While machining the tops of my pistons early last week at 1AM (after a week of
such late nights), trying to get my race motor back together, I had a thought
about Piston compression height and TR3/4 rod length. I know that there are
some racers that have gone with longer connecting rods, to be able to reduce
the piston commpression height, but that has some disadvantages such as
longer/heavier rods and more piston dwell at the top and bottom of the stroke.
The TR3/4 rods are already quite long and are at the upper range of the
dessirable stroke to rod length ratio. Longer rods are also not legal in SCCA
racing. Has anyone taken the approach of cutting a significant amout off of
the deck of the block? It looks like 0.25 inches should be able to come off
without significant problems. Yes, the head studs may need to be shorter as
well as the push rods, and cylinder liners, and new pistons with a 1.75 inch
compression height made. The threads for the short head studs don't start
until about 0.25" into the block, so not much would be lost there, and I think
that some folks already deepen some of these. A little material may also need
to be ground from the Tstat housing or the H2O pump to clear.
Has anyone tried this? Any other thoughts? Joe(B)
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