Hot 2.3 - Rods / Piston Ideas.

Hi Folks,

Possibly done a thousand times, so sorry for not finding it elsewhere, however when I 'refresh' my totally original 71 5 Speed 2.2T, I am obviously looking at options to find a few more ponies. To this extent, I will bore my original cylinders to 85 (or 86mm at a stretch), retain my non CW crank, but look to add lighter rods and pistons. Aim to get ~10:1 or close to that, and run S style cam (or maybe E). Car is running 40IDA3C/1 carbs.

Anybody have any good ideas on what works well? One option was Carillo Ti rods and Puater pistons. Not sure if I need Ti though on a fast road engine?

Adam.

Ti would be major over kill. Pauter rods are light enough.
Your choice of piston, cylinders will be an issue at 86. You might want to upgrade to a proper cylinder to match the piston. You will want to upgrade the cam and rockers.

I recommend Wossner pistons . 85 mm is a standard size usually in stock . With some shimming I easily lowered the CR to 9.5 to 1, so 10 to 1 will not be a problem . You definitely need to machine the ports on your heads and intake manifolds to E or S size , everything else will essentially be a waste if you don't . And I don't think S cams and a non CW crank go together , spend money on a CW'd crank before Ti rods .

Non- counterweighted cranks are too rough on crank cases at high power and revs for my taste. I have a few sets of NOS Carrillo rods for short stroke at a reduced price if you are interested in a set. 2.2 stock rods are plenty good if you install 10mm ARP bolts (ffor 2.4-2.7) but weigh a bit more due to the beefed up cap thickness that helps the big end stay round. I also have a set of 86 JE pistons in biral cylinders that are used but in good condition for an attractive price.

Adam - what elevation are you at? One thing I struggle with a bit living at higher elevations (~3500 ft) is that a lot of the "recipes" for engines come from shops based at sea level. I'm at about 85% of sea level pressures, with much lower air density as well (low humidity). So compression = power, but pre-ignition = death. There's horsepower on the table in compression, but balancing the tried and tested wisdom of limits with single plug vs. elevation and true cylinder pressures is something I'm still trying to rationalize.