SQ4 Small End Bush Missing

[JohnnyBeckett]

hi someone on the forum was making and selling new rods and the price was good

[david.anderson]

I remembered that I originally had 3 mk1 rods so I went looking and found the remaining one. While it does not have a bush it is clear the bush has been removed, see the larger hole. So now I would like to know with certainty whether any mk1 rods did not have little end bushes. The attached photo shows a mk2 rod on the bottom then left and a mk1 rod on the top then right. You can see that the I beam on the mk2 rod is heavier and the rod beam is a little wider, most noticeable close to the little end. All the broken rods that I have seen have snapped near the little end. Note also the difference between the big end caps. The mk1 rod has a protruding rib whereas the mk2 rod has a heavier cap but a recess between bolts.
David

[allan.walker]

Have you tried Ben Longman at Iron Horse Spares? He commissions the manufacture of new con rods.

[david.anderson]

Alan
I have fitted AOMCC conrods to my 4. When the conrods first became available I purchased a set and then stripped a completely rebuilt engine with only 5000 miles on it to fit them. The mk2 rod above was removed from the engine and all 4 rods have near new bigend slippers in them as I also fitted new slippers with the new rods.
David

[DaveH]

Alan,
Thanks for the Ben Longman suggestion. The Iron Horse website has no mention of con rods, but in any case I'm leaning towards retaining the MkII ones now in place. They're stronger than the MkI version, and it seems the main cause of rod failure is oil deprivation from a blocked slinger. As mine is clean, and a Morgo oil pump in place, I think the risk is low.