I was wondering if anyone could help me on some information about 302 rods. I have just bought a 302 and I can't find any numbers on the rods. How can I identify these rods to be "pink rods" for sure. Any help wuld be appreciated. Thanks

Blue,
The original "pink" rods had a spray of light pink, almost brown pain across them to ID them. Usually after a motor has some miles on it you cannot really see it. There is no real difference in the rods themselves other than the fact that the "pink" rods were hand picked for forging quality, and they were magnafluxed at the factory. Otherwise, they are the same as any other small block rod. There are no numbers to identify them as a different rod because they are really not different.

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Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md

Be advised 302 rods are not pink rods. Pink rods are the longer 350 version of Chevy's hipo rod. The 302 rods are easily identified due to their full floating wrist pins. They have spiral keepers on each side of the wrist pin. Once you remove the locks you can slide the pins out with ease. Pink rods have pressed in pins and cannot be romoved by hand. Hope this helps.

John

302 and 350 rods are the same length at 5.7 inches. In addition to what BillK said I thought that they were shot peened as well.

Not all 302s had "floating" pins in the rods. The 67 motor was a press pin motor, only the later 302 and 350s had floating pins. The rods are the same length as all small blocks, the 400 is the exception.

The rods were not shot blasted at the factory. The only way to know for certain you have a set of the infamous rods is to buy them from the chevy store, and that would be about the dumdest thing you could do with your money.

There are so many better rods for less money it's a joke.

According to my Chevrolet literature, the rods were indeed shotpeened and magnafluxed, as well as bushed in the small end for floating pins.

Dave,
I am looking at an ancient Chevy Power manual and it mentions additional heat treating, but not shot peening ??? Also, none of the rods were actually bushed on the small ends...they were machined out for a floating fit, but no bronze bushings as we are used to seeing in the good rods available today. They were steel on steel ...murder on pins ! I am going to do some more research on Wednesday, I have a source that is fairly reliable. Maybe we can all learn more.

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Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md




[This message has been edited by BillK (edited 01-18-2000).]

Thanks guys for all the info. I was always lead to believe that the 302 rods were 6 inches long instead of 5.7. According to what everyone has said I do have a set of 302 rods. Everything else in the engine was as told to me. If you come up with anything more I'll be watching and waiting to here it. I'm glad I found this web site, I read it all the time. Again THANKS.

I have never seen a set of small block or big block rods with bushing in them from the factory. GM ran them as Bill said with no bushings.

There is a lot of myth that surrounds the 302 and it's collective parts. It's not some sort of majic bullet, it's a 4 inch bore small block with a 283 crank and some compression. Add to it a nasty solid cam and better than average heads, manifold and carb and you have a 302.

I wonder why anyone would want to use rods that are 32 years old on average to put in an original numbers match block? I would look for the best thing I could buy since it makes no visual difference but makes a major difference in reliabilty.

Yep, I bet the judges ask you what kind of rods your running!

NOte that Chevy now sells a powdered, cracked rod for the LS1 that they say is a replacement for the old "pink" rods. About 175 dollars a set. Doesn't seem possible that they are direct replacement, but you never know.

I looked at a set of the powered rods last night, not bad, and they don't need to be balanced, dead on. Looks like a strong unit.

I pushed a set on these rods "PM" rod HARD and they kept coming for more! We are talking 14# Of boost and 6,500!

They are can take it and i would recomend them http://www.camaros.net/forum/wink.gif

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Thump'n hard 'n Fly'n Low...2FST4LV