Ted,
I'll be honest ... I don't know. I've heard the same rumours and from people who know far more about engines than I do. I really don't have enough knowledge or experience to turn round to those guys and say they don't know what they are talking about. The man who built the engine says it isn't true. He said it isn't necessary to warm the engine up anymore than you would/should warm up eny engine before thrashing on it. He also said there are people using these who have hundreds and hundreds of Dyno passes (over 500) on them without an issue. I personally think that this is more abuse than they will get from me.
One thing I do know is that the rods don't fatigue, the rod bolts do !!! ... and they do this because they expand at a different rate to the rods. One way around this might be to buy titanium rod bolts in the right size.
Titanium rods might be the ultimate answer but they are ridiculously expensive ... if one day these break, I might consider it. Bottom line is, I spent a lot of money on this engine. Even if it had titanium rods in it, to just run and run and run it and never crack it open for any maintenance is in my opinion asking for trouble. Okay maybe the rods wouldn't break but something else undoubtedly would. I intend to look after this engine. So if I have to replace rod bolts every year or two ... it's not really a big deal.
Time will tell ... if they break, I take full responsibility. I've listened to all the advice and I've made my choice. At least the next time I talk to someone on the subject I can speak from personal experience and not from a "people told me so " perspective. If you don't try, you never know ... right?
Paul.
