LZ4 (3.5L) crankshaft & rods

[Frank Reiner]

1) Although it seems to be generally accepted that the LZ9 (3.9L) engine has a steel crankshaft, did the LZ4 also have a steel crank, or did it continue to have a nodular iron crank?

2) What has been the experience of the durability of the sintered powder-metal connecting rods used in the LZ4 and LZ9 engines?

[SappySE107]

It is the same type of crank as the 3900 but with less stroke. The only person i know who has tested the rods to failure is the fiero owner who is banned from this site. Im sure his tune was perfect, and the dyno accurate. Something like 600 whp. They are the same type of rod as the LX9 and I know those have been past 500, but thats all I really have on it. There are chromoly rods available, which is what the fiero owner mentioned has purchased. No clue what he is doing other than not running that build yet. I think we will be using nitrous to test the limits on engines but I have to buy the nitrous setup to do that still so its just an idea at the moment.