I called about the aluminum rods the other day and here is the information that I got. He does not recommend a rod that is loaded throught the top like normal. He feels that they have a weak point by the rod bolt area. But he also stated that none of these rods have ever broken yet! These "small rods" are asmembeled with a 3/8" rod bolt and the "big rods" are built with a 7/16 bolt. I asked if he had any spec's on these rods. He looked up in his computer and found the last set he built for a un-named and this is how they were built: Rod length 7.000" Piston pin dia .910" Width at the small end .910" Width at the big end 1.200" Diameter of the rod bearing 2.100" Rod bolt size 7/16" Rod weight 584 grams Price was $800 with shipping. He would not tell me the material it was built from other than the tinsel strength was 85,000 psi and for a extra 15% he had some custom material that was 94,000 psi. Hope this helps.

damuel@kalama.com