French rods
 

Any one know where to get these from ,
Lawrie

Re: French rods
 

I'd love to find a French flathead...what do you have?

cheers

Re: French rods
 

lawrie, Can't directly answer your question, but of course you know they come in two lengths? 7 inch and 6 7/8". Which ones you want?

Re: French rods
 

Brian, I think 7in ,as its for a 99A block,
Lawrie

Re: French rods
 

If you want 7" rods, they are the same as 8BA. Only the 6-7/8" rods are unique to the French motors.
For 3-3/4" cranks you use the 7" rods. for 4" cranks you use the 6-7/8" rods. This allows the french motors to use the same pistons.

A ford piston will need modifying to clear the 4" crank as the skirts hit the crank at the bottom of the stroke.

Mart.

Re: French rods
 

SoCal Sacramento still has them. They’ve gone in price a bit but still a good deal.

http://vxgrf.crzvw.servertrust.com/S...flat001020.htm

Re: French rods
 

Good Luck with So Cal they appear to be closed??

Re: French rods
 

Web site is up and running and they still list the rods.
http://vxgrf.crzvw.servertrust.com/S...flat001020.htm

Re: French rods
 

Website says they are open Sat-Sun 12:00-8:00 PM closed M-F

Re: French rods
 

Reconditioned 8BA rods will likely be less expensive. If you have a way to get them reconditioned near you then they will be even less expensive as used parts.

Re: French rods
 

I'm no flathead guru or machinist but the very flathead experienced machinist who did the machine work and assembled my 8ba short block told me that reconditioning flathead rods wasn't like more modern rods. He said the end result wasn't the same as a new rod. Don't know the why's, etc and I have no reason to believe he was blowing smoke. Why would he turn down a chance to make the additional money to resize the rods unless there was a valid reason not to resize them? Based on his advice I went with the new rods from SoCal. I do know my engine runs great.

Re: French rods
 

I bought my set when they are where $130 bucks, so it was no brainer. The price has since gone up quite a bit.

Re: French rods
 

Most of a recondition job is cleaning, inspecting, and replacement of the small end bearings. The replacement of the small end bearings and how they are sized would be the only difference I can think of unless the big end has fretting or some other problem. If done as original then they will be as good as original.

Re: French rods
 

I agree with this. I have been saving rods (8BA style) for the last 30 years. When I had the basic machine work done on the engine, I brought in about 20 rods. The machinist did the cleaning and inspecting, and easily found 8 rods that were OK as is.