Currently have a set of stock length LS K1 rods with a .927 pin bore. I would like to open them up to a .943 or .945 for the piston selection.

Since K1 is out of business I can’t get an answer from them. Has anyone done something similar or know what typically the wall thickness should maintain?

other option aside from sell them is to just install new bushings if someone knows of a set.

 

Any good machine shop can open up the pin end to any size you want.

 

Just trying to make sure there will be enough meat left so it’s not an issue.

 

Absolutely no problem. The pin end is bushed with a brass or bronze bushing. Your removing .018, which is .009 in either direction. Worst case scenario, the shop has to order a different bushing and hone the actual steel to fit the bushing…but I’d be surprised if you had to go that route.

 

K1 is out of business?

 

Talking with the Company that bought out all their stock they said so.

 

What company would that be?

 

I called who use to own K1 and they sent me to Titan Motorsport. Who then told me they are just selling off the stock since K1 went out of business. I questioned them on the bushing thickness and machining and they could not answer it.

 

Nobody can tell us what the .927, .943 and .945 pin bushing O.D. is? I was a bit upset when my machine shop told me they were not in the business for offsetting the pin bushing to increase my C.H./compression a bit, seems like it would be too easy to accomplish with a bit of extra work. I am still considering this if my C.H. isn't where I want it, I just need a machine shop willing to do it without charging a grip.

 

I can get them to measure it. They said $100 just to open it up to gen 4 piston size.

 

Race Winning Brands bought K1 some time ago. They own a lot of the big companies nowadays. It’s the Saudis…

 

The replacement bushings are Sealed Power 4514Y and are 1.0821 OD bushings. Obviously these are interference fit bushings, meaning after the OD of the bushing is checked, and the ID of the rod is checked, something will likely have to be machined to obtain the correct fit.

 

I'm sure you realize, a typical business card, is about .016" thick. Some more, some less, that's just kinda ... average.

Which means, if they simply jam a cutter down your bushings and waller em out, their thickness changes by about HALF OF A BUSINESS CARD.

Do you have a micrometer? MEASURE THE PARTS in your hand. See if ... about half of a business card ... will REALLY make a difference. True, it very well might; true, it MOST DEF deserves to be checked; butt instead of getting into a whole buncha paranoid "maybe this and maybe that" and demanding other people's experience about your totally ONE-OFF situation, you could ... sorry, dare I say, ... LOOK AT the parts and SEE FOR YOURSELF what the consequences are.

Not all that hard really. Being as STUUUUUUUPID as I am, I have nothing else to fall back on, when I'm in such an existential bind as you currently are. I actually have to LOOK AT stuff sometimes. Sux to be me.

 

Yeah, I was aware of that happening, but the part about K1 being out of business was news to me.

 

I can look at it all day but without knowing the threshold required as in do I need .015 meat left on the walls then I have no way to know what is good or bad. The machine shop can do the work but they were unsure of how much is really required before you get into an issue. I plan to call a few other shops around me. The reason I asked on here was to confirm if anyone has done such. Worst case I machine them for a new bushing but that that point I would just sell them and get the correct rods.

 

Scott (Che70velle) would know if there was an issue with boring the small end. He's built more than a few engines and is familiar with all inherent machining.

 

According to their website Kent, they are alive and kicking and still selling product, BUT theres been a lot of talk lately concerning them being out of business.

 

The thick and thin of it…no pun intended…is that the bushing on the pin end is optional. All high end endurance rods don’t use the bushing at all, as it’s simply more accurate to run steel on steel with a coated pin. Any shop worth its weight in salt could offset bore that pin end to work wit what you need.