Our choice of rods are the 6 inch SCAT COMPETITION SERIES rods with ARP-8740 cap screws.

The Scat Pro-Comp extreme duty I-beam rods should not be mistaken for ProComp rods. These rods are made exclusively by Scat, and have nothing to do with the ProComp company. The critical sizing and installation of the ARP cap screws is performed on a Sunnen machine in the USA by Scat Industries. These rods are excellent for those wanting the extra security offered by a rod with 7/16 ARP cap screws.

Take notice of the design of these rods. They are far superior to conventional style I-beam rods. We are now using this rod in all of our Stage 4 and up SBC engines. We also use this rod in our big block 540/555 engines, making approx. 700+hp

If you do a search on the Scat Pro-Comp rods, you will find a vast amount of info on many car forums. All of the info is 100% positive. These rods are run in engines that not only produce high horsepower levels, but also run at continuous RPM. Notice the general appearance in the pictures. These rods do look impressive. The style is reminiscent of a steel billet rod.

The fact that these rods are incredibly strong and well made, coupled with the fact they are light weight and offer better clearance than any H-Beam rod on the market, made it an easy decision to use them in all of our high horsepower street/strip engines.

The Scat rods do have genuine ARP 8740 Series 12 point cap screws. These rods offer excellent block clearance in the lower end of the cylinders. Full base cams will require a considerable amount of clearancing. We strongly recommend using a reduce base cam with this assembly. Be sure to do a roll over test after installing each rod.

We now offer a special line of Comp cams for hyd. roller setups for street rod use. They all have a reduced base circle, (1.050). These cams require much less clearancing as compared to a full base cam. These cams do not cost any more than the large base circle cams, and do not require a special distributor gear. All of our sbc engines now use these cams. We have six to choose from, with numerous dyno reports. These cams are outstanding in performance compared to any of the other brands/profiles we have used in the past. We certainly like the idea of not having to grind into the rod body and bolt.

The Scat rods do have genuine ARP 8740 Series 12 point cap screws. These rods offer excellent block clearance in the lower end of the cylinders.

To give you an idea of just how much faith we have in the Scat Pro-Competition rods, we use them in our SBC 421/427 engines. The 427 engine has a deeper stroke crank, heavier pistons, and these engines make up to 625 hp and turn up to 6800 rpm. We've had zero failures on over 1500 of these engines built. Considering they do this well in the 427, they would most likely never fail in a 406 engine under any conditions . For those running high HP applications, we do recommend upgrading to the ARP2000 rod bolts. (See below )

We have noticed some sellers using generic rods and crankshafts in their rotating assemblies. These non-branded (no-name) rods and cranks are often poor quality in many ways. You will notice many sellers fail to mention the actual brand of these products. Upon further investigation, you will find such parts not to be a branded name product. They may label these parts with a name, but one that is totally unrecognizable in the industry. Our experience in years past with such rods and cranks has been disappointing, to say the least. Failures of such critical parts in your engine may result in catastrophic damage. Machine shops are sometimes able to correct some of the problems with these low quality rods and cranks, but at great expense to the customer. As for the questionable alloy these items may be produced from and the potentially incorrect heat treating methods used, little can be done to verify this and nothing can be done to correct it. As you may have noticed, this is why we specify the name brand and series of every part used in our assemblies.

Many of the inferior "no-name" rods on the market will also have "no-name" rod bolts in them. We have seen these bolts before, and they are very low quality. They don't have ARP's rolled thread design, and they don't torque down with the same characteristics as a genuine ARP bolt. It's not just a matter of having a different brand bolt in the rods; these bolts are low quality in many ways. They have been known to fail in engines to a much greater degree than a high quality rod bolt, and this failure usually causes catastrophic damage in the engine. Beware of rods that don't mention the rod bolt brand. As far as we're concerned, ARP bolts are the only brand we would ever use or accept in a set of rods.

Genuine ARP 8740 cap screws.

Before the engine is assembled, we strongly suggest checking the rods on a Sunnen machine for sizing on both ends. We recommend this with any rod regardless of cost or brand. It is not uncommon to find some of the rods requiring a slight bump through the hone for perfection in sizing and roundness. We also offer this Stroker kit with a proofed set of rods. This is an excellent choice for those wanting to build the engine on their own.

Mahle High Performance File Fit Rings.

KING MAIN AND ROD BEARINGS INCLUDED.

We have noticed others using a low grade knockoff brand damper/balancer, and we have encountered them in the past. They are substandard in appearance, and are often out of spec. The timing marks were also poorly marked on some of the balancers we have come across. You don't want a balancer coming off or one that is improperly weighted. Another problem with low grade dampers is the elastomer bonding can lose its adherence to the inner and outer structure. This problem is referred to as a slipped damper. We have only encountered this once in 10 years with the Pro-Race brand dampers.

We know of several competitors including these balancers with rotating assemblies. The Pro-Sport SFI is far superior to most any we have ever seen. They were once known as a knockoff product, and have become one the best values on the market, without comprising quality whatsoever.

HEAVY DUTY FLEXPLATE INCLUDED.

HEAVY DUTY FLEXPLATE. This flexplate will resist cracking. One good telltale in identifying a low quality flexplate is the lack of welding on each side where the plate mates to the ring gear. They usually have a pale grey color to them, as they are not coated, and will rust quickly. Ours are welded on both sides, and are much thicker than an OE plate, and are either zinc dichromate or black powder coated. We would never use the thinner OE style plate on an assembly like this.

We do offer this assembly with a manual flywheel. See our other listings. In most cases we do have both sizes, 153 and 168 tooth, available.

WARNING: the flexplate and crank have a dowel pin hole. You must align the flexplate and crank dowel pin holes, but do not use a dowel pin. The flexplate was aligned to the crank when we balanced the assembly, and must be installed the same way.

Our CWT 5500 Balancer.

We do our own balancing with our new state of the art CWT 5500 Series balancers . The CWT 5500 is the ultimate for precision balancing. We now have three of these in our machine shop. We consider this machine to be highly advanced compared to the Hines balancer we once used. We balance every rotating assembly we sell within 2 grams or less at no extra charge. A balance sheet is included with your assembly.

Three CWT balance machines under one roof is a rare sight.

Our crew wrapping up for the day. Pardon the mess.

Rust warning.

If you are going to store your rotating assembly or short block kit for any length of time, it is very important that you protect these parts by spraying a light coat of rust preventive substance on all bare metal parts. This is especially important for those storing these parts in a high moisture or humid environment. Very light surface rust is easily removable and will cause no harm, but heavy rust can damage these parts and be very costly to fix.

Our thoughts on what the competition has to offer.

Many rotating assemblies we see on the market are not using the most suitable parts. We hope you can value the fact that we have put together an above average assembly. The failure rate with the parts used in our assembly is near non-existent. It was through trial and error in years past that taught us where to draw the line with low cost parts. We are out-priced by many others selling assemblies that include parts that have high failure rates. Many of these parts also pose a great problem with assembly due to the fact they require additional machining and can end up costing you a great deal more money and time. If you're going to have a machine shop build your engine, we strongly advise you get an opinion from them on the parts you're going to be bringing to them. Rest assured they will find no problem with the quality of our parts. We have also seen sellers offering parts that are not compatible with what most people are building. Such is the case with 4 valve relief pistons. Those type pistons are sure to not clear the valves when using any decent sized cam. The low grade dampers and flexplates are also another problem. Another area of concern would be balancing. Not sure how much attention these sellers are giving the assembly in this area. We spend up to two hours balancing an assembly, and using the very best up to date balancing equipment on the market. If the assembly is not balanced properly, it will hammer the bearings out of the engine, not to mention there is nothing worse than an engine that lacks a smooth feel and sound when under load.

We offer this assembly with selected upgrades. Listed below are some of the most requested ones. Many not only improve performance, but further enhance the reliability and longevity of your engine, along with resale value.

Note: The upgrade prices below are subject to change. Refer to the actual upgrade listing for the exact price of these upgrades. The changes are usually very small if any.

SFI Certified Flexplate: Cost of this upgrade is $24.50, This is a very low cost upgrade and may be required when racing your car at certain tracks. The flexplate that comes with this assembly is a heavy duty plate, but the SFI certified plate is one step up in quality and safety. This SFI plate is made in North America. We noticed these have much less run-out and warpage than we see with many other plates on the market. Plates with too much run-out and warpage can cause a host of problems for your transmission and starter, and affect balancing. The low cost to upgrade to this is well worth it in our opinion.

On occasion we are unable to obtain the Pioneer brand SFI flexplate and will substitute it for the Scat SFI brand plate pictured below. The quality is equal in every aspect.

SFI Rated Billet Steel flywheel upgrade/option for manual transmission. Upgrade to a SFI billet steel flywheel 168-tooth or 153-tooth for manual transmissions. We highly recommend the SFI billet steel flywheel for those running hard. These are fully cnc'd and far superior in many ways compared to the regular cast iron flywheel.

Cost for the SFI billet flywheel option can vary depending on availability. We carry two lines of the SFI plates, PRW and Ram. The Ram plates are a much higher grade product. We have this upgrade/option featured in our other listings. There will be a Chevy 153 tooth and a Chevy 168 tooth size available. Be sure you know the size you need.

Crank polishing: Cost for the crank polishing upgrade is $39.50, Extends bearing life, reduces oil temp, frees up a slight amount of average horsepower. This is a very low cost upgrade, and in the world of mass production, most cranks do not come with a true polished finish. This is why most machine shops have a machine to do this. The difference is dramatic between a crank right out of the box and one that we have polished. Bearing companies claim that cranks that have better finishes on the journals will survive the break-in better, and have much longer bearing life. We do a two-step process and bring the RA numbers down in the single digit range. We have the most advanced crank polishing machine on the market.

Rod to cam clearance and sizing: Cost of this rod to cam clearancing and sizing upgrade is $89.50, We know exactly where and how much to cut the rods on our vertical milling machine for correct cam clearance, and sizing the big end and wrist pin bushing on the Sunnen machine saves a trip to the machine shop. All rods, regardless of brand, should be checked for sizing on a Sunnen machine, and corrected if needed. You will seldom see a complete set of rods that have  perfect sizing on both ends right out of the box.

We do the rod to cam clearancing on a vertical milling machine as pictured below as part of this upgrade. By doing this procedure on a milling machine the rods are cut precisely at the correct angle to clear the cam. This also keeps the amount removed identical on each rod. It would be very difficult to do this by hand on a grinder as is commonly done. After we clearance the rods on the milling machine we go over them on a wire brush machine to clean up the edges, and remove any stress risers. This is a very critical procedure. Those who lack the experience and choose to do this on their own risk destroying the rod and or the bolt, or at least removing too much material and weakening the rod and or bolt.

Race balancing: Cost of this race balancing upgrade is $125.00, This is for those who want the engine to operate virtually vibration free at high rpm. Extends engine life and frees up a few more horse power. This is a somewhat labor intensive procedure and is not required, but the feel of an absolutely vibration free engine at high rpm is desirable by many. The standard balance job that is included with this assembly at no extra charge is certainly sufficient. With a race balance job, all pistons and rods are match weighed to within 2/10's of a gram or less, and the final balance is brought down to around 1 gram plus or minus. An ultra smooth engine at high rpm has a noticeable feel and sound to it. If you do not opt for this upgrade, the assembly will still be fully balanced. We spend a good hour and a half doing the regular balance work, and it will certainly meet your needs.

ARP-2000 rod bolts: Cost of this ARP 2000 rod bolt upgrade is $89.50, This is one upgrade that we find to be very valuable. The rod bolts are most likely to fail under hard use, more so than the rod itself. When a rod bolt fails during high RPM, total engine destruction is usually the result. The ARP-2000 rod bolts are a very good upgrade, in our opinion. We actually have few, if any, problems with the regular ARP-8740 bolts, but those who run hard always upgrade to the ARP-2000 rod bolts. The ARP-2000 rod bolts also torque at a higher number, and this increased clamping force is also a factor in keeping the big end of the rod stable and true to size. The ARP-2000 bolts are installed in the rods and this upgrade is only available with the Competition rod upgrade.

Scat 4340 Forged Crank: Cost of this forged crank upgrade is $585.00, The forged Scat crank has a rating of 800+ HP. This is the ultimate upgrade for those wanting to run hard. Nos, blowers, turbos, are not an issue with this crank. Even without such power adders, this Crank offers great protection under the most severe conditions. This upgrade also comes with the HP high Performance King bearings. Should you decide to run power adders in the future, this would be essential. The fatigue life of the 4340 crank over the cast nodular is also greatly extended. We do offer this upgrade as part of many of our assemblies in some of our other listings. They have the key words, "fully forged," in the title.

Some of these upgrades are often requested by those building an engine without a machine shop. We find most of these upgrades very valuable for those wanting to take longevity and durability to the next level. They are all bottom end related, and that's an area worth investing a few more dollars into, in our opinion, especially if you're planning on running long and/or hard. These upgrades are also valuable for your build history on your engine, and would certainly increase the resale value of your engine, should you ever sell it. Pricing of upgrades subject to change.

A note from Skip White, company president.

Many people have asked how is it that we can sell this assembly for such a low price. To answer this; we buy our products at master WD (warehouse distributor) level for all of the items in this assembly, and we are selling direct to the public. We are a volume sales based company. Our profit is based on sheer volume, with a very low markup. It is this large volume purchasing that allows us to buy products at a much lower price and we simply pass these savings on to our customers. This is our main competitive edge.

Skip White