Andy, Thanks for the info. The RPM rods were great, and bushings work fine on the 21s. The RPM rods were a definite upgrade to the factory aluminum bushed rods, but at that time, needle bearing rods were not the norm. Technology advancement has shown that the steel/needle bearing rods are very reliable on the larger engines. I have a ton of 67 bushing type aluminum rods that have oval big ends or spun bushings. It's just the nature of the beast. One slight lean run, and the bushings go bye-bye. The needle bearings will also fail (or the P/S) on a lean run, but the bushing in the bottom of the rod seems to fail first. Would it be possible to keep the crank pin dia (or crank bearing layout), and the rod length the same, so that the rod (and maybe crank) could be upgraded to needle bearing style? That might be the best of both worlds. And keeping the rods/crank design common might reduce overall costs. Maybe sell the steel rod version with a $25~$35 premium. That is still ~$100 less than the MAC67, and would pretty much gut the CMB stranglehold on the market. Just a thought.
I love the concept of a billet case, much better material properties than a casting. And no casting tooling, or casting defects. I assume it would be a 1 piece case, correct?
I think you have a winner here. Build them, and they will come. I think $350 is a great price point, and just the ticket for a CMB competitor. It could be the Picco/CMB Green head replacement of choice. Any thought of expanding this concept to 45 and 80 sizes as well?
"Any thought of expanding this concept to 45 and 80 sizes as well?"
Without a doubt!
And yes I will maintain consistant pin diameters so rods will interchange.