[radz28]

Originally Posted by Adam@ST

PROUD????..More like honest and stand up. This is standard for me, as I will push all my cars to see the breaking point. How can you tell someone how long there car will live if you dont push it to the limit?? You CANT. I beat the hell out of the car at 12psi, 14 psi, and 16 psi. Stepped it up to 18(actually 17.8lbs peak) We actually ran the car 7 passes at the PSCA event last weekend. I brought the car back to the shop, and hurt it on the street making some trans adjustments.
We pulled the engine out and found all the rods were self adjusting for the level of boost. I replaced all the rods with some take outs and put the engine back together (stock rods, and pistons,etc). EVERY piston was perfect, so until I finish my build, I figured the $300.00 for parts was worth it to drive the car a few weeks.
Like I said, I push all my cars to the breaking point to see where they will fail,NOT a customers car . Now you guys have some data,on my dime.

For example..18.5 psi on the stock engine in my 05 Mustang...piston fell apart.
22 psi in my 09 SRT8 Challenger rods exploded.
18 psi, 2010 Camaro L99 rods adjusted themselves for the boost.
Bottom line, I would say for my customers 12lbs will be the limit. 14lbs will hold, but there should be a margin of safety.
By the way..the car made 658 rwhp and 591.rwtq

Thanks Adam

Originally Posted by Adam@ST

The last 3 engines Ive pushed (Ford,Dodge,and Chevy)have all lost the rods first. Its a real shame, the manufacturers go so cheapon the powdered rods. So far the rods HAVE proven to be the weakpoint. The pistons have held up fine. With the proper tuning, and fuel for the boost being run, the stock piston appear to be hangin in like a champ. The main reason for piston failure is detonation,and I dont have that going on.I actually put the engine back together,(bought some used rods,and slapped them on the OG pistons,and put them back in the block) and just ran a 11.17@125 with bad DA' and a 10-15mph head wind. Gusts have hit 20+.
For mods..exhaust is always a good mod to compliment a blower and will definitley add HP. Im still running stock cats, and manifolds right now,but will have American Racing Headers on the car next week. Ill post a back to back test for you guys. No tune changes..just the header swap. I personally wouldnt reccommend to exceed 14 psi unless you are ready to pull the trigger on a build. Id say 8 psi for street, and 12-14 on race gas for reliability.
This can go several directions, and combos can get crazy.I try to keep things simple for the daily drivers. Ill be postingup alot over the next 2-3 weeks. I have a 419 inch engine in the works,heads,cam,etc, long tubes, and exhaust tests as well. I will also be doing a bacvk to back test with the 2.8 vs the 3.6 KB as well.
I realize Im the new guy, so Ill take my time here, and show you guys how I work.
Thanks Adam

That's some R&D right there! Thanks for sharing. I'm sure many people here have thought about pushing these cars to the limit, and this is pretty educational. I think it's important to stress, as you already pointed out, that fueling and tuning have been of utmost importance.

Thanks for sharing and I know I'll be paying close attention in the coming weeks

PS - How's that tranny? That's still the 6L80, right? I don't recall seeing an 4L80-swap or anything yet, lol.