fastburn

how much power/rpm can the stock lt1 rods handle with good bolts?

fastburn

wheres all the chevy brains at?

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

Piston weight is a big concern here. In bone stock form with the stock pistons most of us find 6500 rpms to be about a safe limit, the stock piston is something like 530grams, bet you can find a forged aftermarket to fit the stock rod down to say 460 which would reduce load a good bit.

355z28

iTrader: (8)

I turn around 6600 with mine..WAY past where it needs to be turned, I need to move my shift points. But im still running stock rods and rod bolts.

LM97Z

iTrader: (4)

I'm sure the stock rods can take alot (with good bolts) & 530 gram pistons, its the bolts that stretch & then the bearing goes, also depends on how many cycles the rods have (stress life cycles), but the weak link are the bolts for sure, if you know the history on that engine, this will help, as an example, my engine has 158K on it, but for the last 100K its been only highway miles with synthetic oil, its never been raced, your BEST bet is if your tearing it down, get a NEW set of better rods & bolts, IMO, 530 grams is "light", 460 grams is really light lol, i'm used to pistons weighing 980 grams on the mopar BBs, installing an aftermarket forged Ross droppped them down to 540 grams, so get new rods/bolts & don't look back, if you get a nice set of forged pistons, then you can "spray away" too.