assembly?
 
Re: the most amazing [deleted]

i do not know about the stag combination. i don't care about air care. (there are some tricks anyways to deal with air care). by the time i get my car on the road it might be vintage. i am still in the planning,designing,repairing,building stages with my car. i like to research things to death before i buy expensive parts. will i do this rod/piston combo? i believe i will when i get to buying those parts. i will use the HD cylinder sleeves from "british frame and engine'. if you go to kas kastners site to the "general discussions" there is "the" contact"!. he will sell rods for $500us and "real"!!! vandervell bearings.
ps. air care
use your failed air care to pay for dynomometer time! if you have to pay for air care "repairs". or keep that stock cam and lean carb jets or needles for the yearly swap.
good chance to justify an electronic ignition. there is also something called zone z for driving outside of vancouver (if you use it as your sunday drive to the okanogan car). summer car used to drive to & from your cabin? register it where your cabin is.
rob
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Re: the most amazing [deleted]

hmmm ... I just happen to have a set of NOS AE 87mm pistons from a Stag sitting on my parts shelf. Wonder if these are worth trying?

Anybody interested?
 
Re: the most amazing [deleted]

saw a whole engine (AJ6 4.0)on e-bay for $375
 
Re: the most amazing [deleted]

[ QUOTE ]
hmmm ... I just happen to have a set of NOS AE 87mm pistons from a Stag sitting on my parts shelf. Wonder if these are worth trying?

Anybody interested?

[/ QUOTE ]

We could check and see if it's doable anyway - compare the wristpin center to piston top heights and see what the difference is. Are the Stag pistons domed or flat-topped? If you don't have any TR pistons handy, I could measure one of mine over the weekend.
 
Re: the most amazing [deleted]

fyi,
i'm going to go to 89mm pistons anyways to help unshroud the valves and offset the head so i would be going "special" pistons anyways. i hope with my wrecking yard contacts i can land a set of rods for $100 bucks so this makes major sense to me. say $600 for pistons instead of $400-$500 (roughly what they cost from BFE)and i've got a sweet combination.
rob
 
Re: the most amazing [deleted]

Rob,

Which wrecking yards you use?

Don't worry I'm not after a set of pistons or related. I have a set of seats I'm looking for.
 
Re: the most amazing [deleted]

sorry rooster,
inside line/connection.are you looking for early tr4 seats? i have a bunch since i will be putting in "real" seats when i get close to finishing.
rob
 
Re: the most amazing [deleted]

no, not tr4. I'm looking for TR6 (the earlier high back ones but only if they are in good shape) or better yet Miata seats. The Miata seats seem to be hard to come by around here for some reason.
 
Re: the most amazing [deleted]

[ QUOTE ]

We could check and see if it's doable anyway - compare the wristpin center to piston top heights and see what the difference is. Are the Stag pistons domed or flat-topped? If you don't have any TR pistons handy, I could measure one of mine over the weekend.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have the set of AE Stag 87mm pistons (they're flat top btw) and new AE 87mm TR4A pistons. I'll do the measurements and report back in the a.m.
 
While I appreciate your enthusiasm, please note the edited title for your post.

Please refrain from such references in posts and in post titles as I like to keep this a family friendly board.

Also, as a practical matter, Google and other search engines crawl all the pages here and I'd rather not have certain terms associated with BCF. In other words, if some person searches google for "hottest (blank) ever", I'd rather not have BCF come up in the search results.

Thanks,
Basil /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/computer.gif
 
Re: the most amazing [deleted]

[ QUOTE ]
I have the set of AE Stag 87mm pistons (they're flat top btw) and new AE 87mm TR4A pistons. I'll do the measurements and report back in the a.m.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey Peter,

Did you get a chance to measure those pistons?

BTW, thanks for changing the title Basil, I was not looking forward to explaining the original if my wife looked over my shoulder! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jester.gif
 
Re: the most amazing [deleted]

my apologies on the title folks,
won't happen again
rob
 
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